Transforming lives, and inspiring people to make a positive difference in our world.
Ministers of Unity Merritt Island
Rev. Beth Head
Beth is an ordained Unity Minister, graduating from the Unity School of Religious Studies, Unity Village, MO. Before becoming Unity of Merritt Island’s parttime minister, she served Unity of Melbourne for 20 years.
She serves the Southeast Region Unity Ministries as Regional Representative and Church Consultant. She hosts a zoom meeting for ministers on Wednesday morning, and she does board training and consults with various churches.
Before ministry, Beth was a CPA. She was the Chief Financial Officer of the Triangle Community Foundation and before that the Controller of the Anchorage Daily News.
Beth lives in Melbourne and loves traveling, reading, playing games (Poker, Bridge, Mah Jongg and others) and chocolate.
Rev. Jessica Joy McNeil
Children’s Minister/Assistant Operations Director
Rev. Jessica Joy is a minister in training with Unity Worldwide Ministries and an ordained Ministerial Counselor through Pathways of Light, a spiritual college that focuses on A Course in Miracles. She is also a certified Kundalini yoga teacher. Her passion is helping people remember that they are not broken but whole, guiding them from fear into love through practical spirituality, community, and connection.
She blends her studies in A Course in Miracles, her training in yoga and meditation, and her lived experience as a neurodivergent mother of three into a ministry that is both mystical and deeply grounded. Her heart is especially drawn to supporting women and families, creating spaces where all are welcome to heal, grow, and thrive.
Jessica’s path to ministry has been one of transformation. After years of homeschooling her three children, she answered the call to step into spiritual leadership, saying yes to opportunities that opened in surprising and grace-filled ways. From her training as a Unity minister to her ordination as a Ministerial Counselor, she is devoted to living the question she asks God daily: “How can I be of service?”
Outside of ministry, Jessica loves writing (she is currently working on her first book), guiding paddleboard adventures on Florida’s waterways, and dreaming of her future homestead where she will grow food and rescue animals. Her life is rooted in love, community, and the belief that God’s plan is always better than her own.
Board Members of Unity Merritt Island
Kim Wight, President
Kim has been a part of UCMI since 2010 when she became the Office Manager for Rev Rose Whitham. Kim and Rev. Rose partnered for 9 1/2 years, enjoying each other and their jobs. Their friendship remains strong to this day. Kim says Rev. Rose brought her to a new way of living life. Unity has been a “life saver” for Kim. Having never experienced religion, she is grateful she had nothing to unlearn. To her Unity is a way of life and she intends to continue this path.
Kim gave up her office job at Unity in 2022 and soon after took a break from the church to tend to personal healing. She came back and joined the board in 2024. She loves Unity and her Unity family.
Rosalie Bianco, Vice President
Born in Brooklyn, New York, I am the daughter of Italian immigrants who became proud U.S. citizens and successful entrepreneurs, creating opportunities and employment for many. Following in their footsteps, I earned a degree in business and embraced a lifelong passion for entrepreneurship. Over the years, I’ve owned multiple businesses, maintained a Florida state license as a residential and roofing contractor and held a real estate broker’s license. I have purchased and renovated numerous properties and built some from scratch as well. Most recently, I sold a design-build outdoor living firm in Colorado and returned to Florida to semi-retire and begin my next venture: building a hotel.
More importantly, I’ve been a dedicated student of A Course in Miracles for over 30 years, and I discovered Unity churches across the country around the same time. Unity helped me to find the inner Light, Voice and Source that I have come to understand is my True Self. My deepest passion lies in fostering spiritual community and supporting others on their journey of inner growth and transformation. That helps me to keep my Light on, so I have something to give.
Charlotte Cruce, Secretary
Charlotte Cruce been a member here since 2023 when she moved here to Merritt Island with her husband, David, and their two Siberian Huskies, Koda and Skye. Originally from the metro Atlanta area, where their 3 grown children (and 1 granddaughter) still reside, Charlotte was an active member at Unity North Atlanta where she was a Prayer Chaplain and involved in several of the other ministries.
Charlotte currently works as a flight attendant for a major airline and is based out of Boston, where she mainly flies to Europe. Before becoming a flight attendant, Charlotte worked for many years as a Legal Nurse Consultant and Paralegal in the legal field, where she not only worked on legal cases, but also managed the law firm. Having worn many hats throughout the years, she homeschooled their youngest daughter from 4th grade through graduation and taught several subjects at the homeschool co-op, while also part-time managing a Hallmark store (she jokes that job is because she ‘loves Christmas!’) and currently works (very) part-time at The Paper Store in Viera to ‘get her Hallmark fix.’ Charlotte runs several social media sites, is a freelance writer and photographer, a podcaster and vlogger, but she feels her current most important role is as a student at Unity Urban Ministerial School where she is more than half-way through the ministerial path and on her way to becoming a Unity Minister.
“I’m so thrilled to be here at U.M.I. where exciting things are happening not only for the church but also the community. I feel so blessed to have been led here and I am really looking forward to watching the church grow and help be a part of its growth. I prayed for and manifested this new home and community for myself and am so excited to take on more of a role here at U.M.I. as we move into a bright new future together.”
Barb Dyer, Treasurer
When Barb was in college at Bowling Green State University, she embraced the hippie lifestyle, and other movements that
paralleled the “love one another right now” movements. She most particularly put a lot of my time and energy into feminism and the women’s rights movement. After college, she traveled around a lot, and eventually settled down in Huntsville, TX. Barb got a job in telecommunications as a cable splicer, got married, was elected President of the NOW Huntsville Chapter, became a job steward in Communications Workers of America, and the Union Liaison in the Texas State NOW. She was transferred to San Antonio, and it was there that she gave birth to her daughter, Celeste. Soon after she divorced, but stayed active in the union, boycotted grapes, and began the working mother single parent lifestyle. “All my rowdy friends have settled down.”
Eventually, she and her daughter moved to Cincinnati, OH for the J.O.B. The life of a single parent was difficult and rewarding and still to this day she believes parenting is the hardest job she ever volunteered for.
While in Cincinnati, she wore many hats, mother, daughter, lover, healer, teacher, quilter, sewist, and chicken farmer. She attended Garden Park Unity Church and experienced peaks and valleys in her spiritual growth. In July, 2022, after selling her home, she retired to Florida. Soon after arriving here, she found and started attending UCMI, and received the warmest and loving welcome. UCMI and the Unity Movement are the perfect fit for her rebellious, hippie heart. Barb says she found what she was hungry for on her spiritual journey. LOVE!!!
