AUGUSTA, GA – If the Bible Belt consists of standard Protestant denominations, then Christ Church Unity falls a little bit out of the belt loop. I had never heard of the denomination before I drove past the Central Avenue location a few years ago, and it had been on my list ever since.

I walked into the 11 a.m. service and saw a cozy sanctuary with a lofty wooden ceiling. A smiling young woman sat at a keyboard playing and singing a welcome song as churchgoers entered. We sang a few contemporary songs and then, for the offertory, an older man sang an unforgettable acoustic ’60s-style protest song about Jesus teaching people love and acceptance rather than exclusion based on superficial mores.

The pastor, wearing a light grey skirt-suit with a pink blouse, gave her sermon. She was womanly in her dress and manner, with a soft voice and wispy blond hair — as opposed to other female pastors who sometimes display more masculine power postures or weargender-neutral clothing. It was refreshing to see a thoroughly feminine authority in church.

She used Jesus’ miracle of walking onwater and the instance of Peter as an allegory for having resilient faith in our own lives.

For the most part, I felt like I was sitting in a Methodist service. That was probably because the church décor is traditional, having been a former Lutheran church, and is built in the classic arrangement with a chancel and altar area. The service was also a typical stand-and-sit program with the same type of contemporary worship songs, the kind with generic, doctrine-free lyrics I hear inmainstream Protestant churches.

This denomination considers itself Christian, but they don’t claim Christianity as the exclusive means to find divinity. Instead, they emphasize the life of Jesus as a pragmatic example of how to get there.

At other times I felt like I was in a Unitarian church. For instance, when we sang the “Peace Song,” we referred to God as “Father/Mother.” That felt downright New Age. The word Christ, when said in a Unity church, refers to the “spark of divinity” in humans, rather than Jesus the son of God, another difference between traditional denominations.

In fact, the denomination came out of the “new thought” movement, a turn-of-the-century thinking related to the New Age movement, but wholly not the same. It was sort of the precursor to the self-help healing books of today.

The Christian Scientist denomination found its roots around the same metaphysical ideas — although, again, it has entirely different beliefs. Christ Church Unity also places an emphasis on a metaphysical interpretation of the Bible and on physical healing from prayer.

In theory, that seems in line withProtestant churches who believe in healing from intercessory prayer. In practice, it’s not the same thing. Unity churches believe in a more philosophical approach to prayer, in which one connects to the spark of God within one through meditation.

Christ Church Unity
2301 Central Ave.
augustaunity.org

Pastor: Rev. Sheryl Padgett
Attendance: 50
Founded: 1976