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 I would like to thank ministerial colleague Billy Kluttz for sharing this powerful and empowering prayer posted by Extravagance United Church of Christ.  In light of recent violence, these words can re-center us in the consciousness of the living Christ Spirit in creation...

 On Sunday, November 15 in our Metaphysical Bible Class at Unity of Fairfax (meets Sundays from 10:10 am - 10:50 am), I shared with the class nine interpretive lenses that can be worn when interpreting scripture.  There are other lenses as well; however, these nine are a start.  I pulled this list from Wisdom for a Lifetime, by Alden Studebaker.

Nine Interpretive Lenses of Bible Interpretation

 In Unity, the Bible is our central textbook, and the primary lens through which we read it is called "metaphysical interpretation."  Beginning on Sunday, November 15, I will be leading a Bible metapyhsics class from 10:10 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. in the conference room at Unity of Fairfax.  The course will run on Sundays through the end of November.  We'll take off the month of December, then resume on Sunday, January 3, 2016.

 I'm posting my "State of the Unity 2015" address that was presented at the Unity of Fairfax Annual Membership Meeting on Sunday, November 1.  If you have comments or questions, please use the dialog option on this blog.  Thanks!

Rev. Russ

 The theme of my “State of the Unity 2015” message is energy management.

 On Sunday, October 4 Unity of Fairfax launched Unity Awakening 2015 - our annual series of Sunday messages and small group study focusing on the work of a prominent thought leader in the Unity movement.  This year we're studying Divine Audacity, by Rev. Linda Martella-Whitsett.

 On Sunday, September 27, I shared with the congregation of Unity of Fairfax the recipients and amounts of our August 2015 tithes.  Unity of Fairfax made a sacred commitment to itself to engage in the spiritual practice of tithing (10% of gross income) from ALL sources of income - monies received at Sunday services, mailed to the church, class offerings, automatic funds transfer, proceeds from events, rentals - all sources.  Our gross income for August 2015 was around $74,000, so we had $7,400 in tithes.

Early in my tenure at Unity of Fairfax, I started hearing about a fun and fundraising activity called “Block Party.”  For a variety of reasons the event was not held in 2013, but last year it was revived under the moniker “Blocktoberfest.”  What a blast!  We all enjoyed - maybe a little too much - the dunking tank, the pie eating contest, the dancing, the food!  A great time was had by all to be sure.  And there there were the silent and live auctions that raised several thousand dollars to support the mission of Unity of Fairfax.

 The Labor Day weekend is fast approaching, and I wanted to address the topic of "Spiritual Labor."  That's a broad topic, so I'm zeroing in on the idea of why engage in spritual practices.  As anyone who has endeavored to maintain any sort of spiritual practice knows, it takes work, effort and commitment to maintain a practice; but that doesn't answer the question of "why do it in the first place?"

Currently I'm away on a clergy spiritual retreat offered through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation based out of Washington, DC.  There are 12 clergy in attendance from various Christian denominations. In their 27 year history, I'm the first Unity minister.