Martin Wells: President
Martin is a long time member of Unity of Charlotte. He and his wife Margaret are leaders in our Unity study group in Belmont.
Barbara Cunningham: Secretary
Barbara was born in Palmerton, PA. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication Disorders from Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA, and a Master's in Speech-Language Disorders from University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY. Barbara has been married to her beloved, Yvonne, for 43 years. Barbara's experience spans over forty years practicing as a Speech-Language Pathologist primarily working with adults in Hospital and Rehab settings in the Carolinas as a Clinician and Rehab Director. For the last eighteen years, she has been working in the home health setting. She is currently working, as needed, in home health whilst getting more involved with needs of vulnerable seniors and educating the community about “Caring for Loved Ones with Dementia”. Barbara took an eight year hiatus from Speech Therapy, in her late twenties and early thirties, to work with Yvonne in a furniture and woodworking business. Barbara has been involved with Unity of Charlotte for about 35 years (she started with Nancy Ennis with the weekly Sunday evening group at the Oratory in Rock Hill, SC and was also involved during the Rev. Randolph Wilkerson years). Barbara's hobbies include nature, birding, traveling, gardening, crafting - especially with wood and resin, biking, kayaking, hiking, loving their 2 doggies and spending time with family.
Ronald E. Rupp (Rabboni): Trustee
Ronald attended Bowling Green State University, joined the US Army, obtained a commission, and served for 9 years. After the service, he ran a motel, a restaurant, a small business, and sold health and accident insurance.
Afterwards, he attended Austin Peay State University and obtained an Economics degree and an MBA. He taught there as an adjunct professor teaching first year calculus and economics.
He was hired by Union Carbide Corporation by the production and operations department where was the operations manager to manage the production of stainless steel. He then started a small wholly owned corporation owned by Union Carbide called Union Carbide Alloys where he worked for 11 years. Over the next couple of years, Ronald worked as an international marketing manager for Keystone Aluminum and as an international logistics manager for American Carbon and Metals.
Ron was hired by USC, an international consulting firm performing operations improvement for major firms. He traveled throughout the United States and Canada. After 9/11, he decided to stay closer to home and became a Rural Postal Carrier spending the next 21 years as a carrier until retirement in 2019 at the age of 75.
Ron was married to Sandi on October 12, 1990 at the Westlake Unity Church in Ohio. Like so many others, after just one church service at the Arlington, Virginia Unity Center, he was hooked. Due to various moves, Ron and Sandi attended the Unity Center of Arlington, the Unity Center of Pittsburg, and the Unity Church of Youngstown, Ohio. In 1999, they moved to Charlotte and joined Unity of Charlotte. We attended sporadically, as both of our jobs required extensive travel. Sandi passed away on the 20th of December 2021.
Ron is actively working with the Prayer Team and currently conducting Reading Groups on The Mysteries of John and The Twelve. He served on the board of directors at The Unity Center of Pittsburgh for a short period of time. Most of his training has come from self-reading, reading with my wife, and meditation.
Gil Spears: Trustee
Gil is a semi-retired teacher with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. He is a long time member of Unity of Charlotte and serves on the Finance Committee.