About Unity Palo Alto Community Church And My Adult Spiritual Life

When I lived in Mountain View, California in the late 1980’s I attended Unity Palo Alto Community Church. Unity Church is based upon the teachings of Jesus – and the bible. It is a deeply spiritual movement that focuses on the Power of Positive Thinking, the Power of Love, and the Power of the Light of God within us to guide us and move us in ways we know not of.

One of the best things about attending the Sunday Services at Unity Palo Alto Community Church was that at the end of each service all the people in attendance would stand and hold hands and sing “Let There Be Peace On Earth And Let It Begin With Me.” I used to get goose pimples on my arms every time we would sing this song – it was exhilarating – and inspiring.

I enjoyed attending lectures given by many different speakers – got involved with a study group reading Wayne Dyers “You’ll See It When You Believe It” – and my parents became members of the Church.

Spending time with dynamic and positive people who were prospering and making a difference in the world was a life changing experience. I met and made friends – I learned so much about Positive Thinking – and the Powers of Love in it’s many forms. I knew it was the right thing to do because each time I would contemplate the materials or books I was immersed in – I kept having AHA Experiences! The ones that make you feel like the light bulb light up inside of you – and you are so inspired you just cant stop thinking about what you just learned.

I often felt the presence of the Christ Consciousness – the Magic of contemplating it – the excitement of applying it in my own life and the Miracles that would come as a result. I believed in them – and I believed in my spiritual life more because I was living in this wonderful way of thinking.

Here is a list of the things that I loved the most about attending Unity Palo Alto Community Church:

• Attending Church every Sunday and singing Unity songs during service

• Witnessing the Power of Prayer with the whole congregation

• Enjoying the refinement of the music – having musicians playing for our services.

• Learning about what a Novena is

• Attending A Burning Bowl Ceremony: Learning about the Sacred, Symbolic and Spiritual Power of burning a piece of paper on which I had written about a spiritual or physical need - or maybe I wrote a prayer about something I wanted to resolve and make peace with in my life – or perhaps I wrote a prayer about a healing that was greatly needed. No matter what I wrote about - it was the act of writing - and then reading it - and then surrendering it to God. It was deeply spiritual in a way that I had never experienced before - and I was learning about giving things to God - and allowing the Power of God to move in my life in a way that I had not done before.

• Spending Christmas Eve and New Years Eve at Unity Palo Alto Community Church – and the wonderful spiritual activities we were involved in on those very special holidays.

Most especially I want to love and acknowledge our Unity Minister, Reverend Stanford Hampson. His wonderful talks and heartfelt ministering to our congregation is WHY I ATTENDED and WHY I BENEFITED from my attendance.



Picture from the Palo Alto Historical Society



Reverend Stan Hampson is a man of heart and meaning - and he gave of himself to all people in ways that made a difference. He inspired and motivated his congregation to think about and apply the principles of Jesus in their daily lives - and in doing this he gave his love and demonstrated his dedication. Reverend Stan Hampson brought more light to that Palo Alto Unity Church when he opened his heart to them each Sunday Service - and when he did he drew more people to attend - and they were blessed - as our family was blessed.

• Learning about Treasure Mapping

• Learning about the Author, Catherine Ponder

• Singing in a choir

• Potlucks and Gatherings for fun

• Attending weekday meditations and prayer time

• Witnessing my parent’s dedication and commitment to this church when they became members was healing and inspiring to me. Even though I did not become a member during that time – I look back as I write this and wish that I had – because I loved this church so much. It changed our family and gave us something we needed – the simple loving expression and experience of worshiping God and practicing what we feel Jesus came here to teach us all with people who loved the God the way we did.

• A very rewarding job was to work for Palo Alto Unity Church as their Productions Producer. I was responsible for: Sunday Service Programs, Monthly Newsletter (mailing of over 2,000) and the managing all volunteers to duplicate, stuff and mail it; All promotional materials for guest speakers, classes and musical performances – including event programs, posters, copies of class materials, tickets, and sign-in sheets, and the updating and maintaining of a bulletin board that had posters of our Newsletter.

I Am the person I Am - BECAUSE I attended Unity Palo Alto Community Church.

I believe in the possibility of the unknown – I believe that Miracles can happen – I believe in the Power of Love – and I will never be the same again because I allowed myself to get involved and be changed by the Spiritual Truth of what Jesus came to impart and that this Unity Church helped me understand.

It is with great love that I write this post – and as this blog progresses I know I will share in more detail about many experiences that I had that changed me – made me smile – and were miraculous.

I look forward to sharing my story about Unity Palo Alto Community Church.

With Kindness and Love,
Lori Hanson

505.859.3498

ancient.goddess321@gmail.com