Unity of Walnut Creek

2025-08-03 Unity Basics Series: “Release and Affirm” Rev. Kristin In this enlightening exploration of Unity's fourth principle, Rev. Kristin guides us through the transformative practice of prayer and meditation as tools for aligning our hearts and minds with Spirit. She reveals how these practices aren't about perfection or complex techniques, but rather the simple yet profound rhythm of release and affirmation - letting go of what blocks us and claiming the divine truth of who we are. Through personal stories and gentle wisdom, she demonstrates how we can shift from "have to" to "get to," transforming burdens into opportunities for deeper spiritual connection. This message reminds us that we don't need mountaintop retreats to access the sacred; we can practice this release and affirmation anywhere, showing up as the light the world needs right now.

2025-07-27 Unity Basics Series: “Co-Creative Fun!” Rev. Kristin

2025-07-20 “Humbled By My Heart” Guest: Rev. Christie Hardwick Rev. Kristin shares deeply personal stories of heart expansion and contraction, from magical encounters with dragonflies and butterflies to a recent heart episode in Italy that served as a wake-up call. Through vulnerable storytelling, she explores how our hearts guide us toward both deep love within our personal constellations and wide love that embraces all humanity, even those who may oppose us. Drawing inspiration from civil rights leader John Lewis and poet Andrea Gibson, she reminds us that we can choose our lane of service while staying open to love, transforming our heartbreaks into places where music and healing flow through us to touch the world.

2025-07-13 Unity Basics Series: “Divine I AM” Rev. Kristin In this powerful exploration of Unity's second principle, Rev. Kristin shares the ancient parable of gods hiding divinity within humans, knowing we'd never think to look inside ourselves for what we seek. She guides the community through the transformative journey from initial resistance to embracing our inherent divine nature, drawing connections between Unity teachings and ancient Hindu wisdom about the Atman and Brahman. Through practical tools like conscious breathing, stillness, and joyful movement (including a delightful community bouncing session), Rev. Kristin demonstrates how simple practices can return us to the land of our soul and help us embody the Christ consciousness that Jesus modeled, reminding us that we are the light of the world.

2025-07-06 “Freedom to Become: Awakening the Creator Within” Guest: Edna Castillo In this powerful message, Rev. Kristin shares her deeply personal journey from Guatemala to the United States, illustrating how true freedom extends far beyond external circumstances to encompass our inner spiritual liberation. Drawing from her experience overcoming cancer through conscious thought and gratitude, she demonstrates how we can transform any challenge by recognizing our divine co-creative power within. Rev. Kristin invites us to embrace our role as spiritual beings living a human experience, using our freedom not just for personal growth but as "love agents" who raise the vibration of our communities and world through peace, compassion, and conscious choice.

2025-06-29 Unity Basic Principles Series, “Permeating Presence” Rev. Kristin In this opening message of Unity's Basic Principles Series, Rev. Kristin explores the profound truth of God's permeating presence, challenging the age-old myth that divinity exists somewhere "out there" beyond our reach. Using Michelangelo's famous "Creation of Adam" as a powerful metaphor, she reveals how centuries of religious imagery have reinforced the false belief in separation between humans and the Divine. Through Susan's moving testimony about finding God's presence during her cancer journey and the biblical story of Elijah discovering the Divine in "sheer silence," Rev. Kristin demonstrates that the sacred presence already dwells within and around us at every moment. She invites the congregation to practice recognizing this ever-present love through simple awareness, breathing, and opening to the Divine that cannot be escaped because it is our very essence.

2025-06-28 WEDDING

2025-06-22 “Response-Ability: the ability to choose our; response” Guest: Timber Hawkeye; Meditation: Ron Salazar In this transformative message on "Response-Ability," the speaker explores our inherent power to choose our responses rather than simply react to life's circumstances. Drawing from personal experiences including time in Buddhist monasteries and a reinterpretation of the Prayer of St. Francis, they illuminate how true spiritual practice begins with inner work - addressing the hatred, injury, and doubt within ourselves rather than trying to fix the world around us. The speaker emphasizes that love is simply the absence of judgment, and through mindfulness - that crucial pause between impulse and action - we can align our thoughts, words, and deeds with our core values, ultimately discovering that we are not victims of our circumstances but empowered co-creators of our experience.

2025-06-15 Father Really Does Know Best Rev. Kristin In this Father's Day message, Rev. Kristin explores the evolving nature of fatherhood and sacred masculine energy through the biblical story of Joseph's sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. She reveals how their names represent two essential spiritual principles - releasing what no longer serves us (Manasseh meaning "to forget") and embracing fruitfulness even in difficult times (Ephraim meaning "fruitful in the land of affliction"). Drawing connections between ancient blessings and modern challenges, Rev. Kristin calls the community to embody the prophet Micah's timeless guidance: to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with the divine, recognizing that true fruitfulness comes not from literal multiplication but from blessing others with our gifts and purpose.

2025-06-08 Many Colors of the One, part 2 Rev. Kristin In this inspiring continuation of "Many Colors of the One," the speaker explores the transformative power of imagination through Joseph's remarkable journey from rejected dreamer to nourisher of nations. Drawing parallels between Joseph's gift of dream interpretation and Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore's visionary dreams that guided the movement's founding, the message reveals how our imaginative capacity allows us to envision possibilities beyond current circumstances. The speaker emphasizes that true spiritual nourishment comes through three essential practices - engaging our imagination to see the bigger picture, embracing radical honesty in our relationships, and choosing forgiveness as a pathway to reconciliation and love.

2025-06-01 Many Colors of the One, part 1 In this powerful opening to "Many Colors of the One," Rev. Kristin explores the biblical story of Joseph and his coat of many colors as a metaphor for celebrating our authentic selves and embracing diversity. Through Joseph's journey from being different and rejected by his brothers to ultimately thriving by remaining true to himself, she illuminates how our perceived differences are actually divine gifts meant to be celebrated rather than hidden. Rev. Kristin challenges the congregation to move beyond tolerance to true celebration of all people, particularly during Pride Month, emphasizing that authentic belonging comes not from conforming to others' expectations but from courageously being who we are meant to be.

2025-05-25 Memorial Day: ; “From Ancestors, We Grow” Rev. Kristin In this meaningful Memorial Day message, Rev. Kristin explores how connecting with our ancestors can deepen our spiritual journey and expand our understanding of unity. She honors fallen soldiers while inviting the congregation to open their hearts to ancestral wisdom, sharing her own discoveries about family members who fought in the Civil War and demonstrating how genealogical exploration reveals both gifts and challenges within our lineages. Through practical guidance on communicating with ancestors and healing family patterns, she reveals how embracing our full heritage - including its complexities - allows us to break limiting cycles and hold high the torch of spiritual evolution for future generations.

2025-05-18 My Sacred Service Rev. Kristin Rev. Kristin celebrates the joy of sacred service, exploring how giving is wired into our very nature and becomes most fulfilling when it flows from abundance rather than obligation. She introduces the concept of "the hum" - that satisfying feeling when we are in the flow of contributing to others - and guides the congregation through a Tai Chi energy exercise to illustrate how we gather, store, and share spiritual energy. Inspired by Jane Addams' philosophy of "peace weaving," Rev. Kristin invites the community to explore new ways of expanding their service beyond familiar boundaries, reminding us that we spiritually grow and find ourselves more fully through giving to others.

2025-05-11 May 11, 2025 – “Divine Mother Supports Me” Rev. Kristin Powell In this heartwarming Mother's Day message, Rev. Kristin explores the profound and accessible nature of Divine Mother Love, drawing from both personal experiences and universal spiritual truths. She invites listeners to recognize the many forms of nurturing support they've received - from biological mothers to caregivers, mentors, and the Divine Mother herself - encouraging gratitude for the "nest builders" who have shaped their lives. Through beautiful imagery of hummingbird mothers and ancient symbols like the Egyptian throne of Isis, she illustrates how this unconditional love manifests as both gentle compassion and powerful strength. Rev. Kristin offers practical spiritual tools for accessing this support, including finding one's personal "throne" or sacred space for renewal and learning to lean into the scaffolding of love that surrounds us always.

2025-05-04 May 4, 2025 – “Learning to Trust Yourself” Guest Speaker: Tama Kieves In this inspiring message on "Learning to Trust Yourself," the speaker shares her transformative journey from a successful but unfulfilling law career to becoming a bestselling author by following her inner guidance. She explores three essential practices for trusting yourself: following your breadcrumbs by listening to moment-by-moment spiritual guidance rather than trying to plan an inspired life, seeing yourself differently as "the beloved" who is connected to divine love and limitless possibilities, and undoing limiting beliefs that block you from recognizing love's presence in your life. Through powerful personal stories, including her miraculous path to publishing and childhood memories about red shoes, she demonstrates how our beliefs shape our reality and how learning to trust our inner wisdom opens us to infinite possibilities and allows us to become the answer the world needs.

2025-04-27 “Earth Rise, We Rise” Rev. Kristin In this inspiring Earth Day and Easter message, Rev. Kristin explores the profound interconnection between our bodies and Mother Earth, drawing from the iconic "Earthrise" photograph that awakened humanity's environmental consciousness. She beautifully weaves together spiritual wisdom from mystics like Hildegard von Bingen with practical insights about living in harmony with nature's seasons and rhythms. Through personal stories and poetic reflections, Rev. Kristin invites us to shift from mindless consumption to mindful communion, recognizing that as we care for our body temple, we simultaneously nurture our sacred planet. This message calls us to embrace what deep ecologist Joanna Macy terms "the greening of self" - expanding our perspective to feel empathy for all creation and remembering that we are truly walking each other home in this beautiful dance of life.

2025-04-20 April 20, 2025 – “Rise and Shine” Rev. Kristin Powell

2025-04-18 Communion Service Rev. Kristin

2025-04-13 April 13, 2025 – “Jesus Fears Too” Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin delivers a powerful Palm Sunday message exploring Jesus' full humanity during Holy Week, highlighting how even this master teacher experienced anger, sadness, disappointment, loneliness, and fear. She invites listeners into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed "take this cup from me," showing that acknowledging fear is not weakness but a doorway to courage and deeper surrender to divine will. Rev. Kristin reminds us that fear need not paralyze us - instead, we can befriend it, give our burdens over to spirit, and rise to meet our circumstances with love and truth, just as Jesus modeled for us all.

2025-04-06 April 6, 2025 – “The Alchemy of Reconciliation” Guest Speakers: Annette Williams & Matt DeArmon Annette Williams and Max DeArmon explore the sacred journey of reconciling the masculine and feminine through their work with the Jerry program, a global community dedicated to transforming systemic violence and oppression around gender and sexuality. Annette shares how embracing the sacred feminine brought her home to herself, while Max invites us to see beyond toxic masculinity to the wounded masculine that needs healing through safe spaces and vulnerable truth-telling. Together they illuminate how creating beloved community - where people share their deepest stories without judgment - enables an alchemical process of reconciliation that awakens our shared divinity and moves us toward mutual reverence across all human differences.

Unity of Walnut Creek - Messages