An Afrakan Spiritual Home on Western Avenue
On 7825 South Western Avenue in the heart of South Los Angeles, KRST Unity Center of Afrakan Spiritual Science offers a spiritual path that ties the New Thought tradition of Unity to the ancient spiritual teachings of the Nile Valley. Founded as Christ Unity Center in the 1920s and reshaped into its current form under the ministry of Rev. Dr. Richard "Meri Ka Ra" Byrd, the center is built around the Kemetic principle of the Christ, the practical application of MAAT, and a commitment to the healing of a community still working through the legacy of racism and poverty.
The center is an Afrakan centered spiritual center committed and dedicated to the principles and practices of MAAT: Truth, Justice, Propriety, Order, Balance, Reciprocity and Harmony. Visitors walking through the doors find a teaching tradition that traces Unity back through Christian Science, Transcendentalism, and the Rosicrucian Order to the religious thought of ancient Egypt, then turns that lineage into a living program of study, ritual, and service for the people of South Los Angeles.
From Christ Unity Center to KRST
The roots of the center run deep. The original Unity movement was founded in 1889 by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, who learned about spiritual healing from a representative of the Metaphysical College and went on to publish Modern Thought. The Winged Globe symbol Charles Fillmore chose for Unity was an ancient Egyptian sun disk representing the relationship of Spirit, body, and soul.
The Los Angeles congregation that would become KRST Unity Center was organized in the 1920s under the leadership of Rev. Helen Mouton, with founding members including John Merritt, Mrs. Juanita Merritt, Mrs. Mary Justice, and Mrs. Juanita Townsend. Unity was incorporated in August 1937 with its first center at 46th and Mettler. Rev. Mouton served as minister until 1960, when Rev. Trudie Liddell took over. In 1961 Rev. Liddell and her family bought the building on Western Avenue and moved the congregation in the same year.
Rev. Liddell continued to serve until 1983, followed by Rev. Mario de Farrai (1983 to 1987), Rev. Thomas Vivens, Rev. Ms. Clare Epps, and a brief return by Rev. Liddell out of retirement. Rev. Dr. Richard Byrd began his unofficial service on Thanksgiving 1988 with a concert and officially opened his ministry on Sunday, January 1, 1989, before a congregation of about ten people.
The Afrikanization of the Ministry
When Rev. Byrd arrived, Christ Unity Center was a typical Unity congregation tucked into South Central Los Angeles. His early vision was to grow large enough to relocate a little west, to a more universal setting. Instead, Rev. Byrd and his wife Rev. Erica Byrd found themselves drawn to grow where they were planted, right here smack in the middle of South Central Los Angeles. What began as a typical Unity message for those with their heads just a little out of the water gave way to a deeper calling to bring the New Thought teachings to people who were drowning.
Inspired by a radio conversation with Dr. Leonard Jefferies, Rev. Byrd began to weave the Afrakan historical and cultural framework directly into the Unity teachings. The shift caused a major revolt within the church leadership, with the existing board attempting to oust him for embracing Afrakan-centered programs. The members held fast through a reorganization, and on September 5, 1993, Afrakan Spirituality was instituted as a separate Sunday evening service. Over time, the entire center took on the character of those teachings, eventually renaming itself KRST Unity Center of Afrakan Spiritual Science.
The Principles of MAAT and the Kemetic Christ
The center's core teaching is what it calls the Kemetic (Ancient Egyptian) principle of the Christ: the transformative power of the all that is within each person and thing. Members affirm a Statement of Being each time they gather: SPIRIT IS ALL; Both Invisible and Visible; One Presence; One Mind; One Power is ALL. This That Is ALL Is Perfect Life, Perfect Love, And Perfect Substance.
MAAT, the ancient Egyptian goddess whose name has become the center's shorthand for moral and cosmic order, stands for Truth, Justice, Propriety, Harmony, Order, Balance, and Reciprocity. These seven principles shape both private practice and communal life. Worship at KRST includes the pouring of libation, a ceremony that calls upon ancestors far and near, fathers of our fathers, mothers of our mothers, to bear witness and inspire the congregation toward reclaiming our African minds, regenerating our African spirit. The affirmation Ashé is spoken to seal agreement, a word that means and so it is.
Members also work with the Ten Virtues and the 42 Declarations of Innocence drawn from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Virtues include commitments such as I will Control my Thoughts, I will be Free from Resentment Under the Experience of Wrong Doing, and I will be Ready and Prepared for any and all Initiation Processes. The Declarations begin I have not done iniquity and run through I have not slaughtered animals, a sweeping ethical inventory that the community uses as a mirror for daily conduct.
The Sunday Empowerment Service
The congregation gathers on Sundays for the Empowerment Service at 10:30 a.m., a celebration that combines teaching, music, libation, and meditation. The service is livestreamed on the Zoom platform (Meeting ID 820 3283 6136, Passcode 443451) and is also available through Boxcast, where archived services can be viewed.
The weekly bulletin, the Sunday Empowerment Service announcements, the upcoming Maafa / African Holocaust commemoration in October, and the monthly Tools for Living presentations are available. Newcomers are welcomed through a Visitor's Handbook and Orientation Manual that introduces the rhythm of the service, the meaning of the symbols, and the expectations of community life, with a membership application available for those who wish to go further.
Whm Mes Tu: The Forty-Day Renewal
One of the most distinctive programs at KRST Unity is the annual Whm Mes Tu, a forty-day period of spiritual renewal, revival, restoration, and regeneration that runs each year from mid-February through early April. Pronounced by Pharaoh Amenemhat around 2000 AFK, Whm Mes Tu was originally a call for the people to return to the fundamental concepts, ideas, thinking, features, characteristics and practices that had made ancient Egypt a great nation.
The modern Whm Mes Tu is divided into five phases of roughly ten days each, organized around four corners of the temple, the Physical, the Emotional, the Mental, and the Intuitive, plus a final Social phase. The first ten days focus on Physical Purification: a healthy diet, daily exercise, deep breathing, fresh air, sunlight, eight glasses of water, rest, and a journal of dreams and intuitive insights. The second ten days bring Emotional Purification, adding the study and practice of the Ten Virtues. The third ten days add Mental Development through a ten-day research project on a topic of spiritual importance. The fourth ten days bring Intuitive Development, ideally including a three to ten-day fast, deeper meditation, and an attitude of serenity. The closing phase is Social Development: building the Collective Summon Bonum, a Divine Community of Liberated Souls.
Weekly Whm Mes Tu sessions run on Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time on the Zoom platform (Meeting ID 845 9473 0202, Passcode 065369). The cycle closes on the Sunday after the final Wednesday with the annual ritual of Claiming the Space, a celebratory walk around the block with drumming, song, and chanting.
Friday Night Book Study and Tools for Living
Study is a year-round discipline at KRST Unity. The Friday Night Book Study meets from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. on Zoom (Meeting ID 876 6483 6017, Passcode 355981), taught by Minister Amadi and currently working through An Afrocentric Guide to Spiritual Union by Ra Un Nefer Amen and A Life Centered Life: Living MAAT by Rkhty Amen. Classes have a suggested donation of $10 for the general public and $5 for active KRST members.
On the second Wednesday of each month from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., the center hosts Tools for Living presentations, an opportunity for members to share their gifts and knowledge on holistic well-being and spiritual healing. Outside presenters are also welcomed through the ministers. Rev. Dr. Meri Ka Ra maintains a library of recorded lessons and conversations, including teachings such as Who Made God?, The SUN of GOD Resurrects in the Heavens, and Spiritual Science and Veneration of the Ancestors.
KA Women, the Movie Night, and the ASCAC Book Study
KA Women, the women's ministry at KRST Unity, meets on the second Sunday of each month at 1:00 p.m., immediately following the Empowerment Service. All sisters are invited to the gathering.
On the third Saturday of each month at 5:00 p.m., the center hosts The Movie, The Message and The Movement, a film and conversation series hosted by Br. Shaka Satori. Past screenings have included the 1997 film Rosewood, with donations requested and food and beverages available for purchase.
KRST Unity is also part of the Western Region of the ASCAC, the African Spiritual Centers and Communities Association, which hosts a regional book study on the first and third Sundays of each month from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. The current text is The Preliminary Challenge: African World History Project, taught by KRST member Enoch Hankerson, who also serves as ASCAC Western Region Vice President.
The Rev. Meri Ka Ra Food Distribution
Service to the surrounding neighborhood is anchored by the Rev. Meri Ka Ra Food Distribution program, which provides groceries on the second and fourth Thursday of each month from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The center welcomes volunteers for setup, distribution, and takedown, and the program is publicized regularly. The food distribution is part of a wider network of community engagement that includes partnerships with Black Lives Matter organizing meetings at the Center for Black Power in the nearby Africa Town neighborhood, where a hot dinner, a bag of produce, and vital information are shared.
Visiting and Supporting KRST Unity
The center is located at 7825 South Western Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90047, with the office reachable at 323-759-7567 and krstunityoutreach@gmail.com. Sunday services are open to all, and the Visitor's Handbook and Orientation Manual is available for newcomers who want to learn the rhythms of the center before their first visit.
Members and friends support the center in many ways. Online giving is available through PayPal and Cash App ($CucKrstunityCenter). The Continuous Support Program invites regular monthly giving, framed as a demonstration of reciprocity, one of the principles of MAAT. Donors can also contribute through the Ralphs Community Contribution Program by linking their rewards card to Christ Unity organization number ME079, through the CARS vehicle donation program, and through Amazon Smile with EIN 95-6064580. Used vehicles can be donated through CARS, and in-kind gifts of goods, services, or professional expertise are also welcomed. Every donation is tax-deductible, with a year-end letter mailed upon request.
The center is led by Rev. Dr. Richard Meri Ka Ra Byrd and his wife Rev. Erica Byrd, both members of the Ministerial Council alongside Rev. Amadi George Hines. Governance is provided by a Board of Directors headed by Lorenzo Frank, with Bruce Jones as Vice President, Marvia Sinclair as Treasurer, and Consuelo Alegria as Secretary, supported by members Femi Viltz and Mary Prater.
KRST Unity also houses and shares its address with two affiliated ministries. First Woman's Church in the City of the Angels meets at 8:30 a.m. on Sundays under the theme Where Women come together to gain deeper insight into the Soul of The Divine Woman Within. Eagle Wings of Enlightenment, led by Mataji, meets Sundays from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. for metaphysical teaching rooted in Holy Scripture and soul communion with God. A number of small businesses and practitioners in the Afrakan spiritual and wellness community are gathered under the KRST Unity Community Marketplace, including Oils, Etc. by Iris, Amenka's Healing, Cevyn Wonders, and The Building Blocks of Character by Jason J.SwagG Hamilton.
At the center of the KRST Unity program is this conviction: We are spiritual beings living in a spiritual universe, governed by spiritual laws, having a physical and human experience through which we will come to know ourselves and heal ourselves and our world. In South Los Angeles, that conviction is lived out through Sunday worship, forty days of seasonal renewal, weekly study, food for the neighborhood, and a calendar that constantly folds ancient Kemetic practice into the work of the present day.