Germany

The first fruit of the missionary work in Germany came in 1964 when Reiner Vincenz, Peter Koch's co-worker, joined the church, one year after the missionaries had arrived. Germany thus became a major arena for large-scale missionary work in Europe.

The founding of the Unification Church in Germany is commemorated as having been in December 1964. It was then that the church was officially registered with the government as a religious organization. In 1965, the church sent a missionary, Paul Werner, to Austria, and in 1966 Reiner Vincenz received the honor of being the first missionary sent to France.
It is really surprising that Germany could send missionaries to other countries within just five or six years of its own inception.

The church in Germany began full-scale missionary work from 1969. If the period before 1969 was the age of laying the foundation for the Unification Church in Germany, the post-1969 period has been the age of testifying to the world about the new teaching and the start of a new method of missionary work. Indeed it deserves the name of "growth stage missionary age" for its activities that included the production of 15,000 posters, publication
and distribution of tens of thousands of copies of Chapter One of Divine Principle, and the launching of a fully dedicated witnessing team. During this period, giant strides were made in the German church. Missionary centers existed in twenty-one cities and more than one hundred staff were working full time.

A Principle training center was established at Neum hle, near Camberg in 1972, in response to the urgent need for a facilities to educate the increasing membership. The same year, the first edition of the German translation of Divine Principle was published on December 25, and members could then read it in their native language.

From 1973, with the members growing internally and the foundation of the church expanding, the German church began actively supporting worldwide missionary activities. Eighty German missionaries were sent out to many nations of the world in 1975, pioneering many missionary posts amongst the 137 countries with church missions. In the meantime, with the growth, both internal and external, of the German church, the voices of opposition began to gradually make themselves heard. The government also began to apply political pressure.Rather than succumb to this, however, members organized counter-measures to this new challenge.

To promote a healthy image of the Unification Church, they held seminars and lent active support to academic organizations. They approached the society through academic

organizations such as New ERA and PWPA, and artistic undertakings such as the New Hope Orchestra. This diversified approach to missionary work contributed much to giving the German people a new understanding of the Unification Church in its early days.

In September 1981, four regions were created within Germany. Responsibility for these areas was given to national leaders of four major European countries. The International One World Crusade, which had been in Britain since 1978, was moved to Germany. Northern Germany was incorporated into "Great Britain region" led by Dennis Orme, and southwest Germany was included in France region led by Henri Blanchard. Southeast and central Germany were incorporated into Italy region led by Franco Ravaglioli and German region was led by Reiner Vincenz. The separation of regions was to overcome national barriers.

Korean Church President Young-whi Kim was appointed to the position of leader of all Europe in 1982, and members received spiritual guidance from him. Recently, all members came to understand Reverend Moon's words that Europe can be united and that Europe ought to be one. Reverend Moon has emphasized the responsibility of Europe, especially that of Germany, and has emphasized to members that they should think on a large scale and accomplish their missions.

Since 1984, the Unification movement has come into the limelight in many fields. Theologians, politicians, artists and businessmen have come to admire Reverend Moon. Some have come to think of his movement as the sole hope for a unified world, believing it will bring unification to the divided nation of Germany.

The World CARP Convention was held in Berlin in August 1987. The church, CAUSA and all related organizations were mobilized to help the with the convention, holding street rallies everyday. Members distributed leaflets in large quantities throughout Berlin. The convention was an important turning point in the providence of Germany. Even amidst intense persecution from communists, other left-wing sympathizers, religious experts and the Berlin city government, all the members invested themselves. After the event, Reverend Moon declared the convention to have been a success, and added that the providence of Germany would have moved to France if the CARP Convention had not been successful.It can be said that it is the biggest event in the Unification movement of Germany up until now. Not only all CARP members but also the cooperation of the entire European churches made it possible.

On account of the unification of East Germany and West Germany in 1990, another chapter of new missionary work in Germany was open. The missionary work in East Germany that had been done underground became free. Reverend Sung-pyo Hong, president of the church in Korea, came to Germany as the European leader on June 17, 1992.

In November 1992, Mrs. Moon came to Europe and held inaugural rallies for the Women's Federation for World Peace (The venues were: Frankfurt, Germany: Berlin, Germany: London, England: Edinburgh, Scotland: Paris, France:Lille, France: Rome, Italy: Milan,Italy).

In 1993, Europe was divided into the Central, Southern, Northern and Eastern regions.

Each regional leader took responsibility for developing their respective region. (The regional directors were assigned as follows: Central Europe, Kwang-kee Sa; Southern Europe, Kunihiko Shibanuma; Northern Europe, Masatoshi Abe; Eastern Europe, Takenori Hashimoto.) On November 5, 1993, Reverend Kwang-kee Sa was appointed continental director of Europe, and during his inauguration he made the slogan, "One Europe, New Europe, Great Europe." Centering on Germany, he began to accelerate the witnessing efforts across the continent.


From January 20 to 22, 1994, a European leaders meeting was held in Germany. On that occasion, they made the determination to find five thousand new members. Finally, they produced the best result in the history of the mission in Europe.

Overall, the missionary effort in Europe between the end of 1992 and the end of 1993 was revitalized through Mrs. Moon's speaking tours. Due to the success of the mission in eastern Europe, together with a higher level of organization and thorough training, European leaders and members became filled with confidence, and an eagerness, to gain ten thousand new members. The foundation of success began to spread to Western Europe too.

Reverend Kwang-kee Sa, the former European CARP president, set up a Mobile Education Team (MET) in March, 1987 with the support of Reverend and Mrs. Moon. At the time of writing, two hundred young members have received education on fourteen such METs and have been assigned missions throughout Europe. In order to take care of and efficiently manage the increasing membership, a leadership training course was initiated on February 1, 1995. Through an eighty-day course of special education, including lecturing, many participants have achieved the qualifications to pioneer new churches.


They are now investing their utmost to achieve a goal of establishing three hundred churches in Europe.

*** Demonstration at the Berlin Wall follwing the main CARP Convention ( August 8, 1987 )
*** Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon, President of WFWP, speaking to an audience of 1,200 (1992)