Saturday, May 5, 2012

One of the pioneers in the field of religious radio broadcasting.

Dr. Ernest C(harles) Wilson
(1876-1982)


the ‘Dean of Unity minsters’


Dr. Ernest Charles Wilson or Ernest C. Wilson (1876 - 1982) was a prominent minister with the Unity School of Christianity, headquartered in Kansas City. He was ordained in 1917 and became minister of Cleveland Unity Center in 1935. From Cleveland he went to Unity School of Christianity as editor of Youth Magazine and later became editor-in-chief of Unity Publications, as well as an international lecturer and teacher.


 Charles Fillmore, the founder of Unity, appointed Dr. Wilson as his successor as minister of Unity Church in Kansas City. Prior to coming to Unity on the Plaza, Dr. Wilson established Christ Church Unity in 1938, and under his leadership it became the largest Unity church in the world, and one of the foremost churches in Los Angeles. 

Dr. Wilson was one of the pioneers in the field of religious radio broadcasting, having spoken on radio for almost 50 years, and having given several nationwide broadcasts in connection with Columbia Church of the Air. He had made over 1,200 television appearances.

He was the author of books many on Christianity which are popular today. His works include "The Great Physician," "Soul Power,"”The Master Class Lessons,” "The Contemplation of Christ," "The Week that Changed the World," "The Emerging Self," and "Like a Miracle."

MASTER CLASS LESSONS 
 1935  
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR TO THE 12,751 STUDENTS IN HIS TWELVE MASTER CLASSES TO DATE, WITH GRATITUDE FOR THEIR FAITHFUL APPLICATION OF THE LESSONS AND FOR WHAT THEY HAVE TAUGHT HIM 
He closed every lesson with the following to reflect on: 
 “You are a radiant center of the Christ light, mighty to attract your good, and to radiate good to others.”
Columbia Broadcasting System Inc. announced a change of policy in its religious programs. No longer would Columbia sell time to religious bodies or individuals. Instead, Columbia would put on a Sunday schedule of its own. to be known as "Church of the Air," beginning Sept. 13. Time Monday, Aug. 24, 1931 
1940 Ad CBS Sunday Radio Columbia's Church of the Air - Original Print Ad http://www.amazon.com/1940-Sunday-Radio-Columbias-Church/dp/B005DGLO6A




“Death is not the end of life, but an event in its midst. We are inheritors of immortality. Our life did not begin when we came into this world. Nor will it cease when this life ends.”

In the 1920's Ernest Wilson came to be the lead editor of all Unity publications, in 1931 he remarried Charles and Myrtle on their 50th wedding anniversary, in 1933 he presided at the marriage of Charles and Cora Fillmore, and in 1934 he succeeded Charles Fillmore as the Senior Minister of the Unity Society. He knew Emilie Cady, he was at Charles Fillmore's bedside in his last few hours when Charles asked him if he believed in eternal life, he knew Lowell Fillmore, James Freeman and May Rowland when they were young, he launched a very successful church in the Los Angeles area in 1939, attracting many notable celebrities, and in 1965 he returned to Kansas City to lead the Plaza Church until his retirement in 1976.


Wilson was considered a pioneer in religious television for his daily appearances on a Los Angeles television station and weekly network appearance on the Betty White Show.  Betty White Ludden briefly hosted and produced her own daily talk show, The Betty White Show, on NBC

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