Raymond Charles Barker (1911-1988) studied at the Unity School of Christianity in Lee’s Summit, Missouri and was ordained a Unity minister in 1940. After serving as minister at the Unity Center in Rochester, New York, he became affiliated with the Religious Science movement. At the request of Ernest Holmes, Barker opened the First Church of Religious Science in New York City in 1946. He was President of the International New Thought Alliance from 1943 to 1946, and was President of Religious Science International from 1954 to 1957 and 1959 to 1962. (Religious Science International became the organization that merged with a sister organization in 2011 to form Centers for Spiritual Living, more commonly known as Science of Mind.) Barker’s deep involvement in both Unity and Science of Mind gave him a unique perspective on the New Thought movement and allowed him to synthesize ideas from different streams into his own particular blend. His students included Louise Hay and Stuart Grayson.