Joanne Fisher’s Story
Joanne was raised Catholic and came to The Unity Center (TUC) about 25 years ago. A friend had invited her so she came with her children who participated in the Unity Sunday School.
She continued to come because she loved the music and the fact that the messages were more spiritual than “churchy.” She shared that Wendy always delivers a great nugget—a hopeful reminder that you can take into your whole week at work and in your personal life. These nuggets make total sense to her.
One of her favorite services is the Burning Bowl/White Stone Service. It is very cathartic and impactful for her. She loves writing it, praying on it, and moving forward. She has a small shrine in her home with all of her white stones. She also loves lessons on self-awareness. While it may feel uncomfortable at first, she recognizes and appreciates the growth she experiences from the practices. She also loves series that are based on spiritual books. She would describe TUC as a spiritual worship service with great music that delivers a message that will stay with you the entire week. She particularly loves the phrase about people who are “Sandpaper to your Soul.”
She became a member because she wanted to get to know people on a deeper level and she wanted to support the church. Financially contributing helps her to feel more connected to those participating via the broadcast— she had no idea that it costs $500 a week just for each broadcast. She contributes because she can and knows that every contribution helps. And another perk for her in membership is getting to know Wendy, John, Jennifer, and others in the congregation. It’s a real positive feeling for her to be greeted when she comes in and to be able to connect with so many people she now knows through her volunteering.
Her parents had exposed her to volunteering so it’s something she has always done. She has found her fit in Partners Fair Trade Boutique and wanted to help make sure it was open every Sunday. She highly recommends that people try a lot of different things to find what is best for them and invites anyone to come up to Partners Fair Trade Boutique to hang out with them to see how it works.
Her spiritual takeaways are affirmations, meditation work, the Daily Word—just try it. Whatever is happening in your life is exactly what is supposed to be happening. Everything works out the way it’s supposed to—do not take things personally. And “enoughness” is a word that helps her to realize that you have enough of whatever you need. There’s enough for everyone. It could be as simple as food. Just knowing that there are people there to pray with you to help you is a great comfort to her. Meditation shifts her in a great way—it starts her reset and she feels so full after she leaves. Her dad called TUC the "church of what’s happening”—an apt descriptive she continues to share with others.