Bringing God to the Nation
This week in history: July 27-August 2
- National Parents’ Day was proclaimed.
- True Mother spoke on Capitol Hill.
- The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) was established.
- The first National Messiah workshop was held.
July 27, 1993
National Parents’ Day Proclaimed
On July 27, 1993, the day before True Mother delivered her “True Parents and the Completed Testament Age” address on Capitol Hill, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution introduced by Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.) which designated July 28 as “National Parents’ Day.” The following year, President Bill Clinton signed the Congressional Resolution into law, authorizing that the last Sunday in July be recognized as “National Parents’ Day” for the purpose of “recognizing, uplifting and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children.”
July 28, 1993
True Mother Speaks on Capitol Hill
Culminating True Parents’ speaking tour of 33 U.S. cities under the theme of “True Parents and the Completed Testament Age,” True Mother spoke before an audience of U.S. senators, congressmen, their aides and other dignitaries on Capitol Hill in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 28, 1993. She was introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who acknowledged True Parents’ long suffering and personal sacrifice, commended their investment in The Washington Times, and referred to True Mother as “my friend.” In her speech, True Mother declared “the dawn of the Completed Testament Age” and “the establishment of the first True Family.”
July 30, 1996
Establishment of the Family Federation for World Peace
True Parents convened the Inaugural World Convention of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) before 400 delegates and over a thousand participants at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., from July 30 to August 1, 1996. This was the Unification movement’s most spectacular federation launch and included an astounding list of dignitaries: two former U.S. presidents of the United States, Gerald Ford and George Bush; former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias; former Prime Ministers Edward Heath of Great Britain and Brian Mulroney of Canada; thirty-six one-time heads of state or governments; university presidents including Boston University’s John Silber; Christian television personality Robert Schuller; Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed; Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr.; Maureen Reagan, the daughter of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan; well-known comedian Bill Cosby; and Christian singer-actor Pat Boone. In addition, the main proceedings were covered live by C-SPAN television network.
True Mother delivered an opening plenary speech on the “View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation,” and True Father spoke on “In Search of the Origin of the Universe” at the convention’s closing banquet. Externally, FFWPU was a high-level forum for world leaders and scholars to address issues related to the family. Internally, it marked a further stage in the movement’s development beyond salvation of the individual to salvation of the family.
August 1, 1996
First National Messiah Workshop
In 1996, True Father announced his intention of sending “national messiahs” to world mission. The condition to be appointed a national messiah was that both husband and wife complete a 40-day workshop at Cheongpyeong Training Center in Korea. The first 40-day workshops were for senior Korean members and missionaries who had served in Unification Church overseas missions for 21 years. The first National Messiah Workshop for the movement’s general membership (blessed couples and tribal messiahs) began at Cheongpyeong on August 1, 1996 and concluded on September 9. Over 300 national messiah candidates attended. In the end, almost 200 couples or spouses participated in a lottery to receive one of the 183 nations to which True Parents would send national messiahs. From “Abel” nations — the United States, Canada, England and France — 121 couples received nations in the lottery, whereas from “Cain” nations — Germany, Italy and Austria — 76 couples were given nations. Nations were to be assigned an “Adam” National Messiah couple from Korea, an “Eve” National Messiah couple from Japan, in addition to the Western “Abel” and “Cain” National Messiah couples. True Father directed that National Messiahs should be prepared to invest three generations of their family in their assigned country.
This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of July 27 to August 2.