Minister's Letter for June Celebrating 80th Anniversary.jpg)
Spirit Is Keen to be Seen
Eighty Years
On Wednesday June 7th Unity Spiritual Life Center of Oklahoma City will be celebrating its 80th anniversary. Wow, amazing! Our center was founded on June 7th 1943, and Alice Cronley became the first official minister the next week, on June the 15th. Alice served the ministry until her transition in 1993. Alice was the daughter of Mary Myles -- one of the first ministers ordained by the Fillmores and an original member of the Society of Silent Unity.
Looking through the various documents, pictures and artifacts in our “Heritage Library” will reveal an extraordinary path our spiritual community has taken. We didn’t always exist here, at 5603 NW 41st Street. The fact is we moved here 29 years ago! Most of Unity Spiritual Life Center’s history occurred at 1116 Classen Dr. near St. Anthony’s Hospital and above the Midwest Theatre, which used to be near 10th and Walker. Schulyer, Alice’s husband, joined her in ministry in 1946, after he retired from the Air Force and was ordained as a Unity Minister. During the 40’s Alice and Schulyer brought Charles Fillmore here to Oklahoma City to speak at the Hall of Mirrors three times. Each appearance drew over 2,000 people. Our Unity Center was one of the first Unity Centers to have its own TV and radio program. Schulyer published a book titled Notes From A Sky Lark. I find the book inspirational and occasionally take one of his poems or writings and place it in the Newsletter. There are many more high points I could talk about, but I don’t want to get lost in the details.
Being the history buff that I am, I love going into the Heritage Library and look at the pictures of Alice and Schulyer and the Fillmores, and many of members who have attended our amazing ministry over the years. Several of the pictures hold images of an individual who was one of the longest attending members of our church, Suzanne Robinson. Sue was an amazing person who had many amazing gifts and talents. She worked in the medical profession for many years; was an awesome mother and a fantastic cook. Eating her chili or one of her cakes would send you to heaven. She could also make you laugh and make you cry. Sue made her transition into the invisible ethers on May 2nd, I will miss her. Although I often feel her presence whenever I go into the Heritage Library.
Another individual who was a vital part of our ministry also made her transition. Judy Ruth Rives left this realm on May 3rd a day after Sue. Although Judy was not an official member of our center, she was very active in the Kriya Yoga Group/Friends of the Lotus, that used to meet on Thursday nights on ULSC. Judy was a beginning meditation instructor, who introduced her student in finding their way through the portal into a different awareness. Wow. Judy also had a long career in the US Postal Service and was an amazing mother and grand mother who lived her whole life in Oklahoma. She also was an amazing person and I will miss her too! I feel her presence whenever I go into the Myrtle Fillmore Room, where she taught her classes. It’s an intriguing idea, that in the sharing at her Life Celebration Service, she loved holding babies to nurture them. She also loved to play and teach older kids, just as Sue and Myrtle Fillmore did! Now the Myrtle Fillmore Room is our children’s class room
Namaste, I see the light in you,
RevDoc. Patrick