The Words of the Spurgin Family
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The Words of the Spurgin Family |
Mrs.
Nora Spurgin, director of the Blessed Family Department.
The Blessing Quarterly and the Blessed Family Journal have merged! Now members will be able to get the very best of both magazines in one volume. It will carry the older title Blessing Quarterly, and the exterior design with the color photo on the cover will be continued. The content will be more akin to that of the Blessed Family Journal however, and will include its special Question and Answer section.
The staffs of the magazines have also merged. HSA Publications and Accord have been hired to take responsibility for production and circulation, respectively. Those who subscribed to either one of the magazines will receive the new volume in its place, and those who subscribed to both will have their subscriptions extended.
The new magazine will definitely be more cost-efficient than the previous two, and best of all, members won't have to decide between them. It is the hope of the new Blessing Quarterly staff that all blessed members will feel that this is truly their magazine.
In the spring of 1985 when Rev. Won Pil Kim took responsibility for the Blessed Family Department, he felt it would be helpful for members to work out Blessing-related problems through an organization which was closer to home than the New York City office. He wanted leaders and elders to be able to help members on a local basis. After consolidating and streamlining the Blessed Family Department administratively in New York City, he asked all the regions to establish their own regional Blessed Family departments, each centering on a mature, elder member who could function as a permanent counselor. Most regions have done this and the result has been the formation of a viable Blessed Family Department network, which has greatly facilitated communication and problem-solving.
On May 15-18, 1986, Mrs. Nora Spurgin gave Blessing workshops in Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Over 500 members participated altogether. Each workshop opened in the morning with a talk given by Mrs. Spurgin explaining the deep meaning of the Blessing, most of the related ceremonies, and the importance of maintaining the purity of the Blessing relationship. Mrs. Spurgin also met with leaders and counselors to distribute information packets, discuss different problem categories, and answer questions about any especially pressing concerns. In the afternoon couples broke into small groups to discuss such problems as the need for more spiritual children, difficulties in international and interracial marriages, the loss of a spouse and the qualifications for re-Blessing, and coping as a single mother.
These workshops were an effort to bring much-needed information and guidance to members and leaders in the field. Mrs. Spurgin emphasized the use of preventive measures which could keep little problems in a marriage from becoming big ones and big problems from becoming failures. The overall response indicated that the workshops were very helpful indeed. Mrs. Spurgin hopes to have more such seminars around the country in the future, as well as special workshops to teach and guide regional Blessed Family Department counselors. Currently Rev. C. H. Kwak is assisting Rev. W. P. Kim in overseeing all Blessed Family Department affairs.