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The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that we have three excellent candidates
for the position of Lead Minister 
at Unity Church of Overland Park.

After thorough review of all the applicant submissions, the Board of Directors
has discerned three highly qualified candidates for your consideration in the coming weeks.
There may be a 4th candidate, as the Board received an application late last week from a candidate they would like to consider.  
Further details may be announced soon.
However, for now
 please mark your calendars for the following
Three Candidate Weekends:

Sunday, November 16: Reverend Nancy Oristaglio

Sunday, November 23: Reverend James Parker

Sunday, December 7: Reverend Brandon Nagel

Candidate Weekend Schedule of Events

 

Each out of town candidate will fly in on the Friday evening of their weekend and be met by a member of our Board of Directors who will take them to dinner.  Saturday, the candidate will meet at length with the board in the morning.  They will have the latter part of Saturday to prepare for their Sunday lesson.  Sunday morning, the candidate will present the meditation and lesson for that day.  Following the 11:00 service, there will be a congregational potluck.  And once everyone has gotten their food and has settled into their seats, we will begin a   Q & A/Meet & Greet session with the candidate.  Congregants may get to know the candidate better and ask them questions. Then everyone will have an opportunity to fill out a congregational evaluation form giving their impressions and opinions of the candidate throughout the Sunday events.  This form will be available in printed form or online to fill out.  On Monday morning the candidate will meet with the staff and then fly out Monday afternoon.  Our board will review all the evaluation forms from congregants and take that feedback into consideration as they continue to discern who is most qualified to lead this spiritual community in the direction we've determined that we would like to go.

 

 Read on to learn more about each of our candidates. 

 

 

Rev. Nancy Oristaglio - November 16

Rev. Nancy J. Oristaglio has served for ten years as the Sr. Minister of Unity Church of Antelope Valley in Palmdale, California. (www.unityav.org) From 2006-2013, she served as the elected Regional Representative of all the churches of the Southwest Region of Unity Worldwide Ministries. During that time, she also served as a member of the National Standards Ministry Team of Unity Worldwide Ministries. In 2009, she was chosen as one of five candidates selected internationally for the Unity Worldwide Ministries Board of Trustees. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Unity Alhambra Foundation in Alhambra, California from 2007 to the present. She is also a member of the Licensing and Ordination Team of Unity Worldwide Ministries.

 

In June, 2014, her ministry received a large Google Adwords Grant

for the online audio meditation series she wrote and recorded. Her meditation series, "Your 12 Powers," contains fourteen articles and audio meditations based on The 12 Powers, the book written by Charles Fillmore. The meditation series is a free course on the church website and has been visited by thousands of people from all around the world. Check it out here. 

 

She is also a published author, writing a column for the Religion page of the Antelope Valley Press. Some of the topics of her columns have been compassionate parenting, practicing the presence of God, living in the now, and the practice of Ahimsa; reverence for all forms of life.  

 

Rev. Oristaglio received a B.S. in Education from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio and did graduate coursework toward an M.A. in Psychology at John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio. She entered Unity School of Religious Studies in 1996 and was ordained and licensed as a Unity minister in 1998. During seminary, she was honored as one of five recipients of the Unity School Merit Scholarship Award for ministerial excellence. She also worked at Silent Unity, was a faculty research assistant for the Unity course, "Bible Overview," was one of the chairpersons for World Day of Prayer, and a counselor at Unity Village Chapel.

 

Before entering ministry, she served in the field of education as a school administrator and as a teacher of English. She was trained as a hospice respite volunteer and then became the Volunteer Coordinator for hospice in her community. She also has a background in music and was admitted to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music during her childhood.

 

Rev. Nancy is honored to be invited to be with us and is very much looking forward to it! 

 

Rev. James Parker - November 23
Reverend James C. Parker
has a vision to gratefully lead, co-create and support a vibrant and diverse spiritual community which fosters positive transformation, inspires love and makes a significant difference in our world.  

 

Rev. Parker has served as a minister at Detroit Unity Temple and at Renaissance Unity in Warren, MI. He was the Senior Minister of Unity of Ann Arbor from 2010-2012, and is currently the founding Senior Minister of Christ Unity Church of Ann Arbor, MI.  (www.christunitya2.org)

 

Within Unity Worldwide Ministries, Rev. Parker has served as an Ethics Review Official, a Prosperity Summit Member (2010) and on the Unity People's Convention Planning Committee (2012). Rev. Parker has served with the Unity Urban Ministerial School on the Licensing & Ordination Committee as their Chairperson (2012).  Rev. Parker also serves as a Judicatory Representative for the Great Lakes Unity Region (GLUR).  


Within Unity Institute, Rev. Parker has served as member of the World Day of Prayer Committee (2005), a member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee (2006) and a spokesman for the Spiritual Life Center Fundraising Committee (2006). Rev. Parker has training and accreditation in a great many areas:  

Chaplaincy - Church Management - Clergy Clinic in Family Emotional Systems - Diversity - Earth Care - Ethics Review Systems - Bible Scholarship - Ministering to Ministers - Healthy Congregations - Mediation Skills Training - Next Generation Unity (NGU) - Non-violent Communications - Board Training - Pastoral Counseling - Metaphysical Interpretation - Fact Finding - Mentoring - Peace Making Skills Institute - Public Speaking - Spiral Dynamics - The Power of Appreciative Inquiry - The Secret -  Thriving in Unity Model 2.0 - Visioning - Transitional Ministry - Website & Media Development  

 

And on a personal note, James enjoys golf, swimming, running, public speaking, life coaching, teaching, travel, music, art, chess, reading, writing poetry, prose, small magazine articles, newsletters, self-help memoirs and essays and short stories and is looking forward to meeting everyone at Unity Church of Overland Park!

 

 

Rev. Brandon Nagel - December 7

A lifelong Unity student, Reverend Brandon Nagel was first introduced to Unity by his grandmother and mother as a young child. Brandon began his work in church ministry right here at Unity Church of Overland Park in 2007. Over the course of the past seven years, Brandon has worked in both congregational care and adult education; however he worked the longest as the Director of Youth and Family Ministry. Brandon is currently serving as the Associate Minister of Educational Programing where he oversees all aspects of the ministry's educational classes and events.  

 

Brandon graduated in June of 2014 from Unity Institute and Seminary and was ordained by Unity Worldwide Ministries at that same time. Having grown up not just in Unity, but at Unity Church of Overland Park, Brandon is passionate about fostering a strong community based family environment here at Overland Park. He currently lives in Spring Hill, KS with his wife, Sara, and their new baby daughter, Harper.

 

Check out some of Rev. Brandon's "Greatest Hits" from our Sunday platform:

 

 

 

 

 January 19, 2014

"The Time Is Now"

Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 9, 2014

"You Are What You See"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 March 16, 2014

"Embrace the Madness"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 1, 2014

"The Long and Winding Road" 

About Us
Unity Church of Overland Park
10300 Antioch Rd., Overland Park, Kansas 66212
913.649.1750, www.ucop.org

Office Hours:     Monday-Thursday:  9am to 5pm
Building Hours:  Sunday  8am to 1pm; Monday-Thursday: 9am to 9pm
 
We offer practical, spiritual teachings that empower abundant and meaningful living.