by John Daubney

The seed for serving grows and blossoms over time as we put ourselves in a fertile (spiritual) environment—If you hang around a barbershop long enough, sooner or later you’re bound to get a haircut.  In time, as gratitude grows, we naturally want to use our special God-given gifts to serve others.  Cheri Warren’s curiosity and passion for people, computers and photography,  manifested itself into action, in a playful way, as she committed herself to Unity. We are so fortunate.

“In my adult life, prior to finding Unity Church in Albany, I had not attended church services except on holidays, and even then only occasionally.  I feel so blessed that my involvement in the Albany Peace Project, and knowing Dottie Frament led me to Unity Church in Albany.  I wanted to learn meditation and she suggested I might be interested in checking out the Peace Project.  That was January 1, 2014.  I came for the APP kickoff day and was hooked! When I went home and shared with John that I wanted to attend a church service he thought “hell must have frozen over.” He attended with me that Sunday and quickly saw what I saw, and we’ve been coming ever since!  At first, I would just attend church and feel totally filled by the people, the service, the music, and the way Spirit flows so gracefully at Unity.  I was completely enthralled by it all, but had no interest in stepping into any kind of service role. I had been working way too much and I wanted to just BE me, without any of the baggage of my life.  I was tired and in transition, and I just needed the Spiritual “fill.”   I started by attending the 11 am service, along with the 6 PM service.  Each had its own unique substance and was now sustaining me in everything I did.

By the following year, I was wanting to get to know more people.  So, after hearing that we needed to create a new version of our church directory, I volunteered. I love to take pictures (cherylawarren.wordpress.com)!  Capturing the essence of people and animals is a particular passion of mine.   As the project unfolded I became aware that I had gifts that could be used to create the directory, and was a great way to connect with all the people at Unity who wanted to be in the directory.

Once I had done the directory, it was pretty clear that I had some people and computer skills.  I really enjoy working with others and finding “win-win” situations where people can excel with their gifts and together we create something that is greater than the whole. As time passed,  Jim and Kay’s memory book project came up and I was really pleased to be asked to create it. Jim & Kay then asked John and I to create videos of services for them and we were thrilled to do that!

It was also such a gift to me to make multi-camera videos of our exceptional music team.   I had been wanting to learn how to make videos, especially music videos, and here was a group of people who were willing to allow me to “play.”  So my service was really an opportunity for me to play, and I believe that when I’m playing, Spirit is working through me.

The next big opportunity came with the New-Minister Search and Find “Dream” Team.  At first I was asked to help with the technology to enable Skype interviews with potential candidates.  After the first candidate’s Skype interview, I was asked to join the team.

You may be thinking, Wow, that’s a lot of effort!  It was a lot of effort for every member of that Dream team which Heather Diddel so ably led within an environment of love and light, but it was worth every late night and all our effort on so many levels.  My particular role was to utilize technology to perform data analysis, using the information gained from the congregation’s  questionaire forms  to create a database which I then summarized. Using these visuals, the team was able to assess the feelings of the congregation.  I felt deeply blessed to be a part of this essential effort.  I realized I had gifts that could be of use, and that I was working with a team of people: Heather Diddel, Dottie Frament, Patricia Hunt-Perry, Roger Mock, Glyne Griffith, Orissa Skipper, Ernie Klemm, and John Fredericks, for whom I have the highest regard. I learned so much about me, about each of them, and about Unity.  I can honestly say that I could feel Spirit working through all of us as we went through the experience of enabling the Board to make a choice for our next minister.  Grace and gratitude were overflowing in every interaction.  What is not to like about that!  I was feeling filled to my core as my gifts were being used in service to the church.

I’d encourage you to seek out opportunities to serve in ways that make you feel like you are playing and let Spirit work through you!”