The Unity Atlanta Church is in the midst of celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The church, located in Peachtree Corners, belongs to the Unity Worldwide Ministries spiritual organization, which, though based on Christianity, is one of several organizations that has its roots in the New Thought movement, including Science of Mind and the Agape International Spiritual Center. While the New Thought movement does center around the Bible, it is also influenced by many of the world’s religions and emphasizes the power of the mind and the spirituality of the individual over more dogmatic practices.

Perhaps in part due to this eclectic DNA, the modern Unity church welcomes people of all types into its churches and boasts a diverse range of followers. Rev. Jennifer Sacks, fondly known as “Rev. Jenn,” the senior minister of the Unity Atlanta church for the past seven years, describes this openness as the church “honoring all paths to God.” This willingness to see a collective spirituality in humanity has given the church a reputation for being open-minded, which, in turn, is reflected in its demographics. Sacks estimates membership to be 40 percent non-white or LGBTQ-identifying.

“No matter who you are, who you love, or how you identify, you belong here,” says Sacks.

Unity Atlanta also encourages a diverse range of practices, from a healing room in the church that offers reiki massages on Sunday mornings to the occasional sound healing sessions. This interest in healing modalities actually connects to the founding of the church, explains Pam Johnson, senior director for Unity Atlanta.

“The whole Unity religion was founded on a healing principle,” says Johnson. The church was founded by a couple, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, and Myrtle had tuberculosis. “She had this whole story about how she invited Jesus to come sit with her and help her heal her body. And she was cured and lived to be 90-something years old. And so the sound bath—anything that we do—you could say there’s a Unity aspect.”

That said, Sacks says that prayer and meditation are two of the primary ways the spirituality of Unity Atlanta is expressed. For Sacks, the church excels at teaching its followers how to spiritually flourish in everyday life. “We offer you all kinds of tools for practical spiritual living,” says Sacks. This philosophy is rooted in one of the church’s basic teachings, which states that spiritual knowledge should be applied to our thoughts and actions.

While this tenet of the church has remained the same, Sacks says there have been changes even during her tenure. For one, the pandemic forced her and her team to adapt to a world that was suddenly virtual. However, they were able to maintain a strong sense of community through Zoom calls and weekly discussions and classes.

Growing with the Community

That sense of community is a large part of why Johnson first joined the church. She had moved to Atlanta from Oklahoma in 1988 and had been told by a friend to visit the church. “The people were just so welcoming and so wonderful, really. And warm,” Johnson says. She was also a fan of Unity’s children’s program, as she wanted her kids to grow up in a church. 

That community extends outside of the walls of the church as well. “The people who get together really enjoy each other, and they don’t want to just be together on Sunday,” says Sacks. “There’s a run-walk group that meets, there’s the women’s circle that meets, there’s the men’s group.” Outside of its groups, Unity members can often be found helping each other with everyday tasks like painting a house. The church also has supported community service initiatives supporting schools, community centers, food banks and animal shelters.

Established in 1924, Unity Atlanta began as a small ministry housed in the old Chamber of Commerce Building in downtown Atlanta and offered one of the first Unity study groups. Over the decades, as the church grew, it moved across the city—from its 1950s location on Ponce de Leon Avenue to the historic Fischer Mansion in the 1970s. In the ’80s, a new chapel was constructed on the same property as the Fischer mansion, which the church had purchased.

When the church changed locations in the early 2000s, it impacted their attendance. “In 2006, our church moved to Peachtree Corners. And anytime a church moves, or you have ministers move, no matter what the denomination, some people drop off,” says Johnson. Something similar happened when Sacks stepped in as the new minister. However, the church quickly rebounded both times, finding a new audience and growing its diverse community. “There’s been tons of growth,” Johnson says about the overall change she’s witnessed through her time at Unity Atlanta.

Across her time as both minister and attendee of various Unity churches, Sacks says the demographics of the church haven’t fluctuated much. She did notice a drop-off in some of the children’s programs, but Johnson attributed that to the pandemic and the accelerated trend of youth interacting with the world—and religion—on an increasingly digital basis.

An Exciting Future

While there have been changes over the years, both Johnson and Sacks are excited for the future and for the upcoming celebrations.

Unity Atlanta has planned a full weekend of festivities at its location at 3597 Parkway Lane in Peachtree Corners, beginning with a reception on September 20. “We’ve invited some past ministers to come and say a few words, and our band’s going to play some music,” says Johnson. That will be followed by a full gala on Saturday night, held at the Crowne Plaza in Norcross, complete with a wine bar and live music.

And for the Sunday service, Sacks says everyone present will cross over the Bridge of Faith—a bridge on the Unity premises—that marks their crossing over from the 100th year to the 101st. “And you know what that means for the church and what that means personally for each one of us. It’s saying we’re all on our own individual journey together.” ❧

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Noah Chen is an Atlanta writer and journalist who writes for a wide variety of large companies and publications.