One God One Thought Center for Better Living

An Affiliate of the Universal Foundation for Better Living

OGOT is a Leader in the New Thought Movement....

  1. We are a leader in the articulation of a holistic, inclusive new thought philosophy which integrates and embraces both the emphasis on personal empowerment/self-liberation and an emphasis on social justice with its focus on community, oneness, and responsibility to and for each other.

  2. We are a leader in taking action and making manifest demonstrations of our spiritual principles to empower community....our church community and the larger community

  3. We are a leader in the identification and use of healing practices and technologies which accelerate the release of limiting and toxic thoughts which have manifested in diminished physical, relational, financial, and spiritual and intellectual well-being and the effective planting of thought-seeds and supporting practices which dramatically and positively impact growth in consciousness and its physical manifestations in people's lives.

  4. We are a vibrant physical presence in the Baltimore area and in the region. We have a beautiful church campus which includes sanctuary, classrooms, meeting facilities, manifestation/healing laboratories with biofeedback and latest technologies, communications studio and infrastructure throughout, outside meditation gardens, privately-financed school for neighborhood children and adults, thriving community real-estate and other projects, health center and spiritually conscious businesses that promote wellness in every aspect of life. Our presence is an uplifting and inspirational demonstration of the efficacy of the principles we teach

More About Us ...

The One God One Thought Center for Better Living (OGOT) was started by a core group of 15 people in Baltimore, MD: Coleman Adams; Sabree K. Akinyelle; Virginia Anderson; James Brown; Najaih Brown; Wilhemina Brown; Ellner Fields; Ronald Harvey; Evelyn Hill; Bernette Jones; Sandra Jones; Naomi Richardson; Tamera Swan; Marion Turner; and Lameteria (Glenn) Ward. In January, 1994, the founding core members went to the Christ Universal Temple in Chicago, IL, to meet with Reverend Dr. Johnnie Colemon, Minister of Christ Universal Temple and founder of the Johnnie Colemon Institute (JCI). The core group, lead by Virginia Anderson and Lameteria (Glenn) Ward, had a vision to establish a study group and a church affiliated with the Universal Foundation For Better Living (UFBL), Inc., an international organization of New Thought Christian churches and study groups also founded by Reverend Dr. Johnnie Colemon. The core group met weekly in 1994 to pray, study, mastermind, meditate, and tithe. The name for the group, One God One Thought Center, came through Naijah Brown, and Coleman Adams developed the organization's logo (the circle of oneness, empowerment pyramid, and ankh of eternal life). Four members, James Cherry, Paula Hutchinson, Maria Neale, and Theresa Simmons, were inducted as Honorary Founding Core Members in 2001.

We're Growing and It's Showing

The Reverend Ann H. Jefferson, the first OGOT Minister, moved to Baltimore and in June, 1994, and conducted our first Johnnie Colemon Institute Better Living Class, titled "You Too Can Be Prosperous." There were 60 people in that first class, which was held at the community room in Mondawmin Mall Shopping Center. In the early years, classes and worship services were held in many different locations, including the Village of Cross Keys Office Complex, the Gallery of Events at 429 N. Eutaw Street in downtown Baltimore, the Mount Royal Middle School, the Professional Building at 1825 Woodlawn Drive, and the Baltimore Grande. The One God One Thought Center for Better Living waschartered on August 24, 1995, to operate a center for spiritual and educational purposes. From 1996-1998, the Sunday service was held in the Orchard Street Church, a beautiful, historic building that had once been a site on the Underground Railroad and later restored by the Baltimore Urban League.

The leadership of the first Board of Directors, which included President Ron Harvey, Bernette L. Jones, Lameteria (Glenn) Ward, Evelyn Hill, James Brown, and Will Hughes, resulted in obtaining 501(c)(3) designation and attaining full church status with the UFBL. The Board also organized a capital development campaign, under the leadership of Jim Robinson, which raised over $140,000 for the purchase of our current location at 3605 Coronado Road in Baltimore County in January, 1999.

The first JCI Master Certificate graduation was held in September 1997. Master Certificate graduations were also held in 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003. The first OGOT Johnnie Colemon Institute Licensed Teachers were Reverend Ann Jefferson, Evelyn Hill, and Emma Spector. Lameteria (Glenn) Ward was the first member of the founding core group to become a licensed teacher after the organization was formed. Other JCI teachers licensed in the first 10 years were Bernette L. Jones, Eileen Atkinson, Jeannette Reveley, Don Dasher, Annette King-El, and Judith Hokhmah. Reverend Eric Ovid Donaldson was the first Minister to be ordained at OGOT in 2002 through the Previously Ordained Clergy program of UFBL, and the Reverend Bernette Lee Jones was the first core member to be ordained at OGOT in 2003.

In October 2003, the OGOT Board of Directors accepted Reverend Ann Jefferson's resignation as the Minister of OGOT in order for her to accept a new position with UFBL as its first Outreach Minister. The Reverend Bernette L. Jones was appointed by UFBL and accepted by the OGOT Board of Directors as the new Senior Minister, effective November 1, 2003. Reverend Bernette L. Jones appointed Reverend Eric O. Donaldson as Associate Minister of OGOT in December, 2003. Both Reverend Jones and Reverend Donaldson were ordained by Reverend Dr. Mary Tumpkin, current president of the UFBL.

There are now 330 members and 18 church ministries serving the congregation. OGOT JCI classes are currently offered in four sessions each year with approximately 150 students per session. OGOT is also supporting the development of The Divinity Center UFBL Study Group in Washington, D.C., lead by Reverend Eric O. Donaldson, as well as new study groups: the Spiritual Unfoldment Center in Richmond, VA, , and the Path of Life Center for Better Living in Fruitland, MD, on the Eastern Shore.