Rev. Dr. Georgia Prescott founded the Center for Spiritual Awareness in 1998, shortly after graduating from the Holmes Institute of Consciousness Studies. What began as a single Sunday service in a borrowed room grew, under her leadership, into one of the most vital New Thought communities in the Sacramento region.
Known for her warmth, humor, and gift for storytelling, Rev. Georgia has a rare ability to make ancient spiritual wisdom feel immediately personal and practical. She draws from the teachings of masters across many traditions, weaving them into talks that meet people exactly where they are.
In 2014, she was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College — a recognition that reflects both her integrity as a minister and her lifelong commitment to justice, diversity, and inclusive community.
When Rev. Georgia Prescott arrived in Sacramento in 1998, there had not been an active Religious Science community in the city for fifteen years. She rented a small room at the Hart Senior Center in Midtown, spent the previous month going door to door with flyers, and called in twelve friends from Santa Rosa to help fill the seats on opening Sunday.
Twenty-four people showed up that first week. By the third week, when most of the out-of-town friends had stopped making the drive, the number had settled at twelve locals. Growth was slow. There was no storage, so every Sunday the team packed up the fledgling bookstore, the children's toys, and the folding crib and hauled everything back to Rev. Georgia's garage. Classes met in an empty conference room at an unused real estate office, with students bringing their own chairs each week.
For the first six months, Rev. Georgia took no salary. All contributions went toward a single goal: finding a real home.
Two years in, the congregation had outgrown the Senior Center ballroom and was ready for a permanent space. The Board of Trustees divided Midtown into a grid and each member began searching for a rental. It was Board member Maxine Scott who found something a little outside the intended area and thought it was worth a look.
It was a filthy, abandoned restaurant — most recently a bingo parlor, sandwiched between two motels. It was not for rent. It was for sale.
The owner wanted $50,000 down. The church had $20,000 in its fund. The gap seemed impossible. Then, two days after a finance meeting where the congregation tried to figure out how to close it, a local attorney called. She was holding a $25,000 bequest from a practitioner of the original Sacramento Religious Science church, left specifically for a community like this one.
Someone in the congregation lent the final $5,000. The building was theirs.
The congregation spent the first month cleaning, stripping carpet, and painting. They worshiped without flooring for three months until they could afford to relay the carpet themselves, which they did — lumpy, not-quite-reaching-the-edges, and theirs. Around this time, they also held a congregational vote to choose a new name. To distinguish themselves from the frequent confusion with Scientology, they became the Center for Spiritual Awareness.
The community grew steadily in that building. The CSA New Thought Gospel Choir was born. Diversity became a defining value. Motorcycle clubs came together for the Season for Nonviolence Rides, ending with a picnic in the parking lot.
Between 2002 and 2009, the City of West Sacramento built City Hall two doors down and a community college went up across the street. Property values in the area climbed sharply. The congregation had purchased the building for $350,000. They sold it for $1.1 million.
On the strength of a promised million-dollar gift from a congregant, they purchased their current location — then a bare shell with four walls, a floor, and a roof, no electricity, no plumbing — for $2.1 million. When the gift did not materialize, the seller held the paper for six months. Members of the congregation lent $495,000 to complete the build-out.
What stands today is the church they built together, quite literally.
CSA continues to grow — through small groups, expanded programming, and a community shaped by the people who have shown up, week after week, for over twenty-five years. Many hands have contributed to what CSA has become, including Rev. Gene Scott, Rev. Brynde Lambert, Dale Covey, Rhonda Youngblood, Rosemary Mayfield, Rebecca Davis, Rev. Cheri Jensen, Rev. Julie Interrante, Sheila Brooks, Bess Brewer, Connie Gehrt, Joe Meyer, and the original Board of Trustees.