Hang out with us, meet great people and discover cool ideas!
Unity of the Valley Spiritual Center provides many opportunities to connect with friendly people, explore new ideas, celebrate, and grow spiritually. Please check our Calendar for complete information about all the ways we can bless you!
Mission Statement
Vision Statement
A world powerfully transformed through shared spiritual awakening
Core Values
Unity of the Valley exists to teach persons of their divinity and personal experiences to assist them to develop their spiritual nature.
History
In 1982, a group of spiritually-minded Seekers of Truth who were enthusiastic about practical Christianity began meeting as a study group in a home in Fairfield.
These people prayed together, studied the Bible together, read Daily Word together, and shared God’s energy in thought, action and spiritual growth. Together they began to search for and discover deeper significance to the things they read, heard and encountered. For these people, the Bible took on a new meaning regarding how the messages and teachings of Jesus had symbolism to each of them in their own personal lives. These people were the catalyst for bringing a Unity church to Solano County.
About a year after the study group began, so many others had been attracted to the light of love shining from the original few, that the size of living rooms was no longer adequate, and a search began for a new meeting place. Vaca Hills Chapel, a local mortuary, was attractive and intimate, so the group asked the owners for permission to rent their facility for Sunday worship services. Since funerals are rarely held on Sunday mornings, the owners agreed, and Unity Church of the Valley was organized and began to grow steadily, functioning as an outreach of Christ Unity of Sacramento. Various speakers were invited to deliver Sunday messages, and soon Rev. Len Kovar was hired as an interim, part-time minister. He was followed by Rev. Alden Studebaker, who became the church’s first full-time minister. When Rev. Alden moved on, Rev. Jim Sims signed on but stayed only a short time, leaving the church without a minister and in jeopardy of being dissolved as an outreach of the Sacramento church.
With the group’s dedication and determination unfazed, in 1986, Articles of Incorporation were drawn up and recorded, Unity Church of the Valley broke its ties to Christ Unity and became a legal entity in its own right, affiliated with the Association of Unity Churches as a separate church. In July of that year, the church invited a new minister, fresh out of ministerial school at Unity Village, to Vacaville for an interview and to present a message to the assemblage. Following his first talk, the congregation was asked to make written evaluations of the minister and his try-out sermon. Those evaluations were simple, emphatic and to the point: “Hire him!” “He’s just what we need!” That minister was Rev. Vic Jenkins. When the votes were in, members of the Board of Directors immediately contacted Vic and his lovely bride Carolynn before they had a chance to leave town, and convinced them to lead this new church. Rev. Vic remained as minister for the next 20 years as membership continued to grow.
When it was no longer comfortable for Sunday school classes to meet in the casket room, it was time to move from the funeral home to a new location. Early in 1988, the group rented the multipurpose room at Orchard elementary school in Vacaville, and church offices were set up in an apartment building owned by one of the church families. Every Sunday all equipment and supplies were hauled to the school and set up before the service, then dismantled and removed afterword. This was a tedious task at best, so a new search for a home began. Within a few months, a building in downtown Vacaville became available and was affordable. The building had been a Greyhound Bus depot, so major changes were necessary to create a church atmosphere. Extensive renovation was performed by members of the church. This labor of love brought everyone even closer as a family of God, and Unity’s light of love shone out into the community attracting even more people. In November of 1988, an item in the local newspaper noted, “People used to go here for a ticket out of town, now they go for a ticket to Paradise.” The church’s membership grew so quickly that the bus depot’s size became inadequate within two years.
In 1991, the Seventh Day Adventist church property on north Orchard Avenue went up for sale. Here was an opportunity for Unity Church of the Valley to have a “real” church building. Financing for the purchase was tricky, though. Banks were reluctant to loan to churches – foreclosing on a church, if it should come to that, was not good public relations for a bank. A brilliant, workable plan soon surfaced. To purchase the property, 100 active members of the congregation formed an investment group and bought the bonds necessary to finance the purchase of their church property. On September 8, 1991, Unity Church of the Valley moved into its own building on its own land. Improvements and upgrades to the building and grounds became an ongoing project, and the congregation grew to a membership of about 300. An associate minister, Rev. Ruby Rose Becker, was hired in 1999. Later Denese Schellink served in this position, then left to begin a new ministry with her husband Larry.
By 2006 the church was outgrowing its walls, so a Capital Campaign was initiated to raise funds to expand the ministry, to enlarge the facility, and to enrich the Sunday experience. With their loving generosity and their faith in the church, members opened their hearts and their wallets, and plans were underway. Although much of what had been dreamed of – upgraded audio/visual equipment, expanded programs for both children and adults and community outreach programs – actual construction of the building was met with unanticipated set-backs and could not be completed before Rev. Vic’s retirement at the end of 2008.
With Vic’s departure imminent, it was time again for another search, this time for a new senior minister. The search process led to the hiring of Rev. Ken Micah Murdock, D.D., who had led a Unity church in Florida for 18 years then served as a Dean at Unity Institute. In mid 2010, the church underwent a name change and became Unity of the Valley Spiritual Center, and the dream that was dreamed so long ago became a reality. The expanded home Unity of the Valley boasts new offices, library, bookstore, restrooms and two additional classrooms, with the crowning jewels a spacious Unity Hall which allows for a larger gathering area for fellowship, social events, classes, workshops and activities and a Great Hall so breathtaking that all who enter are struck by its beauty.