True Parents’ Day Brings Families Together
On Sunday April 19 the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) celebrated the 56th observance of True Parents’ Day. In the Cheon Seong Gyeong, True Father describes the great significance of this day as “the very day that heaven and earth have been hoping for … the day when God determined his day of victory.” (CSG 1221-2)
Around the nation, communities celebrated True Parents’ Day, the first of all Holy Days, by gathering together, making joyful offerings and sharing the day as one family. The following stories highlight some of the local True Parents’ Day celebrations last week.
Worcester, Massachusetts
The Worcester Family Church had a festive celebration with music, a lovely cake and a raffle. “I met them late in the afternoon at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center where they had been holding a beautiful True Parents’ Day celebration for most of the day,” described Dr. Michael Balcomb, President of FFWPU USA. “Sunday School children had drawn paintings of True Parents and had created a beautiful offering table.” They greeted True Parents’ Day with a beautiful offering table and heard a message from Pastor Dmitry Vilchitsky.
“I was particularly moved to see the celebration in Worcester, Massachusetts, where our community is in a time of transition,” said Dr. Balcomb. “Many families are preparing to relocate to Pennsylvania for work and the community realizes it needs to downsize its facilities for a while.”
Pastor Dmitry Vilchitsky said that the community had already identified a promising new location for the learning center and Worcester Family Church worship services. “All of our families are looking forward to True Mother’s arrival,” he said, “and we plan to come down to New York and greet her at East Garden in May.”
Atlanta, Georgia
The Atlanta Family Church had a wonderful celebration service. The officiating couple was Pastor Haruki Kimura and his wife. The main message was given by Rev. David Hwan, their local Korean Evangelical Association’s senior minister. He spoke on the topic “Let’s Wake Up to Our Responsibility for the Present Time”. His insightful message was felt by all as if a grandfather was giving guidance to his children and grandchildren.
There were several brothers and sisters who gave heart-moving song offerings followed by reciting of the Atlanta Family Church vision and mission statement led by a six-year-old girl. After the cake-cutting and three cheers of Eog Mansei (victory), the community spent the afternoon together and shared a delicious lunch.
Jacksonville, Florida
In Jacksonville, Florida, the community celebrated True Parents’ Day at Sunday service. They started with the Family Pledge, then sang the Cheon Il Guk Anthem and showed the weekly report from iPeace TV. The local pastor read from Revelation about the marriage of the lamb, and from the Cheon Seong Gyeong about True Parents’ Day. After some announcements and testimonies, the community took some group photos and enjoyed fellowship and food.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Minneapolis Family Church celebrated True Parents’ Day at their Sunday service as well. A few representative families cut the celebration cake and the day was enjoyed by all.
Clifton, New Jersey
The Clifton Family Church of New Jersey held two services for the 56th True Parents’ Day Celebration. One was held at 8am, celebrated with Holy Songs and a message given by Pastor Manoj Jacob. Another celebration was held at 11:30am for the sake of allowing Sunday School children (Pre-K to 7th Grade) to offer their Holy Day gifts as an offering that they made prior to this event.
Seattle, Washington
The Seattle Family Church celebrated the 56th True Parents’ Day at the local church. Interim Pastor, Nelson Mira, led the pledge service and read messages from the Cheon Seong Gyeong about the significance of the True Parents’ Day. Following the pledge service, more families came for the Sunday service after celebrating True Parents’ Day in their homes. The afternoon began with a potluck celebration, followed by entertainment from the youth ministry. The celebration was a success!
Los Angeles, California
On April 19 at 7:00am, pledge service was held at the Pasadena House in Los Angeles. Pastor George Kazakos and his wife led the ceremony, attended by members of the close community. Most families held the service at home by following the Holy Day home kit on their local e-news, which shared detailed preparation steps for celebrating the Holy Day at home.
Afterward, a community celebration took place at Whittier Narrows Park at 11:00am. About 250 people came from all greater Los Angeles area, and even some families from the San Diego area. Mrs. Anne Nilson read True Mother’s message from True Parents’ Day in 2014. The church band performed and Sunday School children (K-5th grade) performed a K-pop dance with their teachers. Young and elder community members played soccer games and volleyball. Some young college students who are studying Divine Principle at Pasadena City College came and enjoyed the picnic lunch together.
Boston, Massachusetts
Following their very long winter, the Boston Family Church greeted a beautiful spring day on Sunday, April 19, 2015, and celebrated True Parents’ Day, joined by President of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA, Dr. Michael Balcomb and his wife, Fumiko Balcomb. The community shared breakfast and lunch, as well as a special Sunday service that welcomed 130 people from Boston, Gloucester and Rhode Island.
There were beautiful flowers decorating the room on the occasion of True Parents’ Day, and the Beacon House Band performed lively music. “The Holy Day experience set a really nice atmosphere, and a lot of people stayed and lingered well into the afternoon,” described Pastor Edgerly.