Douglas Burton and Lymha Kim
January 8, 2013
Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, also known as True Mother, has announced that the Korean Unification Church should henceforth address God as “Heavenly Parents” and that it will revert back to its previous name, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. She announced these changes, along with changes in personnel during a leaders’ conference January 7, 2012 at Gapyeong, Korea. Approximately 150 executives from 18 organizations gathered for a year-in-review meeting and a New Year congratulatory ceremony, according to the website of the Tongil industrial group.
“During the Old Testament period, we called God ‘Yahweh’ and during New Testament period we called God ‘Heavenly Father,’ but True Father completed providence history. The Foundation Day is the day that God’s dream will be accomplished,” True Mother said to 150 Korean church leaders at the conference at her residence, the Cheon Jeon Gung. She explained further that “we need to change the name of God. We shouldn’t call out to God, we should call out to Heavenly Parents.”
True Mother also announced a name change for the church. “And from now on we are not Unification Church; it’s Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. I was planning to announce this after Foundation day, but I will start it now,” True Mother said.
The Unification Church became the popular name for the Holy Spirit Association for World Christianity (HSA-UWC), registered in Seoul on May 1, 1954. On May 3, 1994 the Unification Church formally had adopted the title of “Family Federation for World Peace and Unification” (FFWPU) according to Dr. Tyler Hendricks, Unification Church president at the time. Church officials explained that the name change expressed Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s intention to broaden the mission of the Unification movement and to include allies in faith from various denominations. In 2009, at the direction of Rev. Hyung Jin Moon, the newly appointed International President, the “Family Federation” title was retired, and the name “Unification Church” was restored to the church headquarters building in Seoul.
Another change announced is that Dr. Chang Shik Yang, formerly the Continental Director for North America, and Dr. Lan Young Moon, president of the International Federation of Women for World Peace (IWFFWP) will take on the leadership of the Unification Church in Korea, True Mother announced, ”Dr. Joon Ho Seuk did great job, but we need someone younger. I looked for a second-generation Unificationist, but they need to grow more, so I chose Dr. Chang Shik Yang to become a president and [Dr.] Lan Young Moon to become a vice president.”