The Prayer Vigil Chapel holds the prayers of millions every year

I’ve never really considered myself a religious person. I generally scoff at organized religion as a whole.

However, I wholeheartedly believe in the power of prayer. That may seem a little contradictory, but I guess that’s just the way I’m wired.

Prayer, as I understand it, is very much like talking with a friend because it brings us closer to the one friend who is always available to us—our inner Christ.

We may lose touch every now and then, but when we need a friend the most, whatever the reason, our inner Christ is always there for us.

That’s why Silent Unity is such an amazing part of Unity Village—and very much the heart and soul of the Unity movement. One Ash Wednesday, I was afforded the rare opportunity to sit in quiet prayer in the Silent Unity Prayer Vigil Chapel on the third floor of the Silent Unity Building. (The Prayer Vigil Chapel is not open to the public. ...

Praying for Thousands Around the World

I was skeptical and a little apprehensive about taking part in something that I had no experience with. I then remembered, There are millions of ways to pray—none of them right or wrong. So I took a deep breath, centered myself, and cleared away the mind-numbing chatter in my head.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

Psalm 23

The words of Psalm 23 bring me comfort, and as I sat in the small chapel those words came to me again: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” With those words, I entered into my own knowing and returned to my inner Christ.

I was lost in prayer euphoria as the words of Psalm 23 echoed in my head. I then looked up and saw another powerful message painted on the chapel wall: “Be still, and know …” from Psalm 46.

I knew then I was where I needed to be at that moment in time—praying for the thousands of people who contact Silent Unity every day as well as those they ask us to hold in prayer. I was able to connect with my friend—my inner Christ—in prayer. And I was able to do something I have not done in a long time: pray without distraction.

Joy Perrie, [former] director of the Silent Unity prayer ministry, says prayer associates answer about 3,300 calls per day, and Silent Unity responds to another 1,200 prayer requests received via mail, email, and online.

Millions of prayer requests come in each year, and each one is unique. Those prayers are held in the Prayer Vigil Chapel for 30 days as prayer associates pray ... in 30-minute shifts, 24/7, 365 days a year, holding those requests in the highest consciousness.

“We hold callers in loving prayers of faith when they find it hard to do that for themselves,” Perrie says. “Just imagine what a privilege it is to affirm peace for someone who is anxious about an upcoming surgery, to celebrate with someone who just had a baby, to hold a vision for someone who has set a new life goal. It is a responsibility, yes, but also an immeasurable honor.

“Any time of night or day,” Perrie says, “people can always contact Silent Unity. We like to say, ‘We are the light that shines for you.’”

In fact, the cupola directly above the Prayer Vigil Chapel always stays lit, a comforting sight on campus at night and a reminder that even in darkness, we are never alone.


Feel free to reach out and give Silent Unity [also called the Unity Prayer Ministry] a call at 1-816-969-2000 and connect with a blessed, caring, and knowing friend.

This article appeared in Unity Magazine®.

About the Author

David Penner makes his home in Independence, Missouri, where he grew up, and is a graduate of the University of Central Missouri. He is the managing editor for Unity World Headquarters after serving for several years as senior copy editor and proofreader. Before coming to Unity, he spent five and a half years as editor of the Lexington Clipper-Herald in Lexington, Nebraska.

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