Set on a quiet block of East McMillan Street in Cincinnati's East Walnut Hills neighborhood, New Thought Unity Center has filled its 1926 sanctuary with music, meditation and affirmative prayer for a hundred years. The Center is home to a friendly, all-inclusive community that follows the practical, heart-centered teachings of the Unity movement, teaches that each person is a unique expression of God, and welcomes people of every faith background who are seeking a deeper spiritual life without traditional religious trappings.
A Century in This Building
The story of New Thought Unity Center is really two stories that came together. In the late 1890s, two small Cincinnati groups called the Company and the Perfectionists were meeting to study mental healing, an idea sweeping the country at the turn of the century. In 1898 a teacher named Christian D. Larson invited them to gather at his home on West Seventh Street, and other interested families opened their homes in the suburbs and across the river in Covington and Newport, Kentucky. By 1899 the group had a more definite organization and rented space in the Odd Fellows Temple. That same group founded and built the present facility.
By 1904 the society had outgrown the Odd Fellows space and moved into a church building at Peebles Corner, where regular Sunday services, weekly classes, a library and a silence room all took root. A Healing Department was active. In 1912 the gifted speaker Leila Simon accepted the leadership, and within months the audience had grown so dramatically that services moved to the Orpheum Theatre, with attendance sometimes reaching 1,200.
On March 17, 1916, ground was broken for the present Temple. Simon removed the first spadeful of earth, ably assisted by a small fox terrier that prompted her to remark that all forces of God were with them. Construction continued in stages; on November 28, 1926, Dr. Harry Granison Hill, leader since only that September, dedicated the finished New Thought Temple. A time capsule was placed in the back of the sanctuary during those dedication ceremonies and is being opened on the centennial weekend, a moment the congregation has been anticipating for a full hundred years.
The independent New Thought Temple affiliated with the Association of Unity Churches in the early 1960s, and on January 27, 1963, the Unity Center of Practical Christianity on Madison Road in Oakley and the New Thought Temple merged into the New Thought Unity Center. The path from the two original groups had crossed often over the years; both were members of the International New Thought Alliance founded in 1900. The merger gave the Unity congregation a home large enough to grow in and gave the New Thought Temple the steady ministerial support of Unity's international movement.
The Mystical Path of Unity
Unity follows in the mystical traditions present in the world's great religions and teaches members to apply spiritual principles in their daily experience. God is understood as Spirit, the loving source of all that is, the one power, all good, everywhere present, all wisdom, sometimes called Life, Light, Love, Substance, Principle, Law or Universal Mind. Jesus is honored as a master teacher of universal truths and a Way Shower who demonstrated his own divine potential so that others could express theirs; the word Christ in Unity refers to the divinity in all humankind. The Bible is studied as history and allegory and interpreted as a metaphysical representation of humanity's evolutionary journey toward spiritual awakening.
Five basic ideas make up the Unity belief system. There is only one Presence and one Power active as the universe and in each life, God the Good. Human essence is of God and therefore inherently good, fully expressed in Jesus the Christ. People are co-creators with God, creating reality through thoughts held in Mind. Through prayer and meditation the heart-mind aligns with God, using denials and affirmations as tools. And through thoughts, words and actions, people live the Truth they know.
The Center celebrates the many paths to God and is open to individuals, families and people of all denominations. Members teach the transformational principles of love, prayer and meditation, forgiveness, peace and personal responsibility, and gather each week to support one another on their unique spiritual journeys.
Sunday Mornings on McMillan
Sunday mornings at the New Thought Unity Center are powerful, positive, practical and fun. The day begins with a prayer circle at 10:15 AM, and the full service begins at 10:30 AM in the Sanctuary. The service includes music from the band and choir, an uplifting message and a welcoming atmosphere that has earned the Center a reputation among those who have stepped away from traditional churches but kept their spiritual hunger alive.
The variety of speakers bring real-life, practical messages that help listeners deal with the issues they face during the week. A spiritual leader, currently Kim Belew, anchors the teaching; rotating speakers and guest presenters offer additional perspectives through the year. Services are designed to support each person's experience of the Divine presence within, and attendees often describe leaving the sanctuary feeling uplifted and supported.
For those who cannot attend in person, services are livestreamed on the New Thought Unity Facebook page and later uploaded to the New Thought Unity Center YouTube channel. Online giving supports the programming and is available through the Center's donation page. Donations are voluntary, neither solicited nor urged, a tradition that reaches all the way back to the first financial report of the New Thought Temple, which credited adequate supply to the law of love, harmony and intelligent cooperation with God's law of universal substance.
Wednesday Evenings and Adult Education
Wednesday is the second pillar of the weekly rhythm at the Center. A Wednesday celebration service is held in the Sanctuary at 6:30 PM and follows the same welcoming, music-rich format as Sunday mornings. The Center also offers an active adult education program covering personal evolution, prosperity consciousness, spiritual growth and the writings of the New Thought and Unity traditions.
Long-running weekly groups include A Course in Miracles Study Group, which meets in Friendship Hall every Tuesday at 6:30 PM, facilitated by Beth and Ken Schaub, and Circle of Light, which meets on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM over Zoom and explores spirituality as a personal journey under the guidance of facilitator Barb Meyer. Game Day gathers in Friendship Hall on Wednesday afternoons at 1:00 PM for board games and fellowship. Other classes, workshops and special events change with the season; recent offerings have included a Sunday morning series on 50 Ways to Create Miracles in Life, facilitated by Susan Bartels, a monthly Awakening Consciousness Mastermind Class on the first Wednesday, and the Women of Wisdom program on the third Saturday.
Affirmative Prayer and the Silence
Prayer at the Center is not petition but alignment. Unity teaches that prayer is the most powerful force in the universe and that it works not by changing God's mind but by changing the pray-er. Affirmative prayer is the method taught by Unity co-founder Myrtle Fillmore and rooted in Jesus's teaching that whatever is asked for in prayer, believed to be already received, will be realized. Rather than begging God for something, the practitioner connects with the spirit of God within and asserts positive beliefs about the desired outcome. A traditional prayer might say, Please God, help me find a job; an affirmative prayer says, I am now guided to my right and perfect employment.
Affirmative prayer uses denials and affirmations together to release counterproductive, negative thoughts and hold statements of spiritual truth in mind. Members practice silent meditation as a form of prayer, sitting in the Silence to experience what Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore described as conscious contact with God. The Center's Silent Prayer Team carries requests a step further: volunteers in the personal prayer process at home offer affirmative daily prayers for individuals from the congregation who make telephone prayer requests or who place written requests in prayer boxes around the building. Each request is prayed over for one month and then forwarded to the Silent Unity prayer center at Unity Village, where prayer continues for an additional month.
Unity's Prayer for Protection, written by James Dillet Freeman in 1940 and 1941 and used in Unity services around the world, is a touchstone of the tradition: The light of God surrounds us; the love of God enfolds us; the power of God protects us; the presence of God watches over us; wherever we are, God is. Astronaut Colonel James Aldrin carried a copy on Apollo 11, and the prayer has since been translated into many languages.
The Music Ministry
Music is a centerpiece of worship at the Center. Music Director David Kisor is a songwriter, performer and record producer with a master's degree in composition from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He writes for solo voice, choir and the congregation and has written extensively for musical theater, including works for the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, the University of Cincinnati CCM Prep Department and the Cincinnati Children's Theatre. His children's songs, written and recorded for Growing Sound, promote positive social-emotional development in young children. He is half of Ancient News, a vocal duo with Andrea Cefalo that puts a modern musical spin on ancient mystic poetry.
Kisor leads the NTUC Band, with Michael Barrett on bass, Randy Winters on drums and Peg Buchanan on fiddle, along with the A-Team vocalists Althea Palmer and Alice Ryan. The J-Team, made up of Jenny Burkich and Jeanne Blessing, joins in on vocals as well. The musical program spans contemporary, gospel-tinged and folk-inspired sounds, giving the Center a vibrant and diverse worship atmosphere that newcomers often cite as a highlight of their first visit.
The Library and Gift Shop
Inside the Center, members and visitors find what is widely regarded as the largest metaphysical library of its kind in the region and one of the best in the Midwestern United States. The collection emphasizes the entire spectrum of religious thinking, including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Unity Thought and New Thought. Holdings include well over 2,000 selections, with books, tapes, CDs, videos and DVDs catalogued by author. Authors on the shelves include Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Emmet Fox, Neale Donald Walsh, Edgar Cayce, Khalil Gibran, Alan Cohen, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, Joel Goldsmith, Eric Butterworth and Marianne Williamson. New donations arrive almost every month.
A Galleria of Grace Gift Shop inside the library offers unique items intended to inspire, awaken and bring joy, including Unity-published books and other gift selections. Books are available for lending unless they are part of the rare-books collection. Library hours are Sunday mornings from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM and Monday through Thursday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Head Librarian Joyce Sanders oversees a team of volunteers who serve before and after the 10:30 AM Sunday service and the 6:30 PM Wednesday service.
Weddings in the Sanctuary
The Sanctuary is one of the most beautiful wedding venues in the Cincinnati area. Comfortable padded seats with arms accommodate up to 500 guests on the main level, with another 100 seats in the balcony, and stained glass windows allow light to stream in easily. The acoustically marvelous room is close to 100 years old, an asset for both music and photography. A piano and electric keyboard are available for live music, or couples may bring their own recorded music; the Center can refer pianists and soloists from a recommended wedding vendor list. An on-site Wedding Coordinator and sound booth operator are available, along with candelabras, a Unity candle lighting table, dressing rooms for the wedding party on the lower level and overhead HD plasma screens for audio-visuals.
For smaller or outdoor ceremonies, the Center offers a Chapel and a Garden Gazebo. Ample parking is available on site with staff directing traffic. The Center is about one mile from Interstate 71 and approximately six blocks from Columbia Parkway; the SpringHill Suites at 610 Eden Park Drive is a five-minute drive from the Center and a convenient hotel for out-of-town guests. The recommended vendor list runs from event planners, DJs and photographers to harpists, string quartets, the Cincinnati Sinatra, caterers, florists, bakers, dance instructors, videographers, photo booths, tuxedo rental, alterations, horse-drawn carriages and even dove releases.
Memorial Services and Spiritual Counseling
The Center offers memorial services that honor each human journey with prayers and reflections in harmony with the family's beliefs, eulogies and memories from family and friends, recorded or live music, meditation and silence, and warm individualized attention. The Unity teaching that the Presence of Love transforms life's experiences into something sacred and transcendent shapes every service.
Spiritual counseling is available to anyone who calls, regardless of membership. Sessions are designed to inspire and awaken the seeker to the possibilities of spiritual growth in the midst of life events. Counselors joyously offer unconditional love and help the person connect with their own divine guidance on relationships, prosperity, health, family, career, spiritual growth or anything else of concern. Counseling is short-term, offered on a love offering basis, and is not therapy; when professional therapy is appropriate, the Center refers to therapists, social workers and psychologists, noting which ones attend the Center themselves.
Prayer Chaplains, Newcomers and Volunteering
Prayer Chaplains at the Center provide prayer support through wellness calls and on-site availability at Sunday services. They listen patiently, with compassion and without judgment, hold sacred space and respond with a positive, uplifting prayer. The chaplain team is led by Lawren Watson, who also coordinates training for those who feel called to the ministry.
The Newcomer's Ministry Team serves once a month after the service for thirty minutes. Members learn the Unity Five Principles well enough to explain them, stand at the back of the Sanctuary during the greeting holding a sign for newcomers interested in a deeper tour, and walk with them afterward. The work is treated as a ministry and entered with prayer; good listening matters more than salesmanship.
Volunteers are the heart of the Center. Opportunities include serving as a Sunday morning receptionist, a greeter, a coffee and refreshments host, a library and gift shop associate, a garden caretaker, a member of the Angels' Wings Resale Shop, a Wonderful Washer for kitchen linens, or a member of committees such as Creative Growth, Marketing, Programming, or Social Impact and Action. The Center also runs the Volunteer Opportunities form and a Donate Skill to NTUC form, inviting members to share professional skills. The office is open Monday through Thursday from 10 AM to 4 PM and can be reached at 513-961-2527.
Stewards and Leadership
The Center is led by Spiritual Leader Kim Belew, who also serves on the Board of Trustees. Alice Ryan serves as President and sings with the A-Team vocalists. The Board of Trustees is led by President Royleen Seibert, Vice President Joe Wollebeck, Treasurer Flo Stevenson, Secretary Linda Miller and Member David McClanahan. Additional officers of the Center include Vice President Diana Martens, Secretary Debbie Rizzo and Treasurer Karen Lachner-Bliss. Day-to-day operations are managed by Administrative Coordinator Scott Ellis, Financial Officer Jack Norris and Facilities Caretaker Carter Hammond. Sam Elliston serves as Volunteer Coordinator.
Support for the Center's work continues beyond the offering plate. The Center participates in Amazon Smile, which donates 0.5 percent of eligible purchases, and in Kroger Community Rewards, which directs a portion of qualifying spending to NTUC each year. An eNewsletter keeps members informed of speakers, classes and special events.
Through a century in the same building, two predecessor congregations, an international Unity connection and the steady rhythm of Sunday prayer circles, music and affirmative prayer, New Thought Unity Center continues to welcome anyone, of any faith or none, who wants to explore a practical, mystical, heart-centered spirituality in the heart of Cincinnati.