The Universal Foundation for Better Living, or UFBL, is a

New Thought The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a new religious movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy ...

denomination that was founded in 1974 by Johnnie Colemon in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Colemon founded the foundation as an association for

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

New Thought ministers after breaking away from the

Unity Church Unity is a spiritual organization founded by Charles Fillmore (Unity Church), Charles and Myrtle Fillmore in 1889. It grew out of Transcendentalism and became part of the New Thought movement. Unity may be best known for its ''Daily Word'' devot ...

for "blatant racism". Rev. Colemon is often referred to as "the First Lady of New Thought".

History

After founding the first predominantly African American Unity Church in 1954, Colemon broke away in 1974. Named the Universal Foundation for Better Living, the foundation had 22,000 members in the late 1980s, with a 32-acre facility in the Chicago-area. The foundation adheres closely to the principles taught by

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

and Myrtle Fillmore. In 2009, the denomination had more than 30 churches across the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, with a majority of African American members. Colemon appointed Mary A. Tumpkin as President of the foundation in 1995, where she served until she died in November 2013.Finley, S.C., Alexander, T. (2009) ''African American religious cultures, Volume 1.'' ABC-CLIO. p 281. In 2015, Rev. Sheila R. McKeithen became the foundation's third President.

References

External links

Universal Foundation for Better Living
- Official Website
Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary
- Seminary Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Universal Foundation for Better Living New Thought denominations Panentheism Christian organizations established in 1974