Thank you for visiting Unity North's website. Here are some of the ways you might get to know us better:

• Come to a Sunday service and join in the social time before and after service.
• Come to one or more of our various classes/seminars.
• Sign up for the Northern Light, our church newsletter.
• Visit with the director of Children's Church Ministry, Brenda Erickson.
• Visit with our Spiritual Director, Carol Kniskern.
• Make an appointment to stop by the church on a Tuesday evening or during the day on a Wednesday or Friday.
• And most importantly . . . smile and introduce yourself. We are happy you're here!

Some of what's available for you at Unity...

Unity people pray. We feel God's presence within us as we pray and meditate. Our mission is to increase this spiritual awareness by practicing and teaching Christian principles that recognize God as the one presence and power in the universe.

We also go to classes. We study the Bible as a story of human growing spiritual wisdom (including our own). We study practical Christianity: how to apply spiritual principles in relationships, jobs and careers, prosperity, health, and everyday living. We study Unity's particular approach to Christianity and to spiritual teachings from many religions. In Unity, TRUTH is alive and vibrant, not a closed issue.

Other activities include a bookstore, counseling, lending library, special prayer meetings, and various social activities. If you have any specific needs or desires, please call (763) 754-6489 for details, times, etc.

Youth activities are designed to help our young people develop self-worth, be a valued part of our congregation, and acquire a foundation of Unity teachings and Bible traditions.

About Money

Unity North is entirely supported by the freely given tithes and love offerings of those people it serves. "Freely given" means that you will never be asked to pledge, nor will you be assessed. "Freely given" also means that you will have many opportunities to give according to the value Unity has for you.

Prayer of Protection

How is Unity organized and governed?

The Christ Spirit is the head of our church.

Unity North Church in Coon Rapids is an independent entity. While our church is affiliated with the Association of Unity Churches, our church exercises full control over its own affairs.

The church exists to serve its members and friends. The members govern the church through electing a Board of Trustees (listed below). Currently there are 8 trustees. The trustees guide the affairs of the church consistent with the bylaws. Carol Kniskern is our spiritual leader and reports to the trustees.

Our lay ministries consist of people like you who are lead to serve our community by coordinating various programs under Carol's guidance.

We invite YOU to participate . . .

You are invited to be active in whatever way, at the time and pace that seems most right for you. Prayer, programs, and activities happen here because someone--someone like you--says, "We need it and I'll help make it happen." Carol and other people are here to help too so that needs are met.

You may want to become a member of Unity North Church, now or at some future time. We welcome that commitment. You are also welcome here without becoming a member. You may have a membership elsewhere that is important to you, or you may simply not be ready yet for membership.

Come to worship, come to study, come to meet interesting people, come to lead. You are welcome.

From time to time, people ask how long Unity North has been here or how we got started. Here is our history.

The first meeting of the Unity North Study Group was on May 13, 1991, in a law office near Highway 10 and Hanson Boulevard in Coon Rapids. Carol Kniskern, a licensed Unity teacher, was at that time the Children's Church Director at Unity Christ Church In Golden Valley. The people in the northern metro area asked, and Carol agreed, to start a group up there.

In the fall of 1991, we started a Steering Committee of interested people, and we published our first newsletter about that time. We met in the law office on Monday evenings until January 1992.

In January 1992, we moved the meeting night to Sunday and the place to the party room of an apartment complex near Hanson and Coon Rapids Boulevard. We were there until early summer.

When we left the apartment complex, we were offered the use of Dennis Thompson's chiropractic office in Andover. During the summer of 1992, we formed a core group. We decided that if we wanted to become a church, we would have to grow, and that meant having space to have classes and Sunday services.

In the fall of 1992, the Steering Committee got busy and started seriously looking for a place to have Sunday services. We started meeting on Wednesday evenings at Wendy Erickson's home in Coon Rapids.

Our first Sunday service was on January 3, 1993, at the Country Suites Hotel on Coon Rapids Boulevard and Hwy. 10. We rented a banquet room at Country Suites Hotel for Sunday services and another couple of rooms for Children's Church. Carol did not want to start Sunday services without including the children! We literally carried Unity North in car trunks for the next 10 months. We went from the Country Suites to the Community Center of Spring Lake Park and then to the Riverwind Community Center in Coon Rapids. By March, we were getting very tired of hauling everything in and out of cars and wanted a permanent place of our own; we started saving money to purchase a building.

In May, we looked at and wrote up a purchase agreement for the building we are in presently, as it felt like home to those who saw it. However, the purchase agreement was not accepted. We kept looking and looking, but couldn't find a place. Finally, in August, Larry Rothstein came up with an idea for another offer on our present building, which we leased from November 1993 to June 1994. We then purchased the building with a contract for deed.

The first service in this building was on November 7, 1993. When we moved into the church, Carol started the Y.O.U. at 9:15 a.m; the Children's Church and Sunday service started at 10:30 a.m.

In 1996, the door to the children's classrooms was put in.

In February 1997, we redecorated the sanctuary with new carpet, painted the walls, and replaced the existing lights with new lights and fans.

We added a second service on Saturday, April 5, 1997, at 5 p.m. That service has since been changed to 8:45 a.m. Sunday with the later service starting at 11 a.m. and the Y.O.U. meeting at 10 a.m.

There is much love and healing in our church community. Our intention is to build a community here--not just a church.

For quite some time, our church community had envisioned the perfect site for our next church, for we had outgrown our current building. One day as she was leaving Wells Fargo Bank, Nancy Helvig noticed a building next door that appeared to be a church. She then realized that it was a real estate firm and that it was for sale. According to Nancy, she heard God say, “This is your church.” John Lippert, our in-house realtor, looked into it, and we subsequently purchased that building and sold our current building to a Buddhist Meditation Center. On December 30, 2006, we moved into our new home at 11499 Martin Street in Coon Rapids.

And the story continues . . .