Unity Renewal Ministries History

Unity Renewal Ministries has had a long evolution, beginning with Carolyn’s work with people in the Unity Church in Port Angeles Washington, Don’s first Unity ministry, in the mid-1970’s. This was the embryo of a dream that ultimately became this Alternative Unity Ministry.

Don and Carolyn moved to Anchorage Alaska to help with the formation of Unity of Anchorage in 1976, and a time of working together in the church, Carolyn decided to establish a holistic center she called The Abundant Life Center. This was the beginnings of her work in alternative ministry supporting people with spiritual counsel and Spiritual Reflexology, a technique she developed after studying Reflexology with various teachers including Master Reflexologist and Teacher Mildred Carter in Hawaii. Spiritual Reflexology is a system of physical, mental, and spiritual healing techniques delivered in a manner harmonious with Unity teachings.

Carolyn and Don left Alaska, in part, so that Carolyn could complete her studies at Unity Village in becoming a Unity minister. A path that took them to Unity Village, Topeka Kansas, and Omaha Nebraska, (where Carolyn established the Unity Renewal Center) brought them eventually back to Unity Village, where Carolyn completed her training as a Unity minister in 1995.

Carolyn’s long time dream has been to provide a serene place in nature where upon entering the grounds, one is able to immediately feel and reconnect with the presence of God within: a place to walk, to ‘just be’, and when desired, receive spiritual support through prayer treating the whole being, spirit, soul and body. The answer to this prayer of the heart began for Carolyn while she was walking through the woods at Unity Village in October of 1994.

Unity Spiritual Renewal Center was established in January 1995. It is the result of Carolyn’s and Don’s lifetime of practicing Universal/Spiritual Principles, participating in the unity Movement, spiritual studies, practices, and personal inner work. This work has been a consistent part of the work that Don has supported and nurtured, but was first inspired in Carolyn, through her years of serving in prayer ministries, in Unity churches, in Silent Unity, and in holistic settings. Most assuredly, it has been inspired by her deep love, respect and desire to support those who serve others in various forms of ministry.

In February of 2003 the ministry name Unity Spiritual Renewal Center was changed to Unity Renewal Ministries to more accurately reflect the mission and work of this Alternative Unity Ministry. In January 2004, the headquarters was moved from Belton, Missouri to the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington state, in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, near Seattle.

Personal History

Carolyn and Don Jennings Grew up in Unity churches in the Pacific Northwest. They met and fell in love while attending a Unity International Conference for Youth of Unity at Unity Village in 1959. They married in 1962.

They officially embarked upon a life of ministry in 1972, and have served in Unity churches and other forms of ministry in Alaska, Washington, Kansas, and Nebraska, as well as guest speaking and teaching all over the country.

Don was until he retired from the position, part of the educational staff at Unity Village, where he taught Ministerial and Licensed Teacher candidates for 9 years. Carolyn and Don have both served in numerous positions on committees and teams of regional and national boards of the Association of Unity Churches, Don hasalso served on the Executive Board of the Association.

Don and Carolyn are the proud parents of son Donald Jeffrey (Jeff), who resides in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Nola, and daughter The Rev. Kimberly Ann Jennings (Kim) Giacometti, a Unity minister who lives and works in St. Joseph, Missouri. Carolyn and Kimberly hold the distinction of having been the only mother/daughter team to attend and graduate from the Unity Ministerial School in the same class.

Rev. Don Jennings passed away peacefully Friday August 1, 2008 at 3:30am.  Carolyn and Jeff had the privilege of being with him then.