Connie Govier’s Story
Connie was raised Catholic and had felt all the guilt that came with its teachings. She first came to Unity more than 25 years ago after the continuous invitations of two of her girlfriends. She considered herself a recovering Catholic and now believes she is recovered.
She came back because she loved the music and Rev. Wendy’s messages. The messages spoke to her in an emotional and practical way. The message about being “born in original blessing not in original sin” better fit into her belief system. She said that sometimes you don’t even know what you believe in until you hear it; and then it really continues to resonate with you. She always receives at least one helpful idea to benefit her life each week.
The Burning Bowl/White Stone Ceremony has always been an uplifting and spiritual awakening for her each year. In 2024, after a White Stone meditation with Rev. Wendy, the unusual word “kitten” became her new name for the year. She had recently seen a cute video about a curious kitten and a stressed out dog, who did not like the kitten on its couch. The dog stressed over the kitten, pacing for about 5 minutes before it settled down. The kitten was calm and curious and continued to slowly follow the dog in its frantic pacing across the couch. When the dog finally laid down exhausted, the kitten slowly went to its side and snuggled into it. Connie decided she wanted to be more like the curious, non-judgmental kitten rather than the stressed-out dog.
Connie gathered so many lessons that resulted in her changing her focus to the good she expected to receive instead of the negative visualization of worrying about what could go wrong. She is now more aware of the lessons that can be learned from things not going as she wished and the gratitude she has for the opportunity to learn and change her behavior. She benefited from Rev. Wendy’s explanation of sin as an archery term that means missing the mark instead of something evil. If you miss the mark, you now have a better idea of how to try again and get closer to the goal.
Her two favorite lessons/topics were about Rumi and “If the Church Were Christian.” She grew up in a church that claimed to have been created by Christ and yet its teachings didn’t seem to reflect that. She feels she has always been a true Christian, using Christ’s examples in the Bible rather than the Catholic Church’s teachings. She’s long been in agreement with the Unity principle that there are many paths to God and there is no one true religion. Organized religions seem to be judgmental of others’ churches and in competition with each other, rather than believing in cooperation and love and forgiveness and compassion as she believes were the teachings of Christ.
In describing The Unity Center to a new person, she would emphasize how she’s been affected by it and her experience of a variety of kind, curious, compassionate, wise, caring and fun people who are open to exploring new ideas contributing to the care of the world. She would also share the many activities we (The Unity Center) have to interconnect comfortably with each other and discuss new ideas in a safe environment with openness and curiosity and no judgment.
Connie’s membership in The Unity Center was her commitment to its ideas and her ability to financially and physically support its many beneficial activities and teachings. In addition to her monthly donations to The Unity Center, she tithes 10% of her gross sales from Connie’s Luminous Glass Originals, her glass art business. As a member of the Legacy Circle, she will also be leaving her business bank accounts to The Unity Center. She wants this contribution to aid in the continuation of Unity teachings long after she’s “graduated” into her next life.
She volunteered for and participated in many activities during the past 25 years, from caring for the youngest children during first service so that their parents could attend and then going to the second service for herself, FUNdraising for the Department of Peace, representing District 52, and she led as well attended many Faith in Action and Life Groups. Currently she is the volunteer cashier in the Sangha Café, which gives her the opportunity to socialize with members and meet and welcome new attendees following services each week.
She’s aware that she’s been so much happier with herself and others in the past 25 years and, in turn, receives benefits from making other people happy. Connie credits that to her membership in The Unity Center. Rather than recommending The Unity Center to others, she chooses to share the effects it has had on her and help them with information if they would like to take the next step.