The Faculty of Strength
This month we proudly honor our beloved “Reverend Mother” Ruth M. Mosley, founder of West Side Unity Church and Unity Urban Ministerial School. Ruth Mae Newborn was born March 10, 1930, in Olive Branch, Mississippi. She was the oldest of Myles and Versie (Halliburton) Newborn’s 11 children. During Ruth’s formative years, her hometown and state were known for having the poorest social support for and the most lynchings of African Americans than anywhere else in the United States. From her early beginnings, Ruth demonstrated enormous strength, having survived a near-drowning and a house fire and helping to care for her younger siblings.
One of her favorite chores was the mile walk on the dirt road to retrieve the family’s mail. She would often thumb through the contents on her way back home. On one of those treks, she discovered Unity Magazine. This pamphlet arrived each week with Sunday School lessons that introduced Ruth to a God who loves everyone unconditionally, regardless of skin color, hair texture, or life circumstances. It was a sharp contrast to the God of fear and vengeance that favored Whites over Blacks as she had been taught. Ruth often wondered if, based on the different teachings, there were two Gods–one that was discriminating, jealous, judging, and vengeful, and the other that was pure, unconditional love. She continued to contemplate that idea in her heart as she grew into adulthood. Little did she know that someday she would be one of the leaders who would spread the message of “One presence and One power” within everyone. Ruth eventually moved to Detroit for employment opportunities, and that is when she began attending Detroit Unity Temple. Rev. Ruth was a teenage mother with two sons when she met and married William Mosley. He adopted her sons and they later had a baby girl. The strength and courage she possessed was unlimited.
While fulfilling her roles as wife and mother, she followed her dream to get an education, earning her GED through Detroit’s High School of Commerce and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and English through Mercy College. She attended Unity School of Christianity in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, founded West Side Unity Church in 1964, and was ordained by the Association of Unity Churches in 1966. She earned a Master’s degree in Divinity from All Faiths Seminary International and a Doctorate of Divinity from Commonwealth Open University.
Seeing the need to bring Unity’s teachings into the urban communities, Rev. Ruth started Unity Urban Ministerial School in 1979. The seed idea for UUMS grew out of a time when discrimination against Blacks in Unity was prevalent and a fellow Unity minister, Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon, wrote a letter published in the July 1978 issue of Ebony Magazine that announced to the world the discrimination and prejudice that Black people experienced in Unity. The strength and courage demonstrated by both of these trailblazers were catalysts for major change in Unity.
Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon founded Christ Universal Temple in Chicago, the Universal Foundation for Better Living, and the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary. Both of them served as President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Unity Churches (now known as Unity Worldwide Ministries). It is because of Rev. Ruth’s strength that West Side Unity Church and Unity Urban Ministerial School were established and continue to thrive today. It is no coincidence that the power for Rev. Ruth’s birth month is STRENGTH because she was and IS the epitome of Strength. The power is represented by the disciple Andrew, the color Spring green, and the location in the small of the back. Rev. Ruth published several articles and books, and her life story was captured in a book titled, “The Book of Ruth,” by Rev. Vertell Allison-Talifero.
The book is currently out of print; however, UUMS is preparing the second edition to be published later this year. A bench at the Unity Village labyrinth is dedicated to Rev. Ruth’s powerful legacy (see photo).
Thank you for sharing the story of Rev. Ruth. It reminds me of the transformation the League of Women Voter’s sought for as we woke up to the discrimination within the ranks of our organization.