SPONSORED CONTENT
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
SPONSORED CONTENT
Unity Presbyterian Church –
Leading Through Action
M
odern Churches realize that it takes more than a good
sermon to fill seats on Sunday That’s why Unity Presbyterian
Church is seeking to reach out beyond the pews into the
community, not only to spread God’s word, but to serve others and
be a light in the world.
“We are connecting in new ways to the community and we like
trying a lot of new, innovating things to change with the times,” said
Pastor Dennis W. Molnar. “Part of that is our Soul Series, which brings
in five or six speakers from May until October, to address various
topics that are universal to everybody. We’ve had speakers talk about
holistic medicine and medicinal foods, mental illness, caregiver stress,
feng shui, chakras (since they also have strong ties to the local Hindu
community) and grief relating to the loss of a child.”
The church has an art exhibition open to the community once
a year, as well as a new series of concerts that include individual
performances on the second Friday of each month and larger
concerts at various times of the year. The Three Rivers Ringers will
perform on Saturday, May 20, and the Pittsburgh Music Academy
is taking up residence as part of connecting to the people in the
neighborhood. A Community Musical Celebration marking the
500th Anniversary of the Reformation along with other seasonal
programming is also in the works.
Unity has a rich history of meeting need in the community through
its Wallace Nursery School and its ever-growing food pantry. The
nursery school has been a staple of the church for over 50 years, and
the Wallace Food Pantry operates every Tuesday to provide food
items to people designated by the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank.
It’s one of the largest suburban food pantries in the region. Other
programs address other community needs, such as the successful
Nativi-Tea, which raised funds for local charities such as Sojourner
House, a local Pittsburgh outreach center for women. Unity engages
in approximately twenty missions that serve people locally, nationally
and even internationally. It has even forged its own unique mission
of providing an annual Art Camp on the Pine Ridge Reservation in
South Dakota with local artisans and the Native American people on
the reservation.
Despite all of the changes, Unity continues to be affiliated with
the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., and is a member of the Presbytery
of Pittsburgh. However, they also believe it’s important to develop
relationships with other neighboring churches, and often participate
in “Interfaith” events with the catholic parishes of SS Simon &
Jude and St. Margaret of Scotland, and the fellow Presbyterian
congregations of Mt. Pisgah, and Covenant-Community Presbyterian
Church.
Within the church itself, members are enjoying new offerings.
Disciple formation is the new emphasis of program offerings,
including a rotation system for a “Disciple Zone” hour on Sunday
mornings at 9 a.m. A vibrant Vacation Bible School is held every
summer, free to the community as a result of a generous gift to
the church. New worship elements have been introduced at the
10:30 a.m. Sunday morning
service, including more diverse
music elements and the use
of video monitors. A new
interactive worship service,
called The Way Worship
Service, offered on alternate
Saturday evenings at 5 p.m., is
open to all.
If all of this sounds
like something you’d
like to learn more about,
go to Unity’s website at
unitypresbyterianchurch.org,
like us on Facebook or stop in
at 1146 Greentree Road.
Keystone Oaks | Summer 2017 | icmags.com 11