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Sunday Services 10:30 AM Corvallis Senior Center 2601 NW Tyler Corvallis, Oregon get map Unity Church Office 408 SW Monroe Ave., M210C PO Box 891 Corvallis, OR 97339 541.766.8090 email us   © 2007 Unity Church of Corvallis

A Community-Based Model One example of our model in action is the unique way we handle the Inspirational Reading section of our service. In many mainstream churches the minister controls who gets to be the reader, and in many denominations the headquarters selects the reading, usually from the bible. At Unity of Corvallis, each Sunday, one volunteer presents an inspirational reading of their own choosing. They can read something that they wrote, or something that they think pertains to the growing edge of the church, or a work that inspired them on their own spiritual journey. In our church, the members decide if they want to be the reader and then choose what they will read. In a similar fashion, each Sunday, a member of our spiritual community creates a simple altar, using totems, artifacts or pictures meaningful to them (as well as flowers, candles, cloth, etc). Contrary to most church organizations we are not based on a minister-led hierarchy and we do not have a set way of doing things. Instead we intentionally reinvent ourselves so that those present can express their own creativity and unique viewpoint on how things might be done. Our minister, while our spiritual director, is really more of a co-creator. His main function is to empower the members to their highest good according to how they see their life unfolding. In terms of church governance, it is our view that the collective is wiser than any one leader and so we hold that it is the consciousness of the community that draws inspiration and learning for the church, rather than the minister's leadership. Many of our classes are led by church members or co-led by our minister and a church member. We often bring in outside presenters and teachers from the region to help enliven our consciousness, knowing that we do not have a monopoly on truth. We strive for relevance to our immediate life and teach applied spirituality. To encourage growth and exploration, we have presented workshops, discussion groups and classes on a wide range of topics, such as Nonviolent Communication, Forgiveness, Loving What Is, Sexuality and Spirituality, Treasure Mapping, Naive Art and Finding the Inner Muse. We have offered programs on Life Purpose, Prosperity, and Voluntary Simplicity. Our music program intentionally includes both performers from the church body, as well as from the larger local and regional area. Our choir is led by a member of the church. Oftentimes a church member will recommend or suggest a specific musician or group for our Sunday service. Thus the music for our Sunday celebration is more than just contemporary; it is eclectic and diverse. Our minister is a trained facilitator, mediator and peacekeeper. We see conflict not as something to be repressed, but as a call to creativity and wholeness. Our minister does not dictate how problems should be resolved; he works with members when "issues" come up, to find a co-creative solution. We know that within each conflict is an opportunity for growth and empowerment. Since we have minimal hierarchy, there is a learning curve on our path, but we prefer this to having a dictator telling us on how we are to live our spiritual life. We have created a framework within which to operate as an intentional spiritual community. We call this framework The Shared Agreements.  They incorporate our learning to date on how to clear differences, broken agreements, etc. in a spiritually sound way. This process of clearings in unfamiliar to some, and has proven to be integral to our authentic group dynamics, and so we asked John to write up a short summary of what a clearing is, why it is needed and how they work. Click here to learn more about clearings. We have very little in the way of dogma, none of it proprietary. We reserve the right to change our ways as we grow and learn more. We welcome like-minded seekers of spiritual truth.