Journal of Unification Studies Vol. 23, 2022 - Pages 103-123
I have had the privilege of chairing an editorial team that has been assembling a chronology of Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon’s work in the United States from 1965 to 2022. Ki Hoon Kim, FFWPU Cheon Eui Won Chair of North America,[1] initiated the project in June 2020, and the team began work in August. In October 2020, he conveyed oversight of the project to Chung Sik Yong, FFWPU Regional President of North America.[2]For more than two years, the team – Franco Famularo, Frank Kaufman, Michael McDevitt, Larry Moffitt and Tal Zorer – has met twice weekly and spent countless additional hours with the goal of documenting Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon’sdaily activities in the U.S. The initial draft is nearing completion. This article covers various aspects of the chronology: its rationale, use of terminology, organization, sources, scope and limitations, and findings. It also offers thoughts as to ongoing work.
Why a Chronology?
Unificationists understand Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012) and Hak Ja Han Moon (1943-) to be “the True Parents of all Humankind who are together the Savior, the Lord of the Second Advent, and the Messiah.”[3]They are acknowledged to be the bearers of “new truth” and the embodiments of that truth. As such, they are understood not only to convey divine teachings but also to provide a model to follow. Unificationists are inspired to study their course and learn from their example. This chronology, which documents their daily activities in the U.S. is not a full narrative of their lives which extended far beyond U.S. borders. However, chronologies of this type are foundational for broader narratives. Unificationists are confident that Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon’s nearly 60 years of ministry in the U.S. evidence unparalleled dedication and consistency. Whether they were tired, misunderstood or what time of day it was were secondary matters. The mission and people of the U.S. were primary. For Unificationists, they came from Korea with love. In this respect, compiling a chronology is a form of appreciation.
Terminology
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), formerly the Unification Church, has a distinctive terminology, reflecting its theology and traditions. The chronology (and the remainder of this report) followsUnification terminology. For example, it uses True Father, True Mother, True Parents and True Family to refer to Sun Myung Moon, Hak Ja Han Moon, their couple and their family. It also uses the term “Unification” to refer collectively to the Unification Church (formally the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity or HSA-UWC, est. 1954) and Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU, or Family Federation, est. 1994/1997), its beliefs, members and related organizations. Apart from these primary designations, the chronology includes numerous references to distinctive Unification theological terms, organizations, Holy Days, ceremonies, proclamations, practices, honorific titles, physical locations and the like. Some terms are either translated from the Korean language or in Korean. To aid readers, the chronology includes a “Glossary of Unification Terms” as one of its appendices. Unification tradition also makes use of numerous organizational acronyms. The chronology has a separate appendix which lists these.
Organization
Early on, the editorial team agreed to organize True Parent’s activities in the United States and the chronology by decade, each of which has a distinctive character:
- During the 1960s, True Father visited the U.S. for the first time in 1965, as part of his first world tour, establishing 55 Holy Grounds in 48 states in 43 days. In 1969, True Father returned to the U.S. with True Mother as part of the second world tour, during which they blessed 13 couples in marriage.
- During the 1970s, True Parents shifted the focus of their ministry to the U.S. and became highly visible, conducting rallies in all fifty states, including at major venues such as Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument.
- During the 1980s, True Parents expanded their ability to exert influence in the U.S., establishing The Washington Times and educating American leaders as to the dangers of atheistic communism. At the same time, controversy which began in the 1970s, led to True Father’s incarceration.
- During the 1990s, True Parents publicly declared their messianic identity, established numerous federations for world peace, including the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), and conducted massive International Marriage Blessings.
- During the first decade of the 2000s, True Parents proclaimed Cheon Il Guk (the Nation of Cosmic Peace and Unity), worked to revitalize the United Nations, initiated peace pilgrimages to the Middle East,and proclaimed the Pacific Rim Era.
- During the 2010s, following True Father’s ascension in 2012, and into the 2020s, True Mother carried forward their global ministry.
The findings section of this report expands upon highlights in each of these decades.
The chronology itself is True Parents-centric. All of the more than 7,000 entries focus exclusively on an event or activity in which True Parents directly participated and that was criterion according to which content was included. Each entry identifies not only an event or activity but also its location with as much specificity as possible. For example, documentation of True Parents’ hundreds of public speeches includes cities, buildings (such as hotels), and specific rooms in which they spoke. The chronology also specifies the length of True Father’s sermons, often measured in hours, when that information was available as well as the starting time of devotional services, commonly 6:00 or 5:00 a.m.Two or more activities on a given day are organized chronologically with a main entry and subsequent bullet points. True Parents were continually on the move and the chronology documents their travel, noting arrivals and departures, mode of transportation, and the numbers of supporters seeing them off or welcoming them, as information is available. There are some editorial comments in chronology entries which are used to provide context or information when needed. These are brief, enclosed in parentheses and intended to be as unobtrusive as possible.
Each entry is sourced, and a separate “source document” identifies the specific speech, magazine article, book, website, legal document, newspaper article, security log, personal journal, photograph or eyewitness account from which information is derived. The source document also includes a “Comment” section when two or more sources are not in agreement and notations when sources are wrong. The chronology includes seven appendices. In addition to the “Glossary of Unification Terms” and “List of Acronyms,” a third appendix includes True Parents’ initial arrivals in the U.S.; True Parents’ children born in the U.S.; the number of days True Parents spent in the U.S. by year and decade, including the aggregate total over six decades; and the number and dates of True Parents’ visits to select U.S. cities. A fourth appendix includes a listing of Holy Grounds established by True Father in the U.S. over 43 days in 1965 by location and date as well as tour data such as miles covered. A fifth lists Holy Blessings conducted by True Parents in the U.S. The sixth lists all of True Parents’ speaking tours. The seventh is a separate chronology of True Parents in Canada, 1965-2020.
Sources
Sources used for the chronology are varied. They include Unification Church/Family Federation periodicals, books, websites, speech collections, online and print chronologies, travel and visitor records, personal journals, eyewitness accounts, and non-Unification materials, i.e., books, investigative reports and newspaper accounts. True Parents’ activities are well documented in Unification periodicals of record: New Age Frontiers (1960-72) and United Temple Bulletin (1962-71) for the 1960s; TheWay of the World (1970-78), New Hope News (1974-81), and earlier issues of The Blessing Quarterly/Blessed Family (1978-86) for the 1970s; and Today’s World (1980-2014) and Unification News (1982-2009) for True Parents’ activities for the 1980s, 1990s and into the 2000s. True Peace Magazine(2014-) documents True Mother’s activities in the 2010s and 2020s. Another important source for the 1970s is Dr. David S.C. Kim’s monumental three-volume Day of Hope in Review series (1974, 1976, 1981). True Parents’ U.S. speeches are collected in several volumes: Master Speaks (1965-76), Reverend Sun Myung Moon Speaks (1977-85), True Father’s 615 volume Collected Speeches (1956-2012), and True Mother Hak Ja Han Moon: An Anthology (2017). These document titles, dates and location of speeches.
The Sunhak Institute of History, Korea has the most extensive archives of True Parents and Unification activities worldwide. The institute has published chronologies in Korean (2016, 2020) which include True Parents’ activities in the United States. Recently, an International Sunhak History Committee has assembled a Global Online Chronology (https://en.tphistory.net/), regularly updated, which likewise includes True Parents’ U.S. activities. In addition, the Exhibition Planning Department of the Cheon Won Gung Museum has generated more than 4,000 historical slides for its Education Center which is a rich source. Finally, the Chambumo Gyeong (2016), a Unification holy text, includes a “Chronology of the Life and Works of True Parents.” All of these sources were utilized the preparation of True Parents’ U.S. chronology.
Mention also needs to be made, at least in the U.S. context, to two unparalleled resources. One is tparents.org, a website managed by Gary Fleischer and the single most comprehensive repository of curated Unification materials in English. The other is the HJ East Garden Museum archives which include security and visitor logs, event files, reports, travel records and photo albums. A final resource which has only begun to be tapped are members’ records, journals, diaries, and letters. The chronology benefited from a number of individuals who shared materials with the editors. Specific appreciations are noted in the chronology’s introduction.
Scope and Limitations
The scope of True Parents’ work in the United States is immense but includes three major emphases:
- First and foremost, True Parents proclaimed God’s Word. The chronology includes every recorded sermon, every speech delivered by True Parents during public speaking tours, all recorded commentaries delivered as part of daily HoonDok gatherings for reading and study, all proclamations and all conference addresses.
- Second, True Parents exercised spiritual and pastoral leadership. The chronology documents the establishment of Holy Grounds, Holy Marriage Blessings officiated by True Parents, Holy Day celebrations, Director and Leader meetings, workshops and training sessions in which True Parents participated, visits to centers in the field, prayer conditions, fishing conditions and tournaments, declarations of milestones in the providence and their initiation of new movement traditions.
- Third, True Parents pursued initiatives consistent with their vision of social and cultural transformation. The chronology documents their work with scientists, religious leaders, civic officials, academics, artists, journalists and others, their establishment of organizations and federations dedicated to world peace, and their development of economic enterprises dedicated to technological equalization and alleviation of world hunger.
In addition, True Parents endured public opposition and prosecution, even persecution, which is also recorded in the chronology.
Although the chronology incudes more than 7,000 separate entries, it falls far short of fully documenting True Parents’ daily activities, which began at 5:00 a.m. or earlier, and extended well past midnight. Most entries include only a single or several items from each day. Significantly, the chronology lacks coverage of breakfast meetings which True Parents convened on a daily basis and at which they made important decisions as to the movement’s direction. At these meetings, True Parents received hundreds of reports and proposals from leaders. The HJ East Garden Museum is currently in the process of compiling an inventory of forty large trunks that contain binders of these presentations. These will add significantly to the record of True Parent’s guidance and direction but are not included in this chronology. Additionally, despite efforts to be exhaustive, there are gaps in coverage of True Parents’ day-to-day activities, sometimes of days, other times of weeks when the existing historical record is silent. True Parents spent a total of 9,189 days in the U.S. from 1965-2022. As of this writing, 5016 of these days are included in the chronology, or 54.58%. 4176 days are yet to be accounted for. This is reminiscent of the Gospel account of Jesus’ ministry as recorded in John 21:25: “there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” It is hoped that these gaps will be filled as more records come to light.
Findings
The chronology’s findings are both narrative-based and analytical. Narrative-based findings consist of content highlights which reinforce, expand or even shed new light on the narrative of True Parents’ major emphases and investment. Analytically-based findings consist of numerically organized data such as the number of days spent in the U.S. by year and decade or number of days spent in specific locations.
Decade Highlights
This section further elaborates the chronology’s decade-by-decade findings as related to key developments and emphases of True Parents’ ministry.
The1960s
The chronology documents True Father’s first arrival in the U.S. at 5:50 a.m., February 12 as part of his first world tour, and his greeting by 27 members at San Francisco International Airport including the first missionaries to the United States, Young Oon Kim (arrived Jan. 2, 1959), David Kim (arrived Sept. 18, 1959), and Bo Hi Pak (arrived March 14, 1961). It covers his first days in the San Francisco Bay Area, most importantly his selection of the first Holy Ground in the U.S. at Twin Peaks, San Francisco on February 15. It then documents True Father’s consecration of Holy Grounds in every state across the Lower U.S. 48 states over the next 43 days, traveling in a 1965 Plymouth Fury II station wagon, and completing the tour on March 29. It also documents True Father’s speeches and question-and-answer sessions later collected in the Master Speaks series. In addition to the establishment of Holy Grounds, the chronology covers True Father’s meetings with U.S. trance-medium Arthur Ford (written about in Ford’s Unknown But Known[4]), and the 34thU.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his Gettysburg. PA home on June 25. It also covers a whirlwind trip to Manhattan in late April during which True Father later recalled bursting into tears while standing on 5th Avenue during rush hour, contemplating whether God dwelled in the magnificent buildings.
True Father returned to the U.S. in 1969, this time with True Mother, for a 39-day visit (February 5 – March 15) as part of the Second World Tour. The highlight of their activity was the matching and blessing of 13 couples on February 28, 1969 at Upshur House, Washington, DC, the first Holy Blessing conducted outside of Korea. The chronology also documents True Father’s introduction of CARP (Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles) and IFVOC (International Federation for Victory Over Communism) activities in Korea and Japan, emphases which were new to American members. The visit also included whirlwind visits to machine shops in Baltimore and New York City, another emphasis which was new. On March 15, the day of their departure, True Father wrote a letter to the Korean church that contrasted Korean and American members, noting the relative merits and demerits of each.
The 1970s
True Parents shifted the focus of their ministry to the U.S. during the 1970s and, in fact, obtained permanent resident status (True Mother on February 26, 1973; True Father on April 30, 1973). The chronology documents the explosive growth of the Unification movement in the U.S. during the decade beginning with public speaking tours, a new phase in True Father’s ministry. The chronology includes event dates, venues, speech titles and related circumstances such as proclamations and keys to cities during the 7-City, 21-City, 32-City, and 8-City speaking tours, the latter of which included a standing room only rally at New York Madison Square Garden on September 18, 1974. It also covers the Bicentennial God Bless America rallies at Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument on June 1 and September 18, 1976 which closed the initial proclamation phase of True Parents work in America. The tours transformed the church from loosely-organized missionary groupings into a high demand new religious movement. The chronology documents the formation of the One-World Crusade (later the International One World Crusade), purchases of iconic properties (Belvedere estate; East Garden; the former St. Joseph’s Institute in Barrytown, NY; the New Yorker Hotel, and 4 West 43rd St, Manhattan), and the sending out of overseas missionaries.
In addition to evangelistic work, the chronology covers True Parents efforts to engage and transform society. This includes full documentation of annual International Conferences on the Unity of the Sciences, beginning on November 23-26, 1972. It also covers meetings in Washington, DC with U.S. political leaders and True Father’s Watergate Statement, issued on November 30, 1973 which led to a 40-Prayer and Fast for the Watergate Crisis campaign and private meeting with U.S. President Richard Nixon on February 1, 1974. True Parents lay the initial foundations for their effort to revive the U.S. maritime industry through annual tuna fishing campaigns off Gloucester, MA, and the establishment of International Oceanic Enterprises (11.03.1976). They also began important media initiatives with the first edition of The News World, a New York City daily newspaper, on December 31, 1976. All of this was not without opposition and True Parents coped with negativity from religious organizations, parents of members, and government bodies throughout the decade.
The 1980s
The 1980s were in many ways the best of times and the worst of times for True Parents in the United States. On the positive side, the country righted its course under the Reagan administration and True Parents actively supported the Reagan agenda through The Washington Times. True Parents established CAUSA International and the CAUSA Ministerial Alliance which alerted leaders and clergy to the dangers of atheistic communism and confusion in the Western system of values. True Parents also made breakthroughs in ecumenical and interfaith work, convening the first Assembly of the World’s Religions in MacAfee, NJ from November 15-20, 1985, and sponsoring 7,000 U.S. clergy and lay leaders who traveled to Korea as part of interdenominational conferences from 1985-87. In addition, True Parents officiated a major Holy Blessing for 2075 couples at Madison Square Garden on July 1, 1982 which wed a large percentage of U.S. members.
These advances were tempered by negative outcomes. Most prominent was True Father’s indictment, trial, conviction and incarceration on tax evasion charges. Civil libertarians and organizations representing over 120 million Americans filed “friend of the court” briefs disputing the charges, alleging they were the result of religious animus and selective prosecution. Nevertheless, True Father spent 13 months in the Danbury, CN Federal Correction Institution and Phoenix Halfway House, Brooklyn, NY (July 21, 1984-August 20, 1985). The chronology documents True Parents daily attendance during the six-week trial and every visit of True Mother, True Family, movement leaders and dignitaries over the course of True Father’s confinement. The situation was compounded by the tragic death of True Parents’ second son, Heung Jin on January 2, 1984, following an automobile accident on December 22, 1983. True Parents proclaimed “The Victory of Love” and inaugurated Seunghwa Ascension services as a Unification tradition following their son’s passing. The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the fall of the Berlin wall vindicated their and others efforts over several decades.
The 1990s
During the 1990s, True Parents publicly declared their messianic identity and the Competed Testament Age. In large part due to the ongoing collapse of communism, True Father altered his persona from that of cold war warrior to that of “peacemaker and unifier.” The decade also saw the rise of True Mother to prominence. On March 27, 1990, True Father declared her the Unification Church’s “second founder.” Together, True Parents established numerous federations for world peace, including the Women’s Federation for World Peace (est. 1992) and the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (est. 1996) which became a successor organization to the church. True Parents continued their ecumenical and interreligious work, established ties with Islamic Grand Muftis, and conducted massive International Marriage Blessings in RFK Stadium, Washington, DC (1997) and Madison Square Garden (1998) that extended the Blessing beyond the Unification community. They also emphasized the unity of the Americas and undertook initiatives in both northern and southern hemispheres intended to foster unity and the appreciation of nature.
The chronology documents all of these developments. True Parents declaration of their messianic identity led to a second phase of public speaking tours that proclaimed the Competed Testament Word throughout the decade. As in the 1970s, the chronology documents all tour dates, venues, speech titles and related circumstances. True Mother increasingly took the lead in these, closely supported by True Father. The chronology also documents True Parents active participation in “Sisterhood Ceremonies” between Japanese and American women at mid-decade and the emergence of HoonDokHaedevotional services at the end of the decade which included extensive commentary by True Father. As with earlier decades, the chronology includes all sermons, Holy Day speeches and Leader Meeting addresses delivered by True Parents. It also includes complete documentation of True Parents’ travel which was facilitated by Washington Times Aviation aircraft and comprehensive documentation of fishing conditions set on the Hudson River, Long Island Sound and Alaska.
The 2000s
If anything, True Parents accelerated the pace of their work during the 2000s. They conducted ten speaking tours during the decade (2000, 2002, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2007), covering an average of more than 14 U.S. cities each. The 2001 “We Will Stand in Oneness” tour included 52 cities in 51 days. In several instances, the U.S. tours were springboards to world tours. True Parents achieved breakthroughs with U.S. clergy through the tours and the establishment of the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC). They conducted an Interfaith Clergy Marriage Blessing in 2001 which generated worldwide interest due to the participation of Roman Catholic Archbishop Immanuel Milingo. In addition, they inspired U.S. clergy and thousands of others to undertake “peace pilgrimages” as part of a Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI) from 2003-07. They undertook parallel work in advocating the creation of an Interreligious Council at the United Nations, anointing “Ambassadors for Peace,” establishing the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), and proposing a Bering Strait bridge or tunnel as an inter-hemispheric link of an International Peace Highway. True Parents launched a Pacific Islands providence and declared the Pacific Rim Era, extending from Hawaii. They also began educational work in Las Vegas, NV.
The chronology covers True Parents’ activities and actions related to each of these initiatives and more. Some of their initiatives were controversial such as Archbishop Milingo’s blessing, publication of a “Cloud of Witnesses” statement which included testimonies to True Parents from deceased saints and others including U.S. presidents, their instructions to take down crosses from churches, and the coronation of True Parents as King and Queen of Peace in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. However, all of them were consistent with True Parents’ expressed intention of laying the foundation for Cheon Il Guk, or the earthly Kingdom of Heaven. To that end, they encouraged members to report to God in their own names, dedicated a new Holy Scripture (Cheon Seong Gyeong), declared the Sabbath fulfilled and conducted ceremonies for the authority and liberation of God. They pursued the “Peace Kingdom” as an alternative to a world in disarray due after 9/11 and war on terror. They also stayed the course despite True Father’s serious illness in 2003 and a fiery helicopter crash on a Korean mountainside in 2008.
The 2010s-2020s
The 2010s and first two years of the 2020s were decades of transition following True Father’s passing on September 2, 2012. The chronology records a number of True Father’s final activities in the U.S. – his final day at East Garden (11.23.10); his last day in Alaska (8.2.11); his last public speech in the U.S. (10.5.11); his last day fishing in the U.S. (7.14.12); and his final departure from the U.S. (7.15.12) among others. Significantly, the chronology documents the frenetic pace of True Father’s activities from 2010 until his passing, – 39 transcontinental flights between the U.S. and Korea over 30 months from January 2010 to July 2012 in addition to a speaking tour of 10 European nations and trip to Abuja, Nigeria in 2011; all-night fishing conditions on Lake Mead, up to 12-hour HoonDokHae sessions. He clearly wanted to squeeze as much content as possible into his final years
True Mother led the Unification community past the trauma of True Father’s passing and carried forward their global ministry. She delivered her first public speech following True Father’s ascension at the Women’s Federation for World Peace 20th Anniversary Assembly in Las Vegas on October 27, 2012 and began a cross-country bus tour of the U.S. the next day, covering 3,500 miles in one week. She led 1000th Day Commemorations of True Father’s passing in New York (5.24.15) and Las Vegas (5.30.15) which concluded a three-year period of mourning and coincided with completion of the International Peace Education Center (IPEC), envisioned by True Father, in Las Vegas. True Mother launched the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP) in 2016 and “Peace Starts with Me” rallies over the next three years at Madison Square Garden (7.15.17), Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York (11,12.18), Los Angeles (4.6.19), Las Vegas (6.22.19), and the Prudential Center, Newark, NJ (12.28.19). During COVID, she conducted massive, online “Rallies of Hope” featuring addresses by U.S. and other nation’s sitting and former heads of state. After COVID, True Mother established a USA CheonBo Heaven and Earth Training Center in Las Vegas (4.30.22). In all of this, True Mother showed herself to be a creative and resourceful leader in the mold of her late husband.
Analytics
Analytics refers to the process of sifting through large, commonly massive amounts of data to discover patterns and meaningful information. The chronology’s appendices introduce a number of analytical categories.
Unification Terms and Acronyms
The first two appendices which identify Unification terms and acronyms used in the chronology are intended to be reader aides. However, they also contain relevant information. The “Glossary of Unification Terms” includes 86 items in alphabetical order, nearly half of which (42) are in the Korean language. Many of these are familiar to committed Unificationists such as Aju (a closing word of prayer), Cheon Il Guk(the Unification designation for the Kingdom of Heaven, literally “the nation of cosmic peace”) Cheon Seong Gyeong (a Unification scripture), or HoonDokHae (gatherings for reading and learning). Some less familiar terms referenced in the chronology refer to ceremonial days of historical or theological interest such as Chil Il Jeol (7.1 Day), Chil Pal Jeol (7.8. Day), Gu-Gu Jeol (9.9 Day), Pal Il Jeol (8.1 Day), and Sa SaJeol (4.4 Day). In a few cases, English translations have superseded the original Korean and are listed in the Glossary as primary designations with Korean terms in parenthesis, i.e., the Day of Victory of Love (Ae Seung Il) or Heavenly Parentism (Cheon Bu Ju Hwi). More commonly, the primary designations of Unification terms remain in Korean with English translations in parenthesis.
Apart from primary and secondary designations, Unification terms change over time. This is particularly the case for Holy Days such as Children’s Day (later, True Children’s Day) or Day of All Things (later Day of All True Things). It also is the case for other designations such as Original Divine Principle (later Original Substance of Divine Principle), Seunghwa Ceremony (later, Seonghwa), or Tongil Moo Do (formerly Won Hwa Do). In terms of content, the 86 glossary terms divide into at least seven categories: 1) Organizations, initiatives, projects; 2) Designations of historical periods or eras; 3) Ceremonial practices; 4) Physical buildings or locations; 5) Books and documents; 6) Teachings; and 7) Honorifics pertaining to individuals. The chronology includes 49 acronyms, nearly all of which refer to Unification-related non-profits. These include committees, conferences, coalitions, associations, councils, crusades, festivals, foundations, academies, institutes, churches and schools. However, the largest number (11) refer to federations which proliferated during the 1990s and afterwards. A couple acronyms refer to Unification-related business enterprises, some to groups of individuals (IWs for itinerary workers), and two to Unification teachings (UT for Unification Thought and VOC for Victory Over Communism). Unification terminology and the use of Unification acronyms are avenues into a fuller understanding of True Parents’ ministry.
Days in U.S.
The chronology includes complete documentation of True Parents’ arrivals and departures from the U.S. Therefore, it is possible to calculate the number of days they spent in the U.S. – by year, by decade and in total over six decades. It also is possible to calculate the percentage of days per year, per decade and over the duration of the U.S. ministry that True Parents spent in the U.S. True Parents spent over 300 days in the U.S. in 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984 and 1985. In the 1970s and 1980s, they spent approximately two-thirds of their time in the U.S. During the 1990s and from 2000-09, True Parents increasingly spent time elsewhere but still spent substantial time in the U.S., nearly half of the 1990s and more than 40 percent of their time from 2000-2009. True Parents spent a total of 9,189 days in the U.S. from 1960-2020, or 42 percent of their time. Excluding 1965 and 1969, they spent 9,009 days in the U.S. from 1970-2020, or 51 percent of their time.
Days Spent in Specific Locations
Due to gaps in the chronology, it is less possible to be definitive as to the number of days True Parents spent in specific locations. However, enough information is available to establish the locations they visited most often and stayed the longest. Based on data available as of December 2022, the following are lists of: 1) The top dozen locations according to number of their visits and 2) The top dozen locations according to duration of visits. Belvedere Estate and East Garden in Tarrytown and Irvington, NY are not included among the top locations as to number of visits because they served as True Parents’ primary residences from 1972-2008. They are also not included among top locations according to length of stays because as of this writing the days spent at both have not been calculated.
There are differences between the top locations in terms of the number of visits and duration of visits. For example, the New Yorker Hotel and Manhattan Center rank at the top in number of visits but #6 in duration of visits. Likewise, Barrytown, NY ranks #3 in number of visits and #8 in duration of visits as True Parents made only day trips there. On the other hand, Alaska (primarily Kodiak), ranks #5 in number of visits but #1 in duration of visits. Las Vegas, Hawaii and Gloucester, MA also climb from #4, #6 and #11 in number of visits to #2, #3 and #5 in duration of visits. This is because True Parents had important secondary residences and ministry foci in each of these locations. Washington, DC ranks high in both number and duration of visits because it served as True Parents’ base during their 1960s visits and because they eventually had a secondary residence in McLean, VA (Jefferson House) that served as a stopping point when convening events in the nation’s capital. Once time spent at Belvedere and East Garden is calculated, which will far outnumber days spent elsewhere, a fuller picture of True Parents’ time in the U.S. will be available.
Holy Grounds, Blessings and Speaking Tours
The chronology’s appendices contain complete listings of Holy Grounds, Marriage Blessings and speaking tours of True Parents. In 1965, True Father established 55 Holy Grounds over 43 days (February 15 to March 29) in 48 U.S. states. Holy Grounds were consecrated on 30 of the days that he traveled by car, as many as six in a single day (New York City; New Haven, CT; Providence, RI; Boston, MA; Portsmouth, NH; and Kittery, ME on March 21). The first Holy Ground established was at Twin Peaks, San Francisco and the last in Eugene Oregon, after having completed a circuit around the country. Total distance covered was 12,576 or 13,110 miles depending on the highway source used. True Parents also established a Holy Ground at Belvedere Estate on January 7, 1973. At each of the Holy Grounds established in 1965, True Father buried pebbles and soil brought from Korea and collected pebbles and soil at each location to be transported to Korea.
True Parents officiated at 24 Holy Marriage Blessings in the U.S. over 40 years from February 28, 1969 to January 31, 2009. The first, at Upshur House in Washington D.C., brought together 13 couples and was the first Holy Blessing ceremony conducted outside of Korea. True Parents conducted Blessings of single couples, single individuals, previously-married couples, their direct children, ascended couples, clergy couples, second-generation couples, interfaith couples, and cross-cultural couples. Of particular note were Blessings of 2075 Couples at Madison Square Garden in 1982 which brought together a significant percentage of the U.S. movement’s membership; International Marriage Blessings at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington DC and Madison Square Garden in 1997 and 1998; a World Peace Blessing of 210 Couples at the UN in January 2001; and an Interfaith Clergy Blessing of 60 Couples in New York in May, 2001. Holy Blessings were the centerpiece of True Parents’ marriage and family values ministry in the U.S.
True Father had not spoken publicly in Korea or Japan, so public speaking tours, which began in the U.S., launched a new phase of his ministry. These started with four Day of Hope speaking tours in the early 1970s (1972-74) and culminated in two Bicentennial God Bless America Festivals keynote addresses at Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument in 1976. The festival speeches closed out the initial proclamation stage of True Father’s U.S. ministry. A second phase of tours began in 1990 and closely followed True Parents’ declarations of messiahship, the Completed Testament Age, HoonDokHae, Cheon Il Guk, the Pacific Rim Era and other providential developments. True Mother took on an increasingly prominent role and was the keynote speaker in 16 of the 23 tours undertaken during the 1990s and 2000s. Altogether, True Parents conducted 28 U.S. public speaking tours, spoke in 388 U.S. cities (many multiple times), and delivered 438 tour speeches. Each of them is documented in the chronology.
Additional Analytics
The chronology contains additional information which has not yet been subject to analysis. Mention has been made of the number of days spent at Belvedere Estate and East Garden. Fishing conditions are another category. Fishing was a discipline that had practical and spiritual significance, especially for True Father, and he spent innumerable days, often beginning as early as 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. and staying out for as long as 12 or more hours on the Hudson River, off the coast of Gloucester, MA, in Kodiak, AK where True Mother frequently joined him., and in his last years, on Lake Mead, NV. The editorial team has not yet been able to obtain captain’s boat logs which will document, among other things, the daily catch and size of Atlantic Bluefin tuna for which True Father was renowned
Other categories of interest included in the chronology but not yet calculated or analyzed include the number and types of conferences True Parents convened, proclamations and keys to cities they obtained; their transcontinental/inter-hemispheric travel and the intensity of their daily schedules; the numbers of sermons and Leaders’ Meeting addresses; and banquets hosted. Reference earlier was made to 40 large trunks documenting hundreds of reports and proposals made to True Parents, often at breakfast meetings, which are being indexed by the HJ East Garden Museum. These will provide additional material for analysis as will diaries and journals as they surface.
Ongoing Work
Chronologies are living documents and rarely, if ever finished. The present chronology had an initial end date of 2020 but now extends through 2022. Still, there are necessary stopping points. The present goal is to offer a limited first edition of the chronology prior to or at the dedication of the Cheon WonGun Exhibition on the Course of True Parents’ Life and Work, scheduled to open in 2023. Beyond that, the intention is to post the chronology and source document from which the entries are derived online, either on a site set up specifically for the chronology or on a FFWPU-related site such as the Sunhak Institute of History, USA site (https://history.familyfed.org/) or the HJ East Garden Museum site (https://eastgarden.org/). Readers and interested parties will be invited to make comments or submit additional entries for vetting.
It is hoped that the chronology of True Parents activities in the United States will inspire additional chronologies of its type in other countries. The Sunhak Institute of History, Korea published extensive, though untranslated chronologies in 2016 and 2020, and the International Sunhak History Committee has assembled a global online chronology, regularly updated, which includes U.S. activities. However, these chronologies are broader in scope, documenting activities of the worldwide Unification movement. They do not, as this chronology does, focus exclusively on activities in which True Parents directly participated. Thus, while offering a fuller picture of activities considered providential, they don’t zero in on True Parents, whom Unificationists regard as the center of the providence. This chronology’s final appendix, “True Parents in Canada: A Chronology, 1965-2022,” compiled by Franco Famularo, is an example of applying this model in a different, though related national context. The interplay of various approaches in varied national settings will afford the best opportunity to appreciate the life and work of True Parents.
Notes
[1] Cheon Eui Won Chairs are respected elders who act in a legislative, disciplinary and advisory capacity to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly Unification Church). There are eight international Cheon Eui Won chairs.
[2] Regional Presidents oversee personnel and activities of FFWPU’s nine worldwide regional groups.
[3] Sun Myung Moon. “Becoming Leaders and Building a World of Peace.” Speech delivered at the International Culture and Sports Festival. Seoul, Korea, August 24, 1992. Reprinted in Today’s World 13, no. 9(October–November, 1992): 4.
[4] Arthur Ford. "The Sun Myung Moon Sittings." In Unknown But Known: My Adventures into the Meditative Dimension, 106-28. New York: Harper and Row, 1968.