Unity
new religious movement
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Category: History & SocietyDate: 1889 - present
Areas Of Involvement: religious education
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Unity, new religious movement founded in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1889 by Charles Fillmore (1854–1948), a real-estate agent, and his wife, Myrtle (1845–1931). Mrs. Fillmore believed that spiritual healing had cured her of tuberculosis. As a result, the Fillmores began studying spiritual healing. They were deeply influenced by Emma Curtis Hopkins, a former follower of Mary Baker Eddy, who founded Christian Science.
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Unity, new religious movement founded in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1889 by Charles Fillmore (1854–1948), a real-estate agent, and his wife, Myrtle (1845–1931). Mrs. Fillmore believed that spiritual healing had cured her of tuberculosis. As a result, the Fillmores began studying spiritual healing. They were deeply influenced by Emma Curtis Hopkins, a former follower of Mary Baker Eddy, who founded Christian Science.
Unity, however, is closer to New Thought, which in general emphasizes the primacy of mind and spiritual healing, than it is to Christian Science.
Until 1922 it was a member of the International New Thought Alliance.
Unity developed gradually as the Fillmores attempted to share their insights concerning religion and spiritual healing. They began publishing magazines, books, and pamphlets and started the service known as Silent Unity, which, through prayer and counselling, helps people by telephone, via mail, and online. As the work and the number of employees increased, Unity moved several times within Kansas City.
Unity developed gradually as the Fillmores attempted to share their insights concerning religion and spiritual healing. They began publishing magazines, books, and pamphlets and started the service known as Silent Unity, which, through prayer and counselling, helps people by telephone, via mail, and online. As the work and the number of employees increased, Unity moved several times within Kansas City.
After World War I, the Fillmores began developing Unity Village, 15 miles from Kansas City and eventually covering 1,400 acres, and by 1949 all departments of Unity were located there. After Charles Fillmore’s death, Unity was led by the Fillmores’ sons and grandchildren.
From Unity Village a variety of activities are carried on. The publishing operation produces books, pamphlets, and periodicals, including the bimonthly Unity Magazine and the Daily Word, which is available in both print and online formats.
From Unity Village a variety of activities are carried on. The publishing operation produces books, pamphlets, and periodicals, including the bimonthly Unity Magazine and the Daily Word, which is available in both print and online formats.
The staff of Silent Unity is available day and night to aid people through counseling and prayer. It has been reported that as many as two million requests for aid are received by Silent Unity each year. All are answered by mail or by telephone free of charge, but many persons who make requests give a contribution. Unity also conducts classes for interested individuals and a course of study for those who wish to become Unity ministers and teachers at Unity retreats held at Unity Village.
Although Unity prefers to consider itself a nonsectarian educational institution that attempts to teach religious truth, it has essentially become a denomination. Unity ministers must complete a prescribed course of study and be approved by the Association of Unity Churches.
Unity emphasizes spiritual healing, prosperity, and practical Christianity.
Although Unity prefers to consider itself a nonsectarian educational institution that attempts to teach religious truth, it has essentially become a denomination. Unity ministers must complete a prescribed course of study and be approved by the Association of Unity Churches.
Unity emphasizes spiritual healing, prosperity, and practical Christianity.
Unlike some groups that arose out of New Thought, it stresses its agreements with traditional Christianity.
Sin, illness, the world, and matter are considered real and material, in contrast to the doctrines of Christian Science, but illnesses are considered unnatural and curable by spiritual means. The practice of medicine, however, is not rejected. There is no definite creed, although a statement written by Charles Fillmore, the “Unity Statement of Faith,” is available in a pamphlet. Unity is tolerant of the beliefs and practices of others.
Official statistics are difficult to interpret, because the movement is interdenominational and international, but the Unity movement is thought to reach some six million persons, most of whom, however, are not members.
Official statistics are difficult to interpret, because the movement is interdenominational and international, but the Unity movement is thought to reach some six million persons, most of whom, however, are not members.
Its influence extends far beyond the membership.
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Myrtle Page Fillmore
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Myrtle Page Fillmore
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Myrtle Page Fillmore
American religious leader
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Also known as: Mary Caroline Page
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Category: History & SocietyBorn: August 6, 1845 Ohio (Birthday in 5 days)Died: October 6, 1931 (aged 86) MissouriFounder: “Unity”
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Myrtle Page Fillmore, original name Mary Caroline Page, (born August 6, 1845, Pagetown, Ohio, U.S.—died October 6, 1931, Lee’s Summit, Missouri), American religious leader who, with her husband, founded Unity, a new religious movement that propounded a pragmatic healing and problem-solving faith.
Mary Caroline Page, who later took the name Myrtle, grew up in a strict Methodist home. After a year at Oberlin College (1868–69), she became a schoolteacher in Clinton, Missouri, and then in Dennison, Texas. In Dennison she met Charles Fillmore, whom she married in 1881. She suffered from incipient tuberculosis but could find no relief in orthodox medical treatment. In 1886 she turned to mental healing as described in a series of lectures by E.B. Weeks, a student of the ex-Christian Scientist Emma Curtis Hopkins. Fillmore found her health greatly improving. Her husband, skeptical at first, soon joined in her enthusiasm as he found his leg, which had been stunted and weak since a childhood accident, growing stronger. They resolved to devote themselves to evangelizing for “practical Christianity,” an active faith able to effect solutions to physical, mental, financial, and other problems.
In 1889 they began publication of a magazine called Modern Thought (after 1895 called Unity). In 1893 they began publishing a second magazine, Wee Wisdom, for children. In 1890 they organized the Society of Silent Unity, which offered the service of effective prayer on behalf of beset persons who wrote to request it. Though it was not their intention, the organizational structure came to closely resemble that of a denomination, with a training school turning out ministers and with hundreds of separate Unity “churches” throughout the Midwest and in California. A basic text, Lessons in Truth, was published in 1908 by one of their most influential converts, Harriette Emilie Cady of New York City, a former homeopathist.
Unity grew rapidly, and after World War I the Fillmores built a permanent home for the movement at Lee’s Summit. After Myrtle Fillmore’s death, Unity continued to prosper under her husband, who was succeeded in turn by their sons.This article was most recently revised and updated by Matt Stefon.
Fast FactsFacts & Related Content
MoreMore Articles On This Topic
Contributors
Article History
HomePhilosophy & ReligionReligious Personages & Scholars
History & Society
Myrtle Page Fillmore
American religious leader
Print Cite Share Feedback
Also known as: Mary Caroline Page
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: Article History
Listen to article2 minutes
Category: History & SocietyBorn: August 6, 1845 Ohio (Birthday in 5 days)Died: October 6, 1931 (aged 86) MissouriFounder: “Unity”
See all related content →
Myrtle Page Fillmore, original name Mary Caroline Page, (born August 6, 1845, Pagetown, Ohio, U.S.—died October 6, 1931, Lee’s Summit, Missouri), American religious leader who, with her husband, founded Unity, a new religious movement that propounded a pragmatic healing and problem-solving faith.
Mary Caroline Page, who later took the name Myrtle, grew up in a strict Methodist home. After a year at Oberlin College (1868–69), she became a schoolteacher in Clinton, Missouri, and then in Dennison, Texas. In Dennison she met Charles Fillmore, whom she married in 1881. She suffered from incipient tuberculosis but could find no relief in orthodox medical treatment. In 1886 she turned to mental healing as described in a series of lectures by E.B. Weeks, a student of the ex-Christian Scientist Emma Curtis Hopkins. Fillmore found her health greatly improving. Her husband, skeptical at first, soon joined in her enthusiasm as he found his leg, which had been stunted and weak since a childhood accident, growing stronger. They resolved to devote themselves to evangelizing for “practical Christianity,” an active faith able to effect solutions to physical, mental, financial, and other problems.
In 1889 they began publication of a magazine called Modern Thought (after 1895 called Unity). In 1893 they began publishing a second magazine, Wee Wisdom, for children. In 1890 they organized the Society of Silent Unity, which offered the service of effective prayer on behalf of beset persons who wrote to request it. Though it was not their intention, the organizational structure came to closely resemble that of a denomination, with a training school turning out ministers and with hundreds of separate Unity “churches” throughout the Midwest and in California. A basic text, Lessons in Truth, was published in 1908 by one of their most influential converts, Harriette Emilie Cady of New York City, a former homeopathist.
Unity grew rapidly, and after World War I the Fillmores built a permanent home for the movement at Lee’s Summit. After Myrtle Fillmore’s death, Unity continued to prosper under her husband, who was succeeded in turn by their sons.This article was most recently revised and updated by Matt Stefon.
