Unity of Oak Park gathers its community in a 1912 Prairie-style mansion at 405 North Euclid Avenue, just north of downtown Oak Park, Illinois. Founded on the New Thought principle that "love in action" is a living, communal practice, the center describes itself as a "vibrant family spiritual community" that empowers through "community experiences, partnerships, classes, workshops, small teams, prayer, and community service." A Sunday morning here feels part sanctuary, part second living room. A song leader welcomes the room, an affirmative prayer steadies it, and a senior minister speaks from the New Thought tradition rooted in the teachings of Myrtle and Charles Fillmore.
The Building: A George W. Maher Prairie-Style Home on Euclid Avenue
The home Unity of Oak Park grew into was not built as a church. The architect George W. Maher designed and built it in 1912 as a residence for Mr. and Mrs. James Hall Taylor and their family. Its style is "Early Modern Rectilinear," a Prairie Style home with a hipped roof, pronounced horizontal features, and bands of windows beneath deep eaves. Walking in through the front door, a guest first sees a beautiful arched window on the first floor landing. The architecture gives the building the air of a private retreat rather than a parish hall, and that intimacy shapes how the community worships and gathers.
The original purpose of the rooms is echoed today in how the center uses them. Worship services take place in the sanctuary, but smaller prayer sessions, officiant meetings, and meditation groups also use the prayer chapel with its elegant fireplace and stately French doors, and the glass-walled solarium that looks out onto an outdoor meditation garden. The fellowship hall doubles as a banquet space with a caterer-ready kitchen. The art room works as an enclosed meeting and lounge area with its own direct outside entrance. Three small offices host staff and outside practitioners who lease the space by the month. The center even rents monthly parking spots in its Euclid Avenue and Superior Street lot to neighbors who need a reliable place to leave a car, with motion-sensor lighting in the evening and snow plowing in winter.
Sundays at 10:00 a.m., In Person and on YouTube
The Sunday Inspirational Service is the center's weekly gathering. It begins at 10:00 a.m. and runs through the late morning, with a livestream on YouTube for those who cannot make it to Euclid Avenue in person. The center's preferred greeting at the door is simple: "Come on in and welcome home, you are loved and you belong here now, no matter where you have been." The service opens with music, settles into a meditation or affirmative prayer, and centers on a message from the senior minister or a guest teacher. The atmosphere is contemporary and conversational rather than liturgical or creedal.
Children and teens are part of the morning, not separate from it. Before the service officially begins, families drop off children ages 5 and older in the Youth Ed Room on the first floor. The Sunday morning rhythm runs from 9:45 to 11:00 a.m., with twenty minutes for an opening activity and circle time, then a forty-minute lesson, discussion, and offering, ending in a closing prayer. Parents sign children in and out at the door; children are not released to non-adult siblings.
Anyone who can't attend in person can watch the livestream on the center's YouTube channel. The stream starts at 10:00 a.m. Central Time. The center's General Hours are Tuesday and Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and the Sunday Experience begins at 9:00 a.m.
What Unity Teaches: The Five Basic Principles
Unity of Oak Park sits within the Unity movement, founded in the early 1890s by Myrtle and Charles Fillmore as a "spiritual movement within religions," not a separate denomination. The Oak Park center is affiliated with Unity Institute and Seminary in Unity Village, Missouri, and is a member of the Association of Unity Churches (Unity Worldwide Ministries).
Five basic principles shape the teaching:
- God Is: There is only one Presence and one Power active in the Universe and in our lives, God the Good, everywhere present. God is not a superhuman but the essence of creative life.
- I Am: Created in God's image, the spirit of God is in each person. The Power of God is expressed as Divine Life, Love, and Wisdom, the nature of which is good.
- I Think and Feel It: We create our life experiences through our ways of thinking, feeling, and believing. "In human terms, seeing is believing; in spirituality, believing is seeing."
- I Affirm It: Through affirmative prayer and meditation, we align ourselves with the ideas of God. Spending time in the "Silence" tunes us into our divine power.
- I Live It: Knowledge alone is not enough. The principles are lived through thoughts, words, and actions.
The Oak Park community is comfortable describing itself as spiritual rather than religious. The center welcomes families of every shape, and its signature community-building phrase is "Families are Made and Not Only Born."
Music as a Hand on the Heart
Music carries the Sunday morning. Juan "J" Lorenz, the Music Director and Hospitality Support, is a Chicago-born musician, composer, producer, and engineer whose jazz career began in the Ravinia Jazz Mentor Program, where he played saxophone and learned from the likes of Willie Pickens, Pat Mallinger, Tito Carrillo, and Bobby Broom. He curates local talent, produces and shares music across the center's online and in-person community, and keeps the music ministry humming through the week. Music is a way to reach people that words alone cannot.
The choir, under Director Daina Fischer, is in heart-centered hands. A Lithuanian-American dramatic soprano based in Chicago and co-founder of The Peppermint Patties, a vintage vocal trio in the spirit of the Andrews Sisters, Fischer also teaches voice and specializes in gender-affirming voice work. The Unity of Oak Park Choir rehearses Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:15 p.m. and sings at every Sunday service. New voices of any level are welcome, and Daina teaches twelve- and thirteen-year-olds how to nurture their own singing.
Music reaches the wider community through several recurring gatherings: a Last Friday of the Month Concert Series with booked acts ranging from the Sean Harris Band to Kucha and Baba Tony, the Soul Popular dance nights, and Friday Night Live Music evenings. Tickets are typically $15, and the concerts are meant for the neighborhood as much as for members.
Youth and Family Education on Sundays
Christopher Manvel leads Youth Education as Youth Director, with Baba Tony Brown as Assistant Youth Director. Their mission is to provide a safe, judgment-free, supportive, encouraging, and nurturing environment for children, teens, and families to fully experience the recognition and acceptance of their oneness with God, each other, and the fullness of life.
The Sunday youth curriculum, called the Living Curriculum, draws from the words of Unity co-founder Myrtle Fillmore: "we are here to help bring forth the divine within our children." Each lesson uses Bible stories and other ancient wisdom paired with movement, storytelling, crafts, activities, discussion, and creative expression. The aim is to "draw forth" truth rather than entertain. As Fillmore also wrote, the goal is "not to entertain the children but to call them out ... to follow the harmonious law of the soul's unfoldment."
Sunday mornings run from 9:45 to 11:00 a.m. for children ages 5 through 12th grade. Sign-in and sign-out are required. Throughout the year the youth program hosts fundraisers (summer movie nights, Trunk or Treat, gingerbread house making, winter ornament making, and a meal-making event for Housing Forward) to support the Fall Regional Youth Retreat. Children are encouraged to bring a small love offering as their introduction to the joy of giving.
A separate teen program runs alongside the Sunday morning with its own registration, often launched by a Storytelling Pizza Party where new families gather, eat, hear youth share stories, and learn about the upcoming retreat and fundraising.
Prayer Chaplains and the Heart of the Center
The Prayer and Care Team is one of the smallest teams in size and one of the largest in presence at Unity of Oak Park. Led by Lead Prayer Chaplain Carl Nawrot, the chaplains attend Sunday services and special services, listen with open hearts, and are available after each service to pray with anyone who would like that support. The prayer chaplain team includes Marilyn Joy, Paul Witt, Rev. Lucy Witt, Mary Ann Provenza, Steve Hoxworth, Ron Johnson, Nelle Cotton, Mary Pokorny, and Kate Lewis.
Prayer is "affirmative prayer" in Unity's sense. The chaplains accept visitors unconditionally, envision with them the possibilities for their heart's desires, listen in confidence, and pray for "the highest and best" in the person's life to be expressed. There is no fee. The Care Team adds notes, calls, and cards of encouragement for members and friends going through transitions. Prayer requests can be submitted online, where they are received and held in confidence.
Beyond the chaplains, anyone can reach Silent Unity, the worldwide prayer ministry of Unity, twenty-four hours a day by phone.
Meditation Programs and Monday Night Prayer
At Unity of Oak Park, meditation is treated as a daily practice rather than a once-off retreat. Three self-paced guided programs are available online:
- Good Vibrations 30-Day Meditation Program, for moving from uncertainty or self-doubt into a steadier inner frequency rooted in clarity and confidence.
- Kindful 28-Day Meditation Program, a daily practice of intentional kindness that helps a person become less reactive and more present in relationships, work, and the world.
- Capture Your Best 42-Day Meditation Program, a longer journey to expand what is best in and around you.
Online access comes with downloadable workbooks, prompts, reflection pages, and a private Facebook group to encourage daily practice. Rev. Lindsay Ambrose, the center's Community Director, also offers guided meditations on Spotify and Insight Timer.
In addition, an Online Prayer and Meditation Experience meets every Monday at 7:30 p.m. Central on Zoom (Meeting ID 924 4603 4520). A Wednesday Evening Book Club gathers on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. either in person or online to discuss a new spiritual book each month. Titles have included The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels, Living Untethered by Michael Singer, and Ken Daigle's Unapologetic Manifestation, with fall sessions also running as hybrid Bible studies.
Small Group Circles, Wednesday Evenings
For those wanting something more intimate than Sunday service, Unity of Oak Park runs Small Group Circles on Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. for six weeks at a time. Topics have included Songwriting from the Heart, Spiritual Support, Metaphysical Bible Study, and book discussions. Small Group Coordinator Lindsay Ambrose welcomes anyone who wants to learn something new, change an old habit, practice self-care, or build a new connection. A grounding meditation takes place just before each session, and parking is available in the lot at Euclid Avenue and Superior Street.
Spanish-Language Mindfulness for Adults and Kids
On Saturdays at the center, a Spanish-language Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) class for adults meets from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m., facilitated by Judith A. Sánchez García. Each session includes food and conversation alongside the practice, and costs $20 per session.
Back to back, a Spanish-language mindfulness class for kids ages 9 to 12 meets from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The kids' class uses the children's book El Regalo del Elefante (The Elephant's Gift) to teach mindfulness, social-emotional learning, and MBSR principles through stories, activities, discussion, and creative experiences, with snacks included each week. The two programs are designed so that a parent and child can each attend their own group on the same Saturday morning and learn complementary tools.
Recovery Fellowships That Call Oak Park Home
Unity of Oak Park does not run recovery groups itself. Instead, it opens the building to Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon Family Groups, and other recovery fellowships that need a quiet, neutral space in central Oak Park. A schedule of weekly meetings happens year-round:
- Monday: A.A., 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
- Tuesday: New Freedom Al-Anon Family Group, 9:30 to 11:00 a.m.; A.A., 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
- Friday: Courage to Change Al-Anon Family Group, 9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
- Saturday: Women for Serenity, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Al-Anon and A.A. describe themselves as spiritual fellowships rather than religious ones. They invite members of all faiths or of none to find, in the Twelve Steps, "a power greater than ourselves" defined in their own way. Newcomers may drop in at any time.
"Families Are Made and Not Only Born": The Community Partners
The center's signature social vision is captured by the phrase "Families are Made and Not Only Born," supported by Unity Worldwide Ministries through a LEAP grant. The program is meant to help other Unity and spiritual communities discover and reach the families they serve. The team at Oak Park also works with a network of local partners whose missions touch families across the western suburbs:
- Hephzibah Home, a children's home in Oak Park that provides intensive therapeutic care for severely traumatized young children.
- Housing Forward, which prevents homelessness whenever possible and stabilizes those facing homelessness with permanent housing. Every first Sunday of the month, Unity volunteers prepare meals for Housing Forward families in transition, led by Outreach Leader Susan Doyle.
- Sarah's Inn, founded in 1980 by women in River Forest and Oak Park to address domestic violence.
- Animal Care League, a limited-admission shelter for homeless cats, dogs, and small animals in Oak Park. The center partners with them on its annual Pet Blessing, when families bring their pets (or photos) for a custom blessing and goodies.
- OPRF Infant Welfare Society (Children's Clinic), with support during the Week of the Young Child and a summer concert.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon Family Groups, and Music Together You and Yours, which use the building for regular classes and meetings.
Volunteers are organized into six standing teams: Prayer and Care, Hospitality and Welcoming, Music Culture and Arts, Social Justice and Community Outreach, Grounds Building and Decorating, and Youth and Family. Elizabeth Gonzalez was named the 2025 Volunteer of the Year for her work teaching classes, supporting events, donating supplies, and serving with warmth and joy as a Board of Trustees member.
Weddings, Officiants, and the Building as Venue
Unity of Oak Park rents out its spaces for nearly any kind of gathering that fits the values of the center. Three packages give a sense of how the rooms are used:
- Platinum: ten hours of space rental, day-before item drop-off, tables and chairs, free Wi-Fi and parking for guests, on-site staff, linens, room cleaning, kitchen use, and a portable sound system.
- Diamond: eight hours of space rental with the same support and amenities.
- Gold: six hours of space rental with tables, chairs, Wi-Fi, parking, on-site staff, room cleaning, and kitchen use.
Common uses listed by the center include family celebrations, holiday events, weddings, quinceañeras, birthdays, baptisms and christenings, memorials and celebrations of life, cocktail parties, business meetings, concerts, lectures and symposiums, fundraisers, and group events. The Sanctuary serves as a performance and presentation space; the Fellowship Hall works as a banquet room with a caterer-ready kitchen; the glass-walled Solarium is a green room or cocktail-hour space; the Prayer Chapel doubles as a small reception room; and the Art Room has its own outside entrance and works as a meeting space with a lounge.
Three licensed officiants are available for ceremonies: Senior Minister Rev. Ev G. Godina; Ministerial Student and Community Director Lindsay Ambrose; and Rev. Minnie M. Robinson, a long-time Oak Park resident and ordained minister trained in Unity teachings. Their services include weddings, celebrations of life and memorials, christenings for infants and children, spiritual baptism for adults, house blessings, and divorce or parting ceremonies.
The Wonder of Unity Gala
The center's biggest single fundraiser each year is its annual Gala. Past galas have raised more than $30,000 in support of children's health and family services. The Gala Team is co-chaired by Board Treasurer Michele Schmal and Scott Buchanan. Tickets, sponsorships, auction donations, and volunteer spots are all part of the yearly rhythm, with the silent auction hosted online at galabid.com. The annual fundraiser is paired with the Pave the Way capital campaign, which supports the ongoing stewardship of the 113-year-old Maher building so it can continue welcoming both the Unity family and the many other groups who use the rooms.
Behind the Pulpit and Podium
The Senior Minister is Rev. Ev G. Godina. An ordained Unity Minister with a Master of Divinity, he joined Unity of Oak Park as Senior Minister in 2021 after a long career in education, marketing, and the arts, having served other educators, students, parents, and community leaders as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, marketing strategist, public school teacher, and international artist. His ministry, called The Power of Wonder, draws on forty years of practice working with adversity, violence, and fear, and his fine art is exhibited at heartwonders.com. He officiates weddings, memorials, baptisms, and other life celebrations, and his vision shapes the center's "Families are Made and Not Only Born" outreach.
Rev. Lindsay Ambrose is the Community Director, a Ministerial Student with Unity Worldwide Spiritual Institute, an officiant, certified group facilitator, birth doula, and meditation leader. She shares messages on Sunday, leads classes and meditations, officiates ceremonies, and serves as Small Group Coordinator. She is the author of Peaceful Mama and the upcoming The Nurture Method (Bloomsbury Publishing). Her guided meditations are available on Spotify and Insight Timer.
Juan "J" Lorenz serves as Music Director and Hospitality Support. Daina Fischer directs the choir. Carl Nawrot is the Lead Prayer Chaplain. Christopher Manvel is the Youth Director, with Baba Tony Brown as Assistant Youth Director. Susan Doyle chairs the Board of Trustees and leads the outreach team. Elizabeth Gonzalez, the 2025 Volunteer of the Year, serves as Board Secretary and co-leads the Pet Ministry. Michele Schmal is Treasurer and Gala Co-Chair. Trustees include Regina Conway-Philips, Lagel Gilmore, and Lillian Flowers. Rev. Minnie M. Robinson is an Officiant. Dan Paterno of PaternoGroup.com has been the Web Master since 1991.
Becoming a Member and Giving
Membership has no formal prerequisites beyond what most active participants already do. To become a member, the center asks that you (1) attend service online or in person, (2) give financially, and (3) volunteer. There are "no other prerequisites to becoming a member at this time." Members become eligible to serve on the Board of Trustees after at least one year of membership.
Giving is offered through recurring pledges and one-time gifts online, with a recurring Helping Our Ministry Expand (H.O.M.E.) pledge program that can be paused or adjusted at any time. Donations fund Sunday operations, the upkeep of the historic Maher building, youth programming, music, and outreach partnerships. A separate Pave the Way fund supports the long-term stewardship of the building itself.
A Mansion, a Movement, a 50-Year Ministry
Unity of Oak Park's history runs through one long-serving minister. Founding Minister Rev. Richard Billings served the center for fifty years before retiring on September 1, 2017. When he began, thirty-five people, all older than himself, had purchased the impractical fixer-upper of a mansion that had been intended to become the church's building. He taught at Unity School and was a guest speaker at many centers, including at his friend Johnnie Colemon's center on Chicago's South Side and three times at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center. After his retirement membership declined. In 2021 the Board of Trustees hired Rev. Ev G. Godina to rebuild. The building, designed by George Maher for the Taylor family in 1912, has stood through it all and continues to carry the center's ministry forward under its hipped roof and bands of Prairie windows.