A brief overview of the lives of Rev. and Mrs. Moon
While praying on Easter morning in 1936, a young Sun Myung Moon had a personal encounter with Jesus, who called on him to complete the work left undone at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. In the years that followed, the meaning of Jesus’ words and life were revealed to Rev. Moon through his deep prayer and study and this formed the contents of the teachings that become known as The Divine Principle.
Our teaching is based on the Divine Principle, a comprehensive spiritual text written by Rev. Sun Myung Moon. The Divine Principle combines Biblical history and concepts such as The Fall and the life of Jesus with modern science, modern history, and East Asian spiritual teachings such as Filial Piety from Confucianism. The Divine Principle fills in the missing holes in the Bible and offers an explanation of Biblical concepts that harmonizes with current scientific knowledge. It teaches us who God is and why God created us. It answers questions such as, "What is my purpose in life?" and "How do I create an ideal family?"
We are excited to share the Divine Principle with you. Please contact us or visit us if you are interested in learning more.
What is the purpose of my Life?
What if you knew the purpose of why you are here on Earth?
What if Jesus didn’t come to die?
Most people believe that Jesus came to die. Could there have been a different way?
How do I discover the secrets of the bible?
The Bible is full of secrets waiting for us to unravel them.
Can religion and science be united?
Science and Religion have both been working toward the same goal, but through different perspectives
When you come visit us, you will find that we have many new and different terms and traditions that you may not find at other churches or even other religions.
We are a teaching church. Although certain ceremonies are important in our culture such as celebrating Holy Days, blessing of marriage and transitions into the afterlife, we focus our Sunday worship on learning how to live as God’s Children. We have strong roots in the Bible, so you will find many of the same traditions that you would see at other Christian churches such as Bible stories and Sunday School. In addition, since we also have strong Asian roots in our faith, we have incorporated many of the traditions of asian culture such as bowing to elders and to God as a sign of respect. We also have a picture of our founders at the front of our chapel, which is another very common Asian tradition.
Besides the Christian Hymns and contemporary songs that we often use, we also have our own selection of songs, known as Holy Songs , that resonate particularly well with our perspective of God. Some of these songs were written by Rev. Moon, our founder, and by his early disciples.
You will also find that our prayers are unique. Although sometimes we will pray to "God" or "Heavenly Father", we generally pray to our "Heavenly Parent." This is to reinforce our understanding of God as being both masculine and feminine.
We also end our prayers with the Korean word, "Aju" instead of the "Amen" that one usually hears. The term Aju has a very special meaning to us because of our understanding of God. We understand that God is waiting eagerly for us to fulfill our promises and commitments. He will not do it for us. Aju means "becoming the owner" or "I am the owner", basically stating that whatever it was that I prayed for, I will take personal responsibility to make it happen.
You may also hear the term True Parents, True Father, or True Mother in our community. There is a spiritual or theological meaning behind these terms, but basically we use these terms to refer to our founders, Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. It is a term of affection and respect, similar to the ways that Catholics refer to their priest as their father.
“Cheon Il Guk” is a Korean term that translates literaly as the “The Nation of the Unified World” but can more easily be understood as “The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and in the Spirit World”. This is God’s ideal for mankind that we are all striving to create and live within.
Our prayers may also sound somewhat unique. They are not recited from formulaic texts,but an expression of the individual’s personal connection to God. We often refer to God as our “Heavenly Father”, but we also consider God to be our “Heavenly Parent” with both masculine and feminine characteristics.
We often end our prayers with the Korean word, “Aju” instead of or in addition to the traditional “Amen” that one usually would hear. Aju means “becoming the owner” or “I am the owner”, basically stating that we will take personal responsibility to make happen whatever was prayed about. The term “Aju” has a very special meaning because of our understanding of our relationship to God. We understand that God is waiting eagerly for us to fulfill our promises and commitments. He is not able to do so without our desire, effort, and commitment.
We celebrate certain days every year that you won't find at other churches. These days are considered our Holy Days. They are Heavenly Parents' Day, True Parents' Day, True Children's Day, and True Day of All Things. Each of these days holds special meaning and significance for Unificationists, and they represent the days that would have been most important to God at the beginning of humanity if we had never fallen away from Him.
Over the years, the way we have celebrated these special days has changed, but there are certain qualities that stay the same.
One way is that we always gather for an internal celebration, called the Pledge Service. Pledge service is usually held in the morning. There is an offering table prepared beforehand. Delicious fruits and snacks are prepared with a heart of offering and gratitude to God. These foods are later enjoyed at breakfast or later in the week. Offering tables are also very common in Korean tradition. Traditionally, a monetary offering representing a meaningful number (i.e. 4, 10, 400, 21, 210) is also given by attendees.
Depending on the Holy Day, there will be some kind of special events planned. For example, we usually prepare a special day of activities, testimonies, games, talent show, dinner, for Heavenly Parents' Day. For True Day of All Things, there may be a hike or some other kind of outdoor outing.
Pledge service begins with a half or full bow to our Heavenly Parent and True Parents. After that we all recite the Family Pledge in unison. There are eight points that we all affirm and pledge to work towards in our life as Unificationists.
As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to seek our original homeland and establish the original ideal of creation, the Kingdom of God on Earth and in Heaven, by centering on true love.
As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to represent and become central to Heaven and Earth by attending God and True Parents; we will perfect the dutiful way of filial piety in our family, patriotism in our nation, saints in the world, and divine sons and daughters in Heaven and Earth, by centering on true love.
As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to perfect the Four Great Realms of Heart, the Three Great Kingships, and the Realm of the Royal Family, by centering on true love.
As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to build the universal family encompassing Heaven and Earth, which is God's ideal of creation, and perfect the world of freedom, unity, and happiness, by centering on true love.
As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to strive every day to advance the unification of the spirit world and the physical world as subject and object partners, by centering on true love.
As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to embody God and True Parents; we will perfect a family which moves heavenly fortune and conveys Heaven's blessing to our community, by centering on true love.
As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to perfect a world based on the culture of heart, which is rooted in the original lineage, through living for the sake of others, by centering on true love.
As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges, as we enter the Completed Testament Age, to achieve the ideal oneness of God and humankind in love through absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience, thereby perfecting the realm of liberation of the Kingdom of God on Earth and in Heaven, by centering on true love.
After the Family Pledge, the officiator will lead a prayer and a short message around the significance of the particular Holy Day and how it relates to our lives. The message is typically kept very short as there are many children in the audience. Once the message is finished, the children will come on stage to cut the cake, sing of version of "Happy Birthday" related to that day, and then take a group photo. Afterwards, we will all enjoy breakfast together. All in all, the pledge service takes around thirty to forty minutes.
