Chapter 2 The Unification Movement in Korea

1982 - Victory of Home Church

In 1981, the first 21-year course ended, and the second 21-year course in fact began, but it was however, l982 when the beginning of first year of the second course was celebrated.

Reverend Moon, giving the motto for the new year, Victory of Home Church, explained that he had personally fulfilled the first 21-year course four years previously. He also  stressed that Home Church was the way to substantial resurrection in the realm of God's love. As the second 21-year course was the period for which the children would be responsible, Reverend Moon accomplished the Holy Wedding of Ye-jin Nim and the engagement of Hyo-jin Nim in 1981, the year marking the completion of the first 21-year course. He also brought to light that the reason why he had his children create horizontal relationships with the children of "Cain" families and pass through the second 21-year course, the era of children, was the providence of God to restore through indemnity Adam and Eve's situation of having begun with a horizontal foundation owing to the fall.

"You cannot enter the sphere of God's love if you die without becoming a victor in Home Church. As there is nothing more precious than saving oneself and attaining the realm of God's love, it is, above all, important to be victorious in Home Church."

"The ideology and Principle of the Unification Church is the highest in the entire universe, but it began at the place of suffering.

The members have all been walking such an excruciating path, not to mention Reverend Moon. This is becoming a tradition of the Unification Church. If, after inheriting such a Unification Church tradition, you begin Home Church, you will be victorious. Home Church work is not done so that you can receive people's hospitality, and there is no way that they will welcome you and treat you warmly even if you try to be received well. You must realize the fact that the objective can be achieved if and only if you, when visiting your assigned region, serve others and sacrifice yourself in order to be a victor of Home Church."

Reverend Moon thus gave a concrete direction regarding Home Church. In-stilling in members an understanding of the significance of Home Church, he encouraged them to be victorious.

In the midst of a busy schedule that included a conference for worldwide church leaders, Reverend Moon presided over the Holy Wedding of Hyo-jin Moon and Nan-sook Hong at Belvedere in New York at 10:40 in the morning of January 7. This signified the birth of the Abel family prior to the 8.000-couple Blessing to be held that year. This was also the second such joyful occasion at which one of Reverend and Mrs. Moon's own children was married, following the Holy Wedding of daughter Ye-jin Moon.

This event attracted considerable attention in society, as Reverend Moon had chosen two spouses for his children from the family of Sung-pyo Hong, representing the 36 blessed couples.

The World Mission Headquarters in the United States had publicly announced that there would be a 10.000-couple Blessing. However, due to practical problems such as obtaining visas and securing venues, the church divided the participants of the Blessing Ceremony in Madison Square Garden on July 1, and the other in Chamshil Indoor Gymnasium on October 14.

An estimated 10,000 parents and relatives of the brides and bridegrooms, plus staff, attended the 2,100-couple International Holy Wedding in New York City. Reverend and Mrs. Moon officiated at the Blessing Ceremony including offering the prayer of benediction for the couples' eternal marriage relationship. This historic and, in size, unprecedented international Blessing received extensive media coverage throughout the world.

Seven years after the 1,800-couple International Blessing of 1975, the 6,000-couple Blessing was held, also in Korea, with brides and bridegrooms from 85 nations. The Blessing, under the theme World Peace through Ideal Families, set a new record of being the largest ever international joint wedding.

The Blessing Ceremony began at ten thirty in the morning and continued through one-twenty in the afternoon, as it took one-and-a-half hours for the procession of three hundred rows of six couples to enter and pass through twenty-five pairs of bridesmaids and groomsmen. A wedding banquet was held at the same venue in the evening.

The church had established an executive committee to make the preparations for this celebration. Leaders representing each nation, including Japan and America, plus Korean leaders abroad, came to Korea for the occasion.

Meanwhile, Reverend Moon had established a new milestone in the American media, which had a liberal leaning, with the printing of the first issue of the Washington Times in March, prior to the official inauguration of the newspaper in Washington DC, the political center of the world, on May 17. The first issue comprised a 20-page main section plus a 24-page supplement. The first page carried words of greeting from editor and publisher James R. Whelan, and headline news concerning the conflict over the Falkland Islands.

On September 26, Reverend and Mrs. Moon returned to Korea temporarily to preside over the World Media Conference, and to officiate at the International Blessing in October. Their schedule prior to their departure for America on November 4 included: September 26, Reverend Moon's speech at the meeting to welcome them back to Korea; September 27, Participation in a nationwide church leaders conference; October 5, Reverend Moon's keynote address at the opening ceremony of the Fifth World Media Conference; October 14; Officiating at the 6,000-couple Blessing Ceremony; October 15, Presiding over a meeting for blessed families; October 21, Speech at a banquet for dignitaries sponsored by PWPA; October 24, Participation at the IFVOC welcoming meeting (2,000 participants, at the Little Angels Performing Art Center); October 30, Meeting to welcome Reverend Moon, plus speech, sponsored by the Supra-denominational Christian Association (1,300 participants, at the Little Angels Performing Arts Center.)

The Fifth World Media Conference was held at Lotte Hotel in Seoul from October 4 to 11 with 230 prominent media representatives and scholars participating. A former vice-president of Vietnam, a former chief of staff of the United States Eighth Army, a former captain of the USS Pueblo, a former president of Colombia, and former ambassador to Japan, Douglas McArthur II, nephew of General Souglas McArthur, were invited as special guest speakers.

As for the case of the US Justice Department's indictment of Reverend Moon, the case continued, as yet without conclusion. The trial had been proceeding as follows: March 22, Jury selection process began at the district court in Manhattan; April 1, Jury selection completed (2 men and 10 women); April 1, Defendants' attorneys objected to the decision that the trial be by jury; May 18, Reverend Moon convicted by the jury at the Federal District Court in Manhattan; July 16, Sentence of eighteen months imprisonment and 25,000-dollar fine imposed; November 30, Defense attorneys submitted the appeal (75-page petition) to the court of appeals; December 3, Religious organizations such as the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC-USA), the United Presbyterian Church  (USA), the American Baptist Churches, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Unitarian Universalist association, and the National Conference of Black Mayors petitioned the Federal Court of Appeal for a reversal of the decision of the district court.

In the meantime, the church mission work was dramatic, enthusiastic and renewed, under a mission strategy launched during the first year of Jae-suk Lee's tenure as president of the church in Korea. This included the following:

Dispatch of the male senior members above the 430-couple Blessing: Blessed families residing in Seoul received seven days of mobilization training from October 29 to November 4. At its conclusion, 219 members were sent out in the first dispatch, and 55 were sent out in the second batch to be church leaders (plus eight to do ecumenical work) on February 1. One hundred and forty-eight from the rural districts, including workers from the provincial businesses, became the third batch, sent out on April 21 following completion of seven-day training, and 22 members, who began their training on august 22, were dispatched as the fourth group after the completion of seven-day training on August 28. By December, 444 churches had been established in the Seoul metropolitan area. A restructuring of personnel then took effect.

Nationwide Church Leaders' Conference: A conference for church leaders from around Korea had been held in September 1981 under the slogan "Let's be new!". Similar meeting were held from April 6 to 8 in the provinces and from April 27 to 28, 1982, in the metropolitan area under the slogan "Let's be on fire!". Church president Jae-suk Lee declared the "Witnessing First" and "Church Leadership First" policies. Another such leaders' conference was held on September 20 with Reverend Moon himself present.

Metropolitan church leaders meeting was held at the end of each month.

Mobilization of the 6,000-couple Blessing members: In three training sessions, from November 1 to 6, November 8 to 13, and November 22 to 27, the husbands from the 6,000-couple Blessing received training. They then began a public course together on November 24.  

A Three-Year Witnessing Plan: A plan was made to establish 1,217 churches with 200,000 members attending service, with an estimated budget of 3.6 billion won. However, the plan met with difficulties in the first year and it transpired that only a percentage of the original goals had been accomplished: witnessing-28%, participation in church services-31%, donations-49%, money for mission work-17%, and establishment of new churches-95%.

Establishment of a Missionary Education Center: As the senior male members (430-couple and above) had been dispatched to the front line of the church, providing them with education became a necessity. The resulting training center's inauguration, together with the first lecture, was on May 3.

Training for the Blessed Families and Children: Beginning in February, training was carried out on thirteen occasions for blessed families nationwide. Following this, training was held for students from the middle school level and above, with middle school, high school, and college students educated separately. Other educational programs included a forty-day training session, training for the engaged witnessing members, training for the wives of church leaders, training for pioneer church leaders in Seoul and training for Sunday school teachers.

Launching of Businesses: Businesses were established to support missionary activity, and witnessing members were required to work for them for a period of four months. They were contributing a quarter of the entire mission fund at that time. The Changmi ("Rose") Supermarket (at Choongsan-dong and Chungpa-dong), a rice shop in Chungpa-dong, and Saewon Mini Department Store, commenced trading and donated their profits to the mission fund.

Other notable events this year included:

February 15: First Cheju Island Faith Camp sponsored by the International Christian Students Association (ICSA) (One hundred colleges and universities, represented by 1,200 participants.)

March 27: Welcoming meeting for new CARP members (1,000 participants, Icheon Victory Over Communism Training Center, for two days.)

April 1: Establishment of the Sun Myung Moon Institute.

April 3: Reverend Jog-gu Park passed away (Unification Church funeral: April 5.)

June 23: Seoul regional headquarters training center consecration ceremony (training centers established in each region.)

July 1 to August 22: Youth Seminar on World Religions.

October 15: Reverend and Mrs. Moon plus the brides and bridegrooms of the 6,000-couple Blessing donated 300 million won towards the construction of Independence Hall in Korea.

November 26: Establishment of the Washington Institute for Values in Public Policy.

December 20: Elder Bong-woon Lee passed away.