Unity at the Lake celebrates 29 years with celebration and Hawaii raffle

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Unity at the Lake is celebrating 29 years of being part of the South Lake Tahoe community with a “Harvesting Our Dreams” celebration on Saturday, November 4 from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. That is also the day they'll be selecting the winner of the Maui raffle, their only annual fundraiser.

The fundraiser helps support community workshops, and their spiritual community and allows them to host groups such as Al-Anon, meditation groups, and various community needs.

In 1992, the seeds of Unity at the Lake were planted during the summer when 8 people began meeting every other Sunday night in the home of Karen and Brooks Martin, to meditate and watch or listen to classes. About a year later, the group began to grow and they started meeting every Sunday night. By the summer of 1994, the group had grown to 30 - 40 people and they had outgrown the living room.

Rev. Phillip Smithen from the Unity Church of Today in Gardnerville led a class on “The Celestine Prophecy.” During this time of growing interest in the gathering and the need for a new space, the group decided to officially affiliate with Unity, named themselves Unity at the Lake (UATL), and became an Outreach Ministry of Rev. Phillip Smithen’s church.

The pioneers and founders believed that they had something to share; there was a feeling that something was calling to be brought forth. Not really knowing “what” or “how”, they would pray first, listen, come to a consensus, and then step out in faith. This is still how UATL works today, and UATL has tithed from the very beginning and still does.

UATL’s first official meeting was held on September 4, 1994, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center in South Lake Tahoe. They quickly outgrew the small conference room, moved to the large room, and changed the time to 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Their new home and sanctuary is now at 870 Emerald Bay Road.

Just a few highlights of their early community growth:
1995: The Visioning Committee became a Board; officially started the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) with classes on “The Metaphysics of Oz” beginning in the summer and also provided child care, They continued with guest speakers and added a Thursday evening meditation; They also set up a mobile bookstore and had their first participation in Unity’s Silent Unity World Day of Prayer. This was also the year when the Outreach program began.

March 1996: UATL became a participant in the West Central Region Expansion Program; we designed and adopted their first logo and the first newsletter was published and mailed to a mailing list of over 500.

1997: The Board of Trustees became a Council and they incorporated with the State of California. Wednesday noon meditation began and they moved into the first office space. Under the umbrella of UATL, they purchased the for-profit ShastaSong Metaphysical Bookstore – a first for the entire Unity movement – then renamed it MountainSong. They hosted a variety of guest musicians and brought Dr. Wayne Dyer to Harvey’s on November 15 – 400 people attended. One Voice is their local musical ensemble that encourages members to share their musical and vocal talents. They share their musical magic every Sunday and are led by Annie Davidson.

UATL has been fortunate to have a variety of spiritual leaders including Dr. Stew and Hillary Bittman who were voted in as Spiritual Leaders in 2007, while they were studying to become Licensed Unity Teachers – they were dedicated on 6/24/07. Rev Kathy Zavada recently led the congregation for over two years, and kept the loving group together via Zoom during COVID and intense winter storms, when travel was treacherous.

They are dedicated to community engagement and continue to be involved.

"We are who we are because of the beautiful humans that come to Unity, or continue to participate through Zoom. We continue to have a variety of speakers and topics that vary week to week," said Unity in a statement.

“I believe it was in the early 1990s when I first attended Unity at the lake on a snowy Christmas Eve," said longtime local Cindy Archer a member for over 20 years. "Our cat had snuck out and I arrived at Unity worried and tearful. But a hug and deep listening from cofounder Karen Martin was all it took to instill my personal faith. I have continued working on that faith and Unity At The Lake (from members to inspiring speakers to heartfelt music) has provided ongoing support in SO many ways. By the way, the cat was waiting at the door when we got home!”

"I enjoy attending Unity no matter the speaker or the topic. There is always something you can take home and apply to make your life fuller and more meaningful,” said Kim Stephenson, a recent retiree from the Lake Tahoe Unified School District.

“The wonderful part of being a long-time member, more than 20 years, is the ongoing sense of support from the UALT community," said another longtime member, Linda Loughrin. "Although there is no dogma in the Unity principles, there is an overarching belief in the goodness of God, as love. We are each an expression of that love. I have been blessed by this awareness since we first started as a discussion group in Karen and Brooks Martin's living room. Through UATL's growth, from the Senior Center and the recreation annex to our current lovely sanctuary, I have been spiritually nurtured by wise and loving ministers and leaders. I am deeply grateful. Also, my family won the raffle for Hawaii one year and had a wonderful time!”

Tickets for the raffle are available for $100 each (and only 100 will be sold). To purchase online, visit HERE and select "Maui Raffle" on the drop-down menu. Tickets will also be sold at the event until the 7 p.m. drawing. Need not be present to win.

The “Harvesting Our Dreams” celebration will be held at 870 Emerald Bay Rd, South Lake Tahoe and, as always, they encourage new friends to join them.

For more information on Unity, visit https://unityatthelake.org/.