Unity of Walnut Creek

2023-06-25 June 25, 2023 – Responses to Your Spiritual Questions Rev. Kristin Powell In this engaging open forum, Rev. Kristin responds to heartfelt spiritual questions from the community, covering topics ranging from Unity's understanding of God as all-encompassing love to navigating spiritual dryness and staying informed without being overwhelmed by world events. Rev. Kristin offers practical wisdom on activating the feeling nature in prayer, embracing liminal spaces of stillness, and Unity's tradition of metaphysical Bible interpretation. With warmth and authenticity, Rev. Kristin reminds us that we already hold the answers within and encourages the power of breath, community, and trust as tools for staying aligned with spirit.

2023-06-18 June 18, 2023 – Fathers: Foundation of Light Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin explores the sacred masculine as a guiding light that creates safety, confronts injustice, and supports others on their journey. Through powerful stories - including two fathers whose friendship defied racism, the Pullman porters who stood for Emmett Till's family, and St. Ramold who chose compassion over violence - Rev. Kristin illustrates how divine father energy shows up as courageous action, validation, and loving presence. She invites us to recall those who helped us feel safe, recognize what made that possible, and become that illumined presence for others as we awaken together.

2023-06-11 June 11, 2023 – How to Truly Prosper Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin invites us to explore a deeper understanding of prosperity - one that goes far beyond material wealth to encompass a rich consciousness rooted in being fully present. Drawing from her own journey of leaving a well-paying career for ministry and discovering profound abundance while making very little money, Rev. Kristin shares how true prosperity flows through us when we center ourselves in spirit and practice "be here now." She illuminates four pillars of prosperity - forgiveness, giving, gratitude, and vision - all built on a foundation of faith, encouraging us to open our hearts, clear old grudges, and trust in the infinite source that meets our every need.

2023-06-10 June 11, 2023 – How To Truly Prosper

2023-06-04 June 4, 2023 – Exploring Pride Rev. TJ Woodward TJ Woodward delivers a deeply personal and thought-provoking message exploring the intersection of pride, consciousness, and spiritual awakening. Drawing from his experience as a gay man growing up in 1960s Indiana, TJ Woodward shares how childhood programming and unconscious beliefs can shape our reality - and how true freedom comes from healing those deep-seated wounds rather than fighting external battles. He outlines four levels of consciousness - martyr, magical thinking, metaphysical, and mystical - inviting listeners to move beyond division and into a lived experience of oneness where we celebrate our differences while recognizing our shared divine nature. TJ Woodward reminds us that the greatest freedom we can experience is freedom from the reactive impulse, calling each of us to simply be love and light in the world.

2023-06-03 June 4, 2023 – Exploring Pride

2023-05-28 I AM Remembering Rev. Kristin offers a powerful Memorial Day reflection that honors military veterans while inviting us to remember our deepest spiritual identity. Drawing on the story of Moses and the burning bush, she explores how the sacred "I AM" presence lives within each of us - not as beings born of original sin, but as original blessings made in the image of the divine. Rev. Kristin encourages us to move beyond ego-driven fear and reconnect with our true essence through stillness, authentic self-expression, and mindful use of our words, reminding us that the only difference between us and the spiritual masters is that they never forgot who they were.

2023-05-21 Your Service is Sacred Rev. Kristin explores the sacred nature of service through the ancient Hebrew story of Reb Nakem, whose smallest act of kindness - flicking mud from a farmer's shoulder - ultimately tipped the scales in his favor at life's review. She reminds us that service is a free and powerful antidote to isolation, depression, and low self-esteem, connecting us with the divine and with one another in ways both grand and simple. Drawing on scripture, Gandhi, and the random acts of kindness movement, Rev. Kristin invites everyone to recognize their unique gifts and share them generously, affirming that every act of service - no matter how small - creates ripples of goodness throughout the world.

2023-05-14 May 14, 2023 – The Wholly Mother Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin delivers a heartfelt Mother's Day message exploring the sacred and expansive nature of motherhood as spiritual practice. Through a touching story of two elephants embodying the cycle of giving and receiving - "first you, then me" - she illuminates how the love ethic of the mother lives within all of us, regardless of gender or parental status. Rev. Kristin weaves together wisdom from indigenous grandmothers, Myrtle Fillmore, and the divine feminine tradition to invite us into fierce, compassionate, wholesome love that can transform our relationships and our world. She encourages us to be mindful sowers of seeds - choosing words of kindness and compassion - and to recognize ourselves as holy mothers called to bring forth healing for each other and for Mother Earth.

2023-05-13 May 14, 2023 – The Wholly Mother

2023-05-07 May 7, 2023 – Journey to the Ancestors Guest Speaker: Michelle Cicala Michelle Cicala shares her passion for ancestor work, guiding the community through a beautiful ritual of building a sacred altar and connecting with ancestral guides. She explores the many types of ancestors who support us - those of blood and bone, lineage, affinity, and our beloved dead - while also honoring the descendants who will come after us. Through offerings of roses, water, light, and gratitude, Michelle creates a sacred space for a guided journey to the ancestral realm, reminding us that when we heal ourselves and align with our divine purpose, we heal our entire lineage across time and space.

2023-04-30 April 30, 2023 – Riding the Wave of Transition Rev. Kristin Powell In this first of a two-part series, Rev. Kristin explores the spiritual art of navigating life's inevitable changes through four phases - embracing, emoting, emptying, and envisioning. Rev. Kristin invites us to befriend the "nothingness" that lives between one door closing and another opening, reframing that uncomfortable hallway as one of life's richest spiritual spaces. Using the metaphor of surfing, Rev. Kristin reminds us that much of life is spent waiting and being rather than doing, and that standing at nil with patience allows spirit to reveal our next steps in perfect timing.

2023-04-23 April 23, 2023 – Earth Dreaming and Waking Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin delivers a heartfelt Earth Day message exploring our sacred connection with the natural world, reminding us that just as gravity pulls us physically close to the earth, there is a spiritual pull inviting us to pay attention and reconnect with all life. Through stories of a boy's reverence for his ant farm and a Native American prayer practice of embodying rain rather than asking for it, Rev. Kristin illustrates how presence, compassion, and sensory awareness bridge the mystical and the physical. She invites us to uncover sacrilege wherever life has been dishonored and restore it to the sacred through embodied prayer, compassionate action, and conscious oneness with all living beings.

2023-04-16 April 16, 2023 – Ascend to Heavenly Consciousness Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin explores the beloved story of Jacob's Ladder from Genesis, revealing that the pathway to heaven is not about climbing or efforting but about recognizing that we are already home. She illuminates how Jacob's dream reveals three points of spiritual contact - rest, realize, and recommit - inviting us to discover that our bodies are the house of God and our hearts the gateway to heaven. Drawing on wisdom from St. Teresa of Avila and her own experience among ancient bristlecone pines, Rev. Kristin reminds us that divine abundance flows simultaneously and effortlessly when we simply open to love.

2023-04-09 April 9, 2023 – Come Alive in Truth! Rev. Kristin Powell In this inspiring Easter message, Rev. Kristin Powell explores the profound question Pontius Pilate posed to Jesus - "What is truth?" - and traces how truth moves through stages of ridicule, opposition, and finally self-evidence in our lives and world. Rev. Kristin Powell draws powerful parallels between the Easter story and our personal journeys of transformation, highlighting Mary Magdalene's shift from follower to teacher as a model for our own resurrection. She invites us to release old identities we cling to, embrace the Christ consciousness within, and become living testimonies to the absolute, unchangeable spiritual truth that sets us free.

2023-04-02 April 2, 2023 – Blessing Prepares the Way Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin delivers a powerful Palm Sunday message exploring how the cry of "Hosanna" represents not a plea to be saved, but a practice of heaping blessings upon the divine Christ within each of us. She illuminates how blessing is a gift available to everyone - not reserved for the ordained - and how it serves as both preparation for spiritual growth and a transformative practice that ripples outward into the world. Drawing on stories from Suzuki Roshi to a husband's morning blessing ritual, Rev. Kristin invites us to become the blessing in every moment, recognizing that as we bless others, good multiplies in our lives and across the planet.

2023-03-26 March 26, 2023 – Blessings Flow from Emptiness Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin explores the transformative power of spiritual emptiness through the parable of a desert monk whose sustained vision of the divine kept him on his path long after others fell away. Drawing on the wisdom of Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore's "Keep a True Lent," she invites us to release the unrealities - habits of negativity, distraction, and separation consciousness - that block our experience of the divine. Rev. Kristin shares her own profound wilderness fasting experience and reminds us that our work is simply to slow down and empty ourselves, trusting that Spirit fills us with overflowing light, love, and renewed life.

2023-03-19 March 19, 2023 – Blessing Brings Joy Guest Speaker: Johanna Van Gelder Guest Johanna Van Gelder offers a heartfelt exploration of blessing as a transformative spiritual practice, using the parable of the prodigal son to illustrate how we all journey away from and back toward our divine nature. Drawing from her own life experiences - from rejecting God as a teenager to exhausting herself with affirmations alone - she shares how surrendering and reconnecting with the divine presence brought her home to herself. Guest Johanna Van Gelder demonstrates how blessing ourselves, others, and even our surroundings dissolves separation, releases self-judgment, and restores the joy that flows naturally when we recognize the divine in all things.

2023-03-12 March 12, 2023 – Soulful Service Rev. Kristin Powell In this inspiring fourth installment of the Core Values Series, Rev. Kristin explores soulful service as the action piece that brings love, connection, and wisdom to life. Rev. Kristin shares powerful stories of divine guidance unfolding through everyday moments - including her own journey into ministry - illustrating how following intuitive nudges leads to sacred purpose. She invites listeners to ask three guiding questions - What are my gifts? Who are my people? Where is home? - as a pathway to discovering what makes them come alive. Rev. Kristin reminds us that the world needs each person's unique contribution, and that when we say yes to spirit's call, we are fully supported.

2023-03-05 March 5, 2023 – Accessible Wisdom Rev. Kristin Powell In this third installment of the Core Values Series, Rev. Kristin explores the difference between knowledge and wisdom - reminding us that while knowledge comes from the outside in, wisdom is an innate inner knowing we all carry within us. Drawing from Proverbs, Unity teachings, Sufi stories, and personal experience, Rev. Kristin offers a simple yet powerful mantra for accessing divine guidance - listen, trust, and follow. Rev. Kristin encourages us to approach life with childlike openness and humility, trusting the wisdom of our solar plexus - our "second brain" - and allowing divine discernment to guide our choices toward the highest good.

Unity of Walnut Creek - Messages