Rev.

Joanne Rowden
Minister’s Report
Annual Meeting – February 7, 2021

What a year we have had! 2020 was a year unlike any other. In November I arrived at my 6-year
anniversary knowing I have never experienced anything like this year in the nearly 20 years I
have been leading spiritual community. I am grateful for the strength, commitment, and love of
this community in supporting us in thriving through these times.

The year began ordinarily enough. We began 2019 with the overall theme: 2020 Perfect Vision,
Seeing Through a Spiritual Lens. Our first series began with a relook at our basic Unity
principles. During this series, we had Erin Donovan speak at a Sunday service in January. In
March, we began Lent with a series entitled The Walk, which was based on Richard Rohr’s book,
The Universal Christ. Although a guest speaker was planned for March 22, this was the first
week of lock down and it felt best to step in and do the service offering a sense of stability during
a very unstable moment. We found our way to offer a meaningful Easter service during this time
we were not able to gather in person. Our next series on the 12 Powers was intended to provide
our community with understanding of the faculties we have within us to support us in living fully
in the Christ, while once more affirming basic Unity teachings. Each summer, I enjoy sharing a
light/playful series. Although the events of summer were not light and playful, our series Lessons
of The Turtle provided a bit of lightness while continuing to share Unity principles. In August, I
was able to take off for 3 Sundays to renew. Donna Van Oosten, our second guest speaker for the
year, presented a series on prayer based on Greg Bradden’s book. When I returned, we began a
series on Being a Superhero for your Community. This led to our Fall Program on See No
Stranger. We ended the year with an Advent series on I Believe Even When. While earlier in the
year our Board of Trustees hoped we would be able to be together for Christmas, our holiday
services were held on line as we sought creative ways to connect us meaningfully. Because of the
unusual circumstances of this year, and because of my commitment to USC during this
challenging time, I was only off four Sundays, and as a result, we only had 2 guest speakers for
the entire year.

Because of our inability to meet in Unity Hall, Greg Skuderin and Michele Coles joined together
to offer a live Saturday evening service outside on Unity grounds. The service began mid-July
with an intention to run for 6 weeks and was based on familiar childhood stories. That series was
so well received, Michele and Greg continued another series on various faith traditions. Once
that series ended, they offered one final series of conversations on Unity basic teachings. These
Saturday series finally came to an end on November 11 as the weather was becoming too
challenging to continue to meet outside.

Like our Sunday services, our Youth and Family Ministry needed to adjust to our current
situation in which we have been meeting online. Although we did not hold YFM during the
month of April, we reconvened in May and have been holding services for our children ever
since. Scott Gessner and Kimberly Buehner have been doing a fabulous job of engaging with our
children through the Zoom platform. Scott continues to seek youth programs that will align with
our adult services. Kimberly has led our YOU group on very relevant to our times discussions
which was met by our youth in mature and meaningful ways. I am so grateful for them both in
making sure our community continues to support our youth in their spiritual growth and
understanding. Before the lockdown, our YOU group also participated in a volunteer service day
with other YOU from our area in sorting books and picking up litter in a local metro park. We
also had an online honoring of Camden Lockner who graduated from YOU in June.
The Prayer Chaplain program continues to support the prayer consciousness of our community. 
Michele Coles has done a great job stepping into Prayer Chaplain lead this past year and I am so
grateful for her presence. In spite of the challenges of the year, our Prayer Chaplains have
stepped up the plate to continue to support the prayer consciousness of our community. For
several months, our Prayer Chaplains shared a short meditation on M, W, and F evenings that
could be found on Facebook and our YouTube page. The Prayer Chaplains also had to learn how
to make a video and upload that video for use in our Sunday services. In addition, the Prayer
Chaplains are available EVERY Sunday in the Connecting in Community Zoom room to pray
with you in a separate, and private, breakout room. Our Prayer Chaplains stepped up to the plate
to learn new technology and their commitment to our program has been so valuable to our
community. Early this year, Michele Coles let me know she had discerned it was time to step
down as Prayer Chaplain lead. Our team is under a time of transition, and we know all is
unfolding in perfect order. At a Prayer Chaplain meeting on January 17, Marilyn Voelkerding
stepped into the role of Prayer Chaplain Team Lead.

Wednesday noon meditation time has continued all year, in spite of not gathering in person. This
is one of the opportunities to join with just a telephone as the meditation is done using our free
conference call line. I am grateful for each one who chooses to join me for this time of centering
prayer and meditation each week.

The Worship Team met early in the year to support our planning Sunday services. The Worship
Team is made up of a member of our Platform Team, Music Team, Prayer Chaplain Team, and
AV Team. We work together to create an engaging Sunday service. When we entered shutdown,
a lot needed to shift quickly, and I made all the decisions for a number of months. However, the
Worship Team began meeting again in October and have been meeting since.

The Community Development Team met early in the year with an intention to bring focus to
membership. Once we stopped meeting in person, the Community Development Team was one
team that has been on hold.

Like everything else, our opportunity to connect through learning shifted this year. I began the
year with a class on prosperity based on Rev. Jim Rosemergy’s book, Even Mystics Have Bills to
Pay. In February, we held a quarterly Communication class that was to continue quarterly in
2020, however that class did not start up again once our physical space was closed. In Lent, we
held a Sunday afternoon discussion on Richard Rohr’s book, The Universal Christ, which we
completed via zoom after our March lockdown. After Easter, I began a M-F zoom discussion at
10 am with a focus on 30 days of Fearless Living. Based on the response of that booklet, we
continued with a booklet on Healing, 30 days of Gratitude, Seeing Through a Spiritual Lens, our
Advent booklet. We continue to meet to date. In addition to experiencing a world-wide
pandemic, the summer months brought racial tensions. Our community has had a small group
that has studied Practicing Inclusivity for 3 years. We had just completed that workbook when
the building closed. I decided to offer an 18 week discussion on How to Be an Antiracist in July
during the heart of the racial tensions. A group of a dozen committed individuals completed that
discussion in December.

In addition to the educational opportunities I have offered, Karen Tomoff and Karen Kazsmer
stepped up early in the lockdown to offer a weekly support group in how to meet the challenge
through mental health offerings. That group met regularly for approximately 6 weeks when
summer arrived and we had a bit more freedom to be out.

Our Fall Program was another offering that we needed to adjust with the worldwide pandemic.
When the team began meeting in July, we decided to make the program fully online. We chose
our book, See No Stranger, and recruited hosts and facilitators. We had approximately 80 people
participate in small group Zoom discussions! There was a lot of meaningful discussion,
understanding, and education that took place during the 7 weeks of the fall program. Given the
restriction of meeting online, we felt this year’s Fall Program was a great success! I am grateful
to Laverne Wilson who was our team lead this year. She led with grace through the challenge.

I have also been privileged to meet with individuals to offer support through spiritual counseling. 
That, too, has looked different this year. The individuals and I have met on Zoom and I am so
grateful for the way this platform allows us to connect.

The office has seen some great changes in 2020. As our doors closed, so too did our office.
Roberta McLaughlin has continued to work, both from home and at the office, for a few hours
each week. Her time has certainly been cut significantly, and I am so grateful to have her
continued support as an administrator. Kathy Ginter has continued to do an excellent job as our
bookkeeper and works from the office two days each week. Frank Jelar, our custodian, has been
back at work since early summer. He and Eileen Spada (our Board Vice-President) worked
together to do a lot of maintenance around USC during the year. I am so grateful for the work
that they have done to clean and maintain our building during these many months when the
building has been closed.

The Cleveland-area Unity churches were scheduled to hold our joint retreat at USC in early April.
That, too, was cancelled due to COVID restrictions. We look forward to joining with our area
Unity churches again in the future. The Cleveland area Unity churches had also been planning a
men’s retreat with Daniel Nahmod. That, too, was cancelled due to COVID restrictions.

Because of reduced risk in meeting outdoors on our beautiful grounds, USC hosted a Women’s
Retreat in July. The women who gathered had a beautiful day to connect and explore spiritual
ideas together. Terri Brewer did an amazing job bringing this together during this challenging
time.

It has been about 3½ years that we have held a daily prayer call Monday through Friday.  We
start promptly each day at 8 a.m.  The call is typically complete in 12 minutes and we have an
average of 20 on the call each morning.  You are invited to join us.  The call in information is: 
319-527-2704 with an access code of: 559110#

I continued in greater service to the worldwide Unity movement by putting myself forth as a
Mentor for the Field Program.  This is the program through which I was ordained, and I have
always planned to give back to it as a mentor.  Currently, I am mentoring Ric Beattie, Spiritual
Leader of Unity in Royal Oak, MI.  Again due to COVID restrictions, all meetings that had been
scheduled at Unity Village were held online instead. I plan to continue in this program this year.
I am blessed by the support of the Board of Trustees, and this community, to be able to serve the
greater Unity movement in this way.

As you know, last year I was scheduled for a 90-day sabbatical, due after completing 5 years in
service to USC. I made the decision in March to delay my sabbatical. In May, I made the
decision to hold off on taking the sabbatical until 2021.

Currently we are seeking to extend our online offerings by creating small group discussions. A
survey was sent out in mid-January to evaluate the interest of our community. Over the next
weeks, we hope to roll out additional opportunities to meet in small groups for discussions on a
wide variety of topics.
There is so much to be grateful for, and many new ideas that will come to fruition as we move
forward together seeking God’s greater vision of good for Unity Spiritual Center.  As we focus on
Staying Centered, No Matter What (Our 2021 UWM theme), we will surely come together
collectively to inspire each one to put into practice the spiritual principles and ideals shared by
Unity’s message!