Five Unificationist Communities Win a Total of $95,520 in Grants

Out of 67 Family Federation communities across the United States that submitted grant applications to the HSA-UWC National Council this year, five have been awarded a total of $95,520.

The winning communities are: Faith Fusion, New Hampshire’s Family Church, awarded for its “Faith Fusion Church Growth Project”; Unification Family Church of Philadelphia, awarded for its “Operation: UFC Philly”; LA Family Church, awarded for “Tribal Messiah System Building”; New Hope Family Church (Maryland), awarded for “Mass Wedding for Members and Non-Members Together”; and Unification Church of Columbus (Ohio), awarded for “Columbus Soccer Peace Cup.”

In July 2014, the National Council announced on its web page that President Dr. Michael Balcomb had requested that grant applications be collected from local Unificationist communities. The grants would be awarded to those communities showing the greatest promise in supporting church growth and in meeting the goals of Vision 2020.

Every application went through a systematic review process by the National Council, with the finalists voted on during the council’s October 2014 meeting. The final recommendations were submitted to the Church Executive Committee, which approved the five highest-scoring applications.

The grant process was conducted in accordance with the National Charter and was led by the council’s Grant Subcommittee, led by Christine Hempowicz.

“This is the first time our church has undertaken grant proposals. We hope it will be a model for future creative growth and development,” said National Council Chair Noah Ross.

Following are the abstracts of the winning proposals:

District 4

Faith Fusion, New Hampshire’s Family Church

Pastor Heather Thalheimer

Church plant (no local council)

“Faith Fusion Church Growth Project”

Faith Fusion has a three-goal approach to church growth: (1) create a public presence for Faith Fusion in Manchester and surrounding towns so that they can become a known church of choice (cable TV shows and print ads); (2) Provide direct support to Faith Fusion members to assist them in witnessing so they can accomplish their personal goals and experience joy as a spiritual parent (visit member homes and strategize, create new outreach materials, provide in-home Principle lectures for guests); and (3) Establish a music ministry to increase the spiritual power of Sunday Service (engage non-UC area college student musicians).

District 3

Unification Family Church of Philadelphia

Pastor Shota Iwasaki

Local Council Chair Sun-Je Pearlman

“Operation: UFC Philly”

The Family Church of Philadelphia has three key goals to achieve the overall project purpose to expand outreach and increase the longevity of the church building: (1) Expand outreach, hospitality and education programs through providing stipends for three coordinator staff positions in order to develop a more cohesive program; (2) Expand CARP into new area Philadelphia campuses; and (3) undertake key preventative measures to repair the building and avoid future, more costly repairs.

District 12

LA Family Church

Pastor George Kazakos

Local Council Chair Mark Tengan

“Tribal Messiah System Building”

The LA Family Church will implement a “witnessing/marketing” system to achieve the momentum needed for “Blessing” and “Tribal Messiahship.” Guests are brought through the witnessing/marketing activities to participate in a sequence of programming: assimilation, join a small group, participate in weekly fellowship, commit to join a ministry, participate in leadership training, and join a 12-week study program to become active, tithing members. Eight younger adult members comprise the team, led by Andrew Love, former NY Church leader.

District 1

New Hope Family Church (Maryland)

Pastor Miilhan Stephens

Local Council Chair Joanne Parrish

“Mass Wedding for Members and Non-Members Together”

New Hope Family Church will embark on a massive education and outreach project to promote the value of Marriage/Blessing through web-based and print information, press releases, speaking at non-UC area churches, and through multi-church educational rallies. The goal is to recruit and educate 10-30 couples who will participate in pre-wedding seminars and will then participate in a local mass wedding on March 2, 2015.

District 6

Unification Church of Columbus (Ohio)

Pastor Frank Sanchez

Local Council Chair Garrun Abrahams

“Columbus Soccer Peace Cup”

Using soccer as a witnessing tool, the UC Columbus Soccer Club will expand to include non-UC members and host a Peace Cup tournament with accompanying character education seminar twice a year. Funds will be used to equip the team with uniforms, register with the local soccer league, and set up the tournament.