Catherine Ponder (born February 14, 1927) is an American minister and founder of Unity Church Worldwide, affiliated with the Unity Church, and author of several

New Thought The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a spiritual movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy from ...

books on mainly focused on the theme of prosperity.

Early life

Ponder was born in Hartsville, South Carolina. After studying business she enrolled in the Unity Ministerial School, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1956.

Career

She was ordained as a Unity Church minister in 1958, with an initial ministry in Birmingham, Alabama (1958–61). She founded ministries in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

(1961–69),

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

(1969–73) and Palm Desert, California in 1973, where she remains minister. Ponder has written more than a dozen books, which include such bestsellers as her ''Millionaires of the Bible'' series. Ponder wrote her first prosperity book ''The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity'' in the early 1960s while living in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. She has given lectures on the universal principles of prosperity in most of the major cities of America, as well as in smaller ones. Ponder has given interviews on television and radio, as well as numerous interviews by the print media. Ponder's ''The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity'' was included among 50 'success classics' in an eponymous book by personal development scholar

Tom Butler-Bowdon Tom Butler-Bowdon (; born 1967) is a non-fiction author based in Oxford, England. Early life Butler-Bowdon was born in Adelaide. He graduated from the University of Sydney (BA Hons, Government and History) and the London School of Economics (MSc ...

. Her ''Open Your Mind To Prosperity'' was separately featured in his book ''50 Prosperity Classics''.Butler-Bowdon, Tom (2008). ''50 Prosperity Classics: Attract It, Create It, Manage It, Share It: Wisdom From the Most Valuable Books on Wealth Creation and Abundance''. London & Boston: Nicholas Brealey. (). "Open Your Mind To Prosperity", Chapter 37.

Personal life

While finishing ''The Dynamic Laws'', she married and moved to the southwest, where her husband taught at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. Following her husband's death,she moved to San Antonio in the early 1970s. She remarried and wrote a sequel to the first book, entitled ''Open Your Mind to Prosperity''.

Bibliography

* ''The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity'' (1962, released in French in 1980 by Les Éditions Un monde différent)) * ''The Prosperity Secrets of the Ages'' (1964) * ''The Dynamic Laws of Healing'' (1966) * ''The Healing Secrets of the Ages'' (1967) * ''Pray and Grow Rich'' (1968) * ''Open Your Mind To Prosperity'' (1971) * ''The Millionaires of Genesis'' (1976) * ''The Millionaire Moses'' (1977) * ''The Millionaire Joshua'' (1978) * ''The Millionaire from Nazareth'' (1979) * ''Open Your Mind To Receive'' (1983, 2008. Released in French in 1997 by Les Éditions Un monde différent) * ''Secret of Unlimited Prosperity'' (1983) * ''The Prospering Power of Prayer'' (1983) * ''Dare to Prosper!'' (1983) * ''The Dynamic Laws of Prayer'' (1987) * ''A Prosperity Love Story: Rags to Enrichment'' (memoir) (2003). DeVorss & Company. pp. 224 * ''Giving Thanks: The Art of Tithing'' by Paula Langguth Ryan (foreword by Catherine Ponder) (2005) * ''The Prospering Power of Love'' (2006 Revised & Updated)

References

External links

Commentary on Ponder's classic ''The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity''Books by Catherine PonderUnity Church Worldwide - Catherine Ponder, Founding Minister
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponder, Catherine 1927 births Living people American clergy American women writers People from Hartsville, South Carolina