Ministers

Wendy Craig-Purcell,
Founding & Senior Minister
email c/o: oneness@theunitycenter.net

Wendy Craig-Purcell is Founding and Senior Minister and CEO of The Unity Center, a 1500-member spiritual community located in San Diego, California. The Unity Center, formerly known as Church of Today, celebrated its 25-year anniversary in May 2008. Wendy is a graduate of the Unity School of Christianity, Unity Village, Missouri. She was ordained in 1980, one of the youngest to ever be ordained in Unity.

Wendy has been active for many years in the Association for Global New Thought (A.G.N.T.). She joined their Leadership Council in 1999 and currently serves as Vice President. Wendy participated in all three AGNT-sponsored “Synthesis Dialogues,” which brought together some of the world’s leading thinkers to dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet. The dialogues were held in Dharmsala, India in 1999, in Trent, Italy in 2001 and in Rome, Italy in 2004.

Wendy has been involved with other important AGNT activities, including producing six large-scale “Awakened World” conferences and the Gandhi King Peace Train and Living Legends of Nonviolence Conference. She traveled to Istanbul, Turkey in November 2006 as part of the planning for the Abraham Path Initiative, in partnership with the Harvard Negotiation Project, to open up a pilgrimage route in the Middle East retracing the footsteps of the prophet Abraham.

Wendy has been active in a variety of other Unity and New Thought organizations. She has served as President and Treasurer of the Southwest Unity Region, as District President of the International New Thought Alliance, and as Chairman of the Association of Unity Churches Church Growth Committee.

In addition, Wendy serves on the board of the Foundation for Affordable Housing in San Juan Capistrano. Her service awards include the Gandhi Non-Violence Award from the Tariq Khamisa Foundation and induction into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers Hall of Fame.

With a strong interest in Spiritually Motivated Social Action, Wendy and The Unity Center were instrumental in the early formation of the San Diego Department of Peace grassroots group in the fall of 2004. That initial group, Americans for the Department of Peace (AFDOP), now encompasses all of Southern California with The Unity Center providing ongoing support.

Wendy lives in San Diego, California (Scripps Ranch) with her husband, John Purcell, who serves as Director of Operations for The Unity Center, and their two children: Johnathon, age 17 and Jennifer, age 12.



Rev. William (Will) Newsom,
Associate Minister
Will@theunitycenter.net
Rev. Will has a background that enables him to be a gifted teacher and spiritual leader. He has a dual degree in physics and philosophy from the University of California, and a Master’s degree in Instructional Design and Technology from National University.

He attributes his broad interest and experience in spiritual studies to: 1) his stay in Nepal, where he taught school and also studied Hinduism and Buddhism from people who practice it daily in an authentic village situation, and 2) the early encouragement of his parents, who were both spiritually and mystically inclined, each in their own way.

Rev. Will continues to study under a wide range of spiritual masters and traditions, including Christianity, through the Gnostic and mystical traditions. He has accepted deep spiritual growth, practice, and the “enlightenment” or “awakening” experience as one of his goals in spiritual education and development. He brings a unique kind of opportunity to those who study with him at The Unity Center.