Unity's History
Charles married Myrtle in Clinton, Missouri, on March 29, 1881, and the newlyweds moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where Charles established a real estate business with the brother-in-law of Nona Lovell Brooks, who was later to found the Church of Divine Science. After the births of their first two sons, Lowell Page and Waldo Rickert Fillmore, the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri.
Charles & Myrtle Fillmore
Two years later, in 1886, Charles and Myrtle attended New Thought classes held by Dr. E. B. Weeks. Myrtle subsequently recovered from chronic tuberculosis and attributed her recovery to her use of prayer and other methods learned in Weeks’ classes. Subsequently Charles began to heal from his childhood accident, a development that he, too, attributed to following this philosophy. Charles Fillmore became a devoted student of philosophy and religion.
In 1889, Charles left his business to focus entirely on publishing a new periodical, Modern Thought. In 1890 they organized a prayer group that would later be called “Silent Unity” and in the following year, the Fillmore’s Unity magazine was first published. On December 7, 1892, Charles and Myrtle penned their Dedication and Covenant.
We, Charles Fillmore and Myrtle Fillmore, husband and wife, hereby dedicate ourselves, our time, our money, all we have and all we expect to have, to the Spirit of Truth, and through it, to the Society of Silent Unity. It being understood and agreed that the said Spirit of Truth shall render unto us an equivalent for this dedication, in peace of mind, health of body, wisdom, understanding, love, life and an abundant supply of all things necessary to meet every want without our making any of these things the object of our existence.
In the presence of the Conscious Mind of Christ Jesus, this 7th day of December A.D. 1892.
~Charles Fillmore ~Myrtle Fillmore
Dr. H. Emilie Cady published a series titled Lessons in Truth in the new magazine. This material later was compiled and published in a book by the same name, which served as a seminal work of the Unity movement. Although Charles had no intention of making Unity into a denomination, his students wanted a more organized group. He and his wife were among the first ordained Unity ministers in 1906. Charles and Myrtle Fillmore first operated the Unity organization from a campus near downtown Kansas City. Unity began a formal program for training ministers in 1931.
Myrtle Fillmore died in 1931. Charles remarried in 1933 to Cora G. Dedrick who was a collaborator on his later writings. Charles Fillmore made his transition in 1948.
Silent Unity
A staff of dedicated and well-trained prayer associates answer calls with a greeting familiar to many through the decades: “Silent Unity. How may we pray with you?”
Compassionate listening is followed by an invitation to focus on the presence and power of God within. Affirmative prayer is spoken, acknowledging God’s constant good and envisioning its demonstration in the lives of those uplifted in prayer.
To reach Silent Unity any time of day, call 1-800-NOW-PRAY. (669-7729)
You may also submit your prayer request online through Silent Unity’s web site at www.unityonline.org/prayer.
Rev. Irma Oestmann was a
Spiritual dynamo!
She pioneered Unity of the Oaks, first by teaching art classes at the Westlake Village library and eventually by growing it into a vibrant Unity community. She knew that Unity’s positive teachings and affirmative prayer belonged in the Conejo Valley, and she never gave up on the idea that the church would grow and thrive. After Rev. Irma became an ordained Unity Minister in 1982 she went on to minister at many churches across the country. However, Unity of the Oaks was her divine idea and dream, and it is because of her that Unity has a presence in the greater Thousand Oaks area. Rev. Irma retired to the Palm Springs area in 2003 and made her transition in 2022. It is because of a legacy gift to Unity of the Oaks that our new website is able to reach more individuals interested in the transformative teachings Unity has to offer.