40 Years in America

Barrytown Pioneer Training

Pioneers at Barrytown, shortly before leaving for their missions

At the same time that he was launching the worldwide mission, Rev. Moon was working to transform the movement in America. In particular, he challenged the American membership to quicken their pace of numerical growth by more closely emulating the standard of faith and witnessing methods utilized in the East, especially Japan. To that end, he instituted a 120-day training program at Barrytown, New York under the leadership of Mr. Ken Sudo, "recognized as a great teacher in the Japanese movement." According to Rev. Moon, the minimum number of members necessary to influence the United States in a positive direction was 30,000, a goal that he hoped to attain by 1978. He also needed substantially more members to successfully undertake ambitious evangelistic campaigns at Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument. Barrytown Training was to be the starting point for a new pattern of education, and Rev. Moon wanted "to re-train the entire American movement."

Barrytown Training under Mr. Sudo was a significant departure from the former orientation of the American movement. In essence, the effort was to develop not just core membership, but hardcore membership. As Mr. Sudo put it, the movement’s purpose over the next seven years was "to swallow the world." There were at least four ways in which the Barrytown experience departed from the previous pattern. First, there was a much sharper distinction drawn between the Church and the "outside world."

Under the early missionaries and during the Day of Hope tours, the effort had been to establish a common base and points of contact with the wider society. There was a strong emphasis on achieving public acceptance, and even symbolic forms of good will such as civic proclamation or keys to cities were valued and sought. Barrytown Training imparted more a sense of competition. Or, as Mr. Sudo put it, "We must exceed the world. In order for Cain to obey Abel, Abel must exceed Cain."

A second departure was the stress placed on loyalty to one’s immediate central figure and the necessity to recognize one’s fallen nature. These points also were part of the Church’s past tradition in America. However, there also was a history of divisiveness, particularly during the early mission period. In addition, during the Day of Hope era, at least according to Mr. Sudo, more emphasis was placed on external accomplishments than on developing an internal life of faith. Mr. Sudo noted that it was relatively easy for the membership to have faith in God and in Rev. Moon but difficult to have faith in one’s direct superior. However, this was the secret of success in the Japanese movement. Also, rather than have members focus on external accomplishments, Mr. Sudo "sent them out into the snow to pray for a few hours to really humble themselves before God and to repent."

A third departure was the emphasis on individual "pioneer" witnessing. Again, this also was part of the American church’s past tradition from the arrival of its first missionaries to the setting up of state and local centers. However, once the "center" tradition was established, members were raised and functioned within a supportive, family-style environment. During the Day of Hope era, strong emphasis was placed on the "team" concept, particularly within the International One World Crusade. Rev. Moon became convinced that the movement could not reach its goals at the current rate of growth and, therefore, "outlined plans for restructuring the American movement, gradually replacing the regional system with independent pioneer missions in the field."

This method had been successful in expanding the Church’s outreach to villages in Korea. It also was regularly employed in Japan. Rev. Moon believed that "the new system of independent missionaries" was "the quickest way to increase membership." Barrytown was the training ground for these missionaries.

Finally, there was a stronger sense of urgency, desperation and heaviness, or what Rev. Moon termed "overburdened responsibility" in one of his sermons. Previously, members had felt a sense of urgency and worked hard to meet goals.

However, the primary motivating factor for their efforts was the vision of an ideal society and world. This was the underlying dynamic and what empowered members during the Day of Hope tours. Ironically, having attained a certain level of accomplishment, the movement felt more rather than less pressure to succeed and a greater fear of failure. The utter collapse of U.S. policy in Indochina and the fall of Vietnam to communist forces reinforced these feelings and stimulated the vivid articulation of apocalyptic scenarios. According to Mr. Sudo,

Unless we can fulfill our mission...many people will be killed by Communism. Hundreds, thousands, millions of people will be killed by communists. The first victim will be the Unification Church.... If it happens, how terrible it will be. Can you imagine the bloody tragedy of brothers and sisters who are being tortured and raped? Tortured and killed by Communists -- screaming, shouting and finally killed. Can you imagine? If you truly love your brothers and sisters, you will not be able to bear such a tragedy. This is the providential situation....

Barrytown Training became the major focus of the American movement during 1975. In January, thirty-eight state leaders were participating in an expanded 100-day program. At a February 24th Director’s Conference, "older" members and those with college degrees were directed to go to Barrytown immediately. In March, those preparing for overseas mission joined others from the field at Barrytown, and Rev. Moon called on the movement’s ten regional leaders to attend. In May, the wives of older members and IOWC members from the field were added. In June, Mr. Sudo counted 500 core witnessers at Barrytown.

Beginning in June and during the second half of 1975, "Barrytown pioneers" went to the field, first in the Northeast region and later throughout the nation. To a large extent, Barrytown Training was a Japanese import. That is, the movement attempted to cultivate the attitudes and methods in witnessing that had been successful in Japan. The same was true for the movement’s financial operation. If Mr. Sudo became the de facto director of education of the American Church, Mr. Takeru Kamiyama became its fundraising director. This was only appropriate as funds from Japan were fueling the movement’s evangelistic campaigns in the U.S. and Korea as well as its major property purchases.

To some extent, the Japanese outlook and modes of operation became even more pervasive in the church’s mobile fundraising teams, or MFTs. There was an even clearer distinction between the church and the world as, unlike witnessers, mobile fundraisers had occasion for only very temporary and superficial interaction with outsiders. Loyalty to one’s immediate central figure, or, in MFT terminology, to one’s "captain" or "commander" was far more strongly stressed, and members were expected to grow in faith, offering sincere devotion to "mobilize the spiritual world" and thereby, increase result. Although there was a strong team system, fundraisers had to "pioneer" products and area and rarely worked with others but were entirely on their own virtually all day, every day. MFT members were desperate and urgent, just as witnessing members were to meet goals, and because of success, many nurtured hopes of being future business and corporation leaders. At the same time, apocalyptic scenarios of the sort outlined by Mr. Sudo were also a source of motivation.

The MFT existed in a kind of parallel universe to the church and grew proportionately to the witnessing providence. The original MFT teams worked 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. five days a week. However, during 1973-74 there was pressure to step up funding for the rental of Madison Square Garden and other Day of Hope stops, and fundraisers increased their pace, working as many as twelve hours a day, six or seven days a week. Results also increased from $70- 100 daily averages to $200-300 averages, with top fundraisers generating highs of $900-1,000 on a single day. As of May 1975, there were six two-van National Headquarters teams consisting of about ninety members who covered West Virginia, Virginia, the Carolinas, Maryland, and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania. The rest of the country was covered by "Father’s Task Force MFT" with 350 members. In November, two hundred additional members joined the MFT and it was consolidated under Mr. Kamiyama.

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