Welcome To the 2026 Reprint

Greg's preface to the 2026 edition and the online edition goes here.

Rev. Greg W. Neteler, Author, and Founder and Senior Minister, Unity Church Universal

Welcome To the Online Edition

People often ask What did Charles and Myrtle Fillmore believe and teach? It can be difficult to answer because Charles Fillmore wrote many books and Myrtle Fillmore wrote many letters.

There are, however, two documents in which their beliefs were laid out in a concise form and were consistently published for over six decades: The Correspondence School Lessons, published from 1910 into the 1970s, and the Statement of Faith, published from 1921 until 1982. They define what the Fillmores believed–and never regretted proclaiming–and what they demanded their ministers teach.

The Correspondence School Lessons are republished and offered by the Fillmore Wings Study Program. We now refer to the Unity Statement of Faith as the Fillmore Statement of Faith because Unity ceased publication of the Statement of Faith in 1982.

The concise nature of the Statement of Faith requires a good commentary. There is no better commentary – and has never been a better commentary – than Greg Neteler’s Statement of Faith, published in 2010 and reprinted now in conjunction with the Fillmore Wings Study Program. I am immensely grateful to to Greg for sharing this book. No one living today, and no one ever – except May Rowland and Lowell Fillmore – has done more to proclaim and protect the authentic Fillmore legacy than Rev. Greg Neteler.

Rev. Mark Hicks, Publisher and General Editor, Fillmore Wings

Front Matter

UCU Press
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Kansas City, MO 64106-3148
© 2010 Greg W. Neteler

DO NOT DUPLICATE! Reproduction in any manner prohibited by law.
All Bible quotes from the Revised Standard Version, 1971 unless otherwise noted. Used by permission.

Table of Contents

• Welcome To the 2026 Reprint
• Welcome To the Online Edition
• Introduction, History, and How to Approach the SoF
• 1. God
• 2. Christ
• 3. Christ Jesus
• 4. The Holy Spirit
• 5. The Supremacy and Eternity of God
• 6. The Twelve Powers of Man
• 7. God Is Spirit
• 8. Divine Intelligence in Every Atom
• 9. Dominion Over Thoughts
• 10. The Creative Power of Thoughts
• 11. Sense Consciousness and the Kingdom of God
• 12. At-One-Ment
• 13. The Prayer of Faith
• 14. Jesus Christ and the “More Abundant Life”
• 15. Sense Consciousness Lifted Up
• 16. Creative Mind as Masculine and Feminine
• 17. We Live, Move, and Have Our Being in God
• 18. The Body of Man the Highest Formed Manifestation
• 19. Regeneration
• 20. The “Blood” and “Body” of Jesus
• 21. Spirit, Soul, and Body
• 22. Reincarnation
• 23. The Kingdom of Heaven
• 24. The “Second Coming”
• 25. The Golden Rule
• 26. Jehovah God Incarnate in Jesus Christ
• 27. The Word of God
• 28. Vegetananism
• 29. The Generative Funcuon
• 30. Resurrecdon
• 31. Doctrines of Chrisdanity
• 32. Closing Prayer

Another Undated Version in Charles Fillmore’s I Iandwriting. 25 The SoF as Published in Unity, April, 1921................. 32 First Publication of the SoF, Weekly Unity, Feb. 12,1921... 42 Facsimile of Unity' Phonograph Record Label................ 61 Transcript of the Sob Phonograph Record.................... 62 Chart: Trinity of Trinities................................ 68 Illustration: The Golden Rule....................... 79 The Golden Rule in World Religions......................... 80 Photograph of the First Unity Inn.......................... 91 Reprint of “The Vegetarian,” Weekly Unity, April 30, 1921.. 92 Front Cover, Unity, April,1911............................. 99 Back Cover, Unity, April, 1911............................ 100 Statement of Faith for Unity Youth.................... 108 Appendix: Statement of Faith Review................... 109

Here are links to Rev. Greg's commentary for each statement: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Introduction

I first became acquainted with the Statement of Faith when I inherited my former minister’s library-which included a 1930 copy, well worn and richly annotated in the margins. As I held it for the first time and slowly thumbed through the pages, I felt as if I held a treasure which I was not yet wise enough to understand the depth of metaphysics it contained. Seventeen years later, in 1999,1 taught for the first time a class based on the Statement of Faith and its metaphysical principles. Now it seems even more important to bring this rich collection of authentic Unity' into the light of the world today.

History...

I have copies of two versions of the SoF hand-written by Charles Fillmore. The two copies are similar and also different, and neither is dated. As to who actually wrote the Statement of Faith, a card in the files of the Heritage Room in the Unity Library states that the authorship is presumed to be Charles Fillmore. I can assure you that, if Charles was not the actual author, he approved every word it contained or it would not have been printed. Personally, I do not doubt in the least that Charles was the author of every paragraph.

The Statement first appeared in print in the February 12,1921 Weekly Unity. At that time it contained twenty'-seven items. The response of the readers was so great that it had to be reprinted. It next appeared in the April 16, 1921 issue of Weekly Unity and the April issue of Unity with the addition of items 28 through 31 plus a closing doxology (a prayer of praise directed to God).

To illustrate the popularity of this concise Unity' credo, in response to the initial request for copies of the new SoF, Charles requested that the publication department print 1,000 copies as a 16 page tract. The following November 22, 1921, Editorial Conference Notes state, “Chas. Fillmore is to revise ‘Unity Statement of Faith.’ An edition of 10,000 has been ordered.”

When the SoF appeared in the April, 1921 Unity, it was followed by this declaration:

The foregoing “Statement of Faith” is condensed from Unity literature; it covers nearly all the points of doctrine that have been formulated up to date.

We have considered the restrictions that will follow a formulated platform, and are hereby giving warning that we shall not be bound by this tentative statement of what Unity believes. We may change our minds tomorrow on some of the points, and if we do, we shall feel free to make a new statement of faith in harmony with the new viewpoint. However, we are assured that there will be no change in fundamentals; the form of words may be clarified and the inner and outer meaning of the Truth may be more clearly set forth.

However, the foregoing is the best we have to offer at this writing, and it is made in response to many requests for our attitude toward certain tenets of the Christian religion.

It has often been claimed that we do not believe in Christ, the atonement, and several other of the sacred doctrines of Christianity. A careful perusal of the foregoing will convince any one that we do believe all that is taught by the church, and also that our faith is bulwarked by an understanding of the underlying spiritual laws upon which the church bases its doctrines.

Those who want a detailed exposition of what we teach should write to us for the literature that more fully explains the doctrine epitomized in a certain paragraph, always giving the number. Regular readers of our periodicals and our literature, as printed in books and tracts, will at once recognize that they have gleaned, it may be in fragmentary and scattered study, a concept of the various points set forth in this “Statement of Faith.” —EDITOR.]

“We may change our minds tomorrow...” from the above has been quoted by teachers and students to justify new and different ideas about what Unity is, what it teaches, and more importandy changes in fundamental Unity metaphysical principles. These departures from authentic Unity have not been the work of malice but of lack of understanding. Unity was founded on universal principle, definite and exact laws which form the foundation upon which everything rests. Universal principles cannot change; if they could, chaos would be the result. WTat does change is the depth of our understanding of universal law and the meaning of words used to describe the indescribable.

If you read past the statement, “We may change our minds tomorrow...,” you find an important clarification: “However, we arc assured that there will be no change in fundamentals; the form of words may be clarified and the inner and outer meaning of the Truth may be more clearly set forth.” Charles Fillmore clearly understood that principles do not change but he expected that the understanding of the principles would, with further investigation, study, and revelation, deepen and be more clearly communicated to Unity readers and students.

Today, eighty-nine years after the SoF was first published, the Truth that is contained in the various paragraphs is still Truth even though you may find that some of the words now seem out of date. Look deeper and you will see a blueprint for your life and a ready handbook of genuine Unity metaphysics.

How to approach the Statement of Faith...

The thirty-two paragraphs are not to be memorized and accepted as mere belief. Each point is a premise from which to reason, study, and meditate and all the principles stated in the paragraphs are mystical. The ideas presented are seeds which, if planted in your consciousness will germinate, grow, and enlarge your awareness of Truth. Jesus once taught in a parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” (Matthew 13:33) In this short and simple parable Jesus demonstrated how your mind works. Each of the mystical statements in the SoF is the leaven which is hidden in three measures of flour. The first measure of flour stands for your objective mind, the part that facilitates conscious thought. When an idea is held in thought and accepted and enough thought energy is invested, it seems to disappear from the conscious mind only to take form in the subjective or subconscious where a feeling or emotion develops about the idea. Next the nervous system begins to change its state and the whole body cellular structure rearranges itself to accommodate the idea. This is how the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us.

Read each paragraph as we work through the Statement of Faith, think on what it contains; allow the ideas to move from the conscious mind to the subconscious, and finally into your body as the Word becomes flesh in you.

If I believed today what I believed yesterday. I would cease to grow. — Emerson