History:
The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World
Christianity was organized in 1954 in Seoul, South Korea by Rev.
Sun Myung Moon ["One who has clarified the Truth"]. Some sources
say the organization started in Pusan, not Seoul. Its followers are
often called Moonies by persons outside of the Association.
However, this term is considered derogatory by its members, who
refer to themselves as Unificationists.
Rev. Moon was born in what is now North Korea in 1920 and was
raised in the Presbyterian Church. He is a Professional Engineer by
training. When he was 15 years old, at Easter, Jesus Christ
appeared to him in a vision, charging him with the responsibility
of completing the work in the world that Jesus had started. During
his adult life he has had trouble with legal authorities, having
been arrested for practicing capitalism (a crime in North Korea),
charged (but not convicted) in South Korea of other activities, and
convicted of tax evasion in the United States. The Presbyterian
Church of Korea, in 1948, felt that his views were incompatible
with traditional Christianity; they excommunicated him.
In 1957, Rev. Moon published Divine Principle which is a collection
of his beliefs, as written by a member of the Church. Two years
later, Young Oon Kim moved to North America as a Unification
missionary to establish a church presence there. Many of the
members in the US expected a type of apocalyptic event in 1967.
When nothing of that nature occurred, some members became
disillusioned and left the organization. In 1972, Rev. Moon moved
to the United States and started a major recruitment drive. A
decade later, he performed the first of many mass wedding
ceremonies in which more than 2000 couples were married. In 1984,
he was convicted of tax evasion in the US and sent to prison for 13
months.
On 1994-MAY-May, the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of
World Christianity celebrated their 40th anniversary in Seoul,
Korea. It was a type of watershed for the movement. Reverend Moon
announced the merger of all of his religious, political, cultural
and business organizations, -- including the CAUSA, Free Press
International, International Cultural Foundation, International
Religious Foundation, Korean Folk Ballet, Washington Times -- into
a new group: the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification
(FFWPU).
Reverend Moon initiated a National Messiahship program in 1995.
This involves the selection of four families to lead the movement
in each country. One family will be from Korea, one from Japan, one
from America, France, or Great Britain, and one from Austria,
Germany or Italy.
On 1999-FEB-6, the Inter-religious and International Federation for
World Peace was formed. Its mission is "to implement a system
through which the highest expressions of religious wisdom are
brought to the table at which the world's most serious and urgent
problems are being addressed ... by creating a council of religious
leaders within the framework of the United Nations."
Since the fall of Communism in Europe and Russia, the Unification
Church has been actively proselytizing throughout that region. They
now have a presence in over 150 countries, with concentrations in
Korea, Japan and the United States. Extensive missionary effort is
currently underway in South America. Reverend Moon proposes the
creation of the World University Foundation which will include the
University of Bridgeport in the U.S. and the Sun Moon University in
South Korea. A Unificationist temple is being built at Chung Pyung
Workshop Centre in South Korea. It will hold 10,000 people.
Total membership is difficult to estimate, but is probably many
hundreds of thousands world wide. Both the Church and its opponents
have issued inflated numbers. It is probable that there are on the
order of 5,000 dedicated members in the US, and a much larger
number of persons affiliated in some way with the church.
Rev. Moon is the ultimate authority within the Church. The
administration of Unification organizations is by a board of
elders.
