Charles Fillmore is one of the most important people in the New Thought movement. His fervent desire to make a difference in the world spurred him forward from being penniless to creating one of the larger New Thought Denominations in the world. The largest in 2009 is Seicho No Ei (The Japanese New Thought denomination started by Fenwicke Holmes and Masaharu Tanaguchi)

Links to Charles Fillmore's Works:

• Atom-Smashing Power of Mind - 1949
• Christian Healing - 1909
• Dynamics for Living - 1967
• Jesus Christ Heals - 1939
• Keep A True Lent - 1953
• Mysteries of Genesis - 1936
• Mysteries of John - 1946
• Prosperity - 1936
• The Revealing Word - 1959
• Talks on Truth - 1926
• Teach Us to Pray - with Cora Fillmore - 1941
• The Twelve Powers of Man - 1930

Fillmore's firm faith in the divine gave him the strength to place all his works in the public domain as he believed that truth should be available to all people and that God would provide for the ministers of such truth. This proved true for his ministry which continued this practice with many writers that it published until after his death. The availability of his works by having them in the public domain made it much easier for the expansion of the various Unity denominations such as Unity in Missouri (the first Unity) and then later Unity denominations such as: Practical Christianity, International Unity, Dove Unity. Eventually New Thought Denominations were formed that use his work but have moved to better embody his original concepts, one of these is the Universal Foundation for Better Living.

Charles Fillmore (August 22, 1854 - July 5, 1948), was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Fillmore founded the Unity School of Christianity, with his wife, Myrtle Page, in 1889. He became known as an American mystic for his contributions to interpretation of Biblical scripture.

At the age of ten, an ice skating accident dislocated his hip and left him with a withered leg - this event had a profound effect on his later life. As a printer's apprentice, he studied Shakespeare, Tennyson, Emerson and Lowell. He later worked as a mule-team driver and assayer before going into real estate. After marrying Myrtle, followed by the births of their first two sons, Charles moved to Kansas City, Missouri.

In 1886, Charles and Myrtle attended New Thought classes held by Dr. E.B. Weeks. These classes were influential because they proved useful in helping Myrtle with her tuberculosis and with healing Charles' pain from his childhood accident. Charles studied philosophy and religion and soon had a vision of his work in Kansas City.

Soon Myrtle was healed of her tuberculosis - something that she attributed to prayer and her involvement in the New Thought movement.

In 1889, Charles left his business to focus entirely on a prayer group that would later be called 'Silent Unity'. It was named this because of a legal conflict with Mary Baker Eddy over the use of Christian Science. In 1891, 'Unity' magazine was first published. Dr. H. Emilie Cady published 'Lessons in Truth' in this wonderful new magazine.

Later Cady's lessons were compiled and published in a book by the same name which is now a seminal work of the Unity movement. Although Charles had no intention of making Unity into a church, his students wanted a more organized group.

Charles and Myrtle were soon ordained into Divine Science and thus became the first He and his wife were among the first ordained ministers in their fledgling Unity "movement" in 1906.

Charles and Myrtle Fillmore operated the Unity organization from a campus near downtown Kansas City. The Unity Inn (Opened in 1905) was a popular feature; it was a cafeteria that was open to the public. The Unity Inn was a vegetarian eatery in accordance with the dietary habits of the Fillmores themselves.

In addition to the Unity magazine, Unity also produced a weekly magazine (run by son Lowell Fillmore), a children's magazine ('Wee Wisdom' - discontinued in 1991), a business magazine and ran a radio station (WOQ). Unity's best-known publication made its debut in 1924 - 'Daily Word' features daily devotionals. In 1928, Charles Fillmore made plans for moving to a farm adjacent to nearby Lee's Summit. Unity Farm would be the name of the new center. He also made plans to build a new church at Country Club Plaza - the nation's first suburban shopping center. The iconic Silent Unity tower and complex were completed in 1929 but development slowed during the Great Depression. Myrtle Fillmore passed away in 1931. Charles remarried in 1933 to Cora G. Dedrick; she was a collaborator with his writings in his later years. Although, Charles Fillmore died in 1948, the Unity School and Association of Unity Churches (founded as the Unity Ministers Association in 1934) continued and grew into a worldwide movement.

Fillmore had one of the earliest radio shows in Kansas City. In them, he would invite Fundamentalist preachers to debate. He won the debates by telling his opponents that he loved them and saw God in them, and none had anything to say after that.