Spiritual Director

About us

Unity Philosphy

God

God is Spirit, the loving source of all that is. God is the one power, all good, everywhere present, all wisdom. God is divine energy, continually creating, expressing and sustaining all creation. In God, we live and move and have our being. In Unity, some other ways we speak of God are Life, Light, Love, Substance, Principle, Law and Universal Mind.

The Nature of Humankind

We are each individual, eternal expressions of God. Our essential nature is divine and therefore inherently good. Our purpose is to express our divine potential as realized and demonstrated by Jesus and other master teachers. The more we awaken to our divine nature, the more fully God expresses in and through our lives.

Our Teachings

Heaven is not a place, but a state of consciousness; we create our own heaven and hell here and now.
We all have an innate capacity to know God through direct experience.
The “Christ” is that part of God that is in every person. There is a spark of divinity within all people, just as there was in Jesus.
Prayer works.
We are here to set a positive example and be a role model for others.
We are here to make the world a better place.

Jesus

We believe that Jesus expressed his divine potential and sought to show humankind how to express ours as well. We see Jesus as a master teacher of universal truths and as our Way Shower. In Unity, we use the term Christ to mean the divinity in humankind. Jesus is the great example of the Christ in expression.

The Bible

Unity founders Charles and Myrtle Fillmore studied the Bible as history and allegory and interpreted it as a metaphysical representation of humankind's evolutionary journey toward spiritual awakening. In addition, Unity recognizes that the Bible is a complex collection of writings compiled over many centuries. We honor the writings as reflecting the understanding and inspiration of the writers at the time they were written. The Bible continues to be a valuable spiritual resource for us.

Prayer and Meditation

Affirmative prayer is the highest form of creative thought. It includes the release of counterproductive, negative thoughts, as well as holding in mind statements of spiritual truth. Through meditation, we experience the presence of God. Prayer and meditation heighten our awareness and thereby transform our lives.

Sunday Gatherings:

Circle of Love

Our Sunday gatherings provide an inspiring and uplifting atmosphere that will combine music, prayer, meditation, Your participation and a talk that will bring everything together based on a weekly topic that will be published the prior Monday.

In a typical church the service consists of some music, possibly meditation, a talk and some social interaction. These gatherings will provide all that plus an opportunity for you to share a story, an insight or even request a prayer all as part of the service.

We have known since the dawn of man that we learn from stories. Life stories are what the Bible and other sacred scripture are based upon. Each Sunday numerous participants will be able to share an insight, story or their gift of music, poetry or prose.

We walk away knowing a little bit more about each other along with tools to assist us during the week.

Reverend James Daly - Spiritual Director

Reverend James E. Daly was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He moved to Los Angeles in 1985. For over 30 years Reverend Daly worked in technology sales, sales management and executive management with various computer and software companies before settling into his spiritual calling.

Reverend Daly served for 10 years as Co-Director of the Agape Homeward Bound Ministries which serves those who are hungry and without permanent shelter. He was also a member of the Agape International Spiritual Center Board of Trustees for 6 years under the direction of Rev Dr Michael Beckwith.

Reverend Daly was ordained a Religious Science Minister in 2002 at the City of Angels Church in Los Angeles under Rev. Dr. O.C. Smith.

Reverend Daly founded the Love & Understanding Institute in April of 2002. Love & Understanding had a weekly Sunday Los Angeles Cable program on Time Warner Cable through 2007. He continues to write a weekly spiritual newsletter that is distributed by email and published on his Facebook page.

Reverend Daly was the Spiritual Director of Westside Unity Church for almost 4 years. He is now establishing his own Unity Church in Santa Monica, CA called Unity of Love & Understanding. He is also completing his credentialing to be ordained as a Unity Minister shortly.

Reverend Daly is a 5th Degree Karate Black Belt. He is a Board Member and a Karate Instructor for Karate Inner City Kids (KICK) Organization that provides free instruction to youth in Los Angeles, CA. Reverend Daly believes in teaching balance in Mind, Body & Spirit.