The Words of the Burton Family

University of Oregon Website Lets Unificationists Tell Their Story of Love and Marriage

Douglas Burton and Tiffany Takao
July 20, 2010


Hoon Dok Family Church in Ridgefield, Washington - Back row: Daniel Stumpf, Grandpa Mike Stumpf, Hiroko Stumpf, Greg Bowman, Kenta Takao, Sasha Brooker, John Brooker, Richard Stumpf, Dario Pisano, Manae Pisano, Keiko Pisano, and Elizabeth Brooker (top right) Front row: Tasha Brooker, Eri Inaba Stumpf, Violet Oliver, Ailin Darling, Tiffany Takao, Shoko Takao, and Manami Takao

LINK TO STUMPH ARTICLE

Love, Unification style, was the topic of an informative feature about the marriage choices of young Unificationists in Washington state on the University's award-winning magazine website, Fluxstories.com on May 30, 2010 [ See www.fluxstories.com/2010/05/meeting-their-match/comment-page-1/#comment-354].

The student reporting team of Ailin Darling,Violet Oliver, and Alysha Beck published a 1,400-word essay on the motivation and process of the matching of Neal Stumpf, 21, and his Japanese bride, Eri Inaba Stumpf, 21, as well as the religious views of several older members of the Unification community in Ridgefield, Washington.

The paragraph excerpted below illustrates the tone of the report:

"For members of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, commonly called the Unification church, arranged marriage is more than a tradition. 'It's kind of our only Sacrament,' says Neal's father, Richard Stumpf. 'Love needs to be inherited from generation to generation… the [married] couple is like the temple of God, where God wants to dwell in the family.' Richard is also the coordinator for the Northwest Family Fellowship, a Washington-based branch of the movement founded by Reverend Sun Myung Moon in 1954 in Korea. Central to the movement is the belief that a 'blessed' marriage restores the couple and their descendants from human corruption to the lineage of God."

Unificationists across the nation welcomed the accurate and respectful coverage given to their fellow believers in Washington. In the report below, Tiffany Takao, a home-fellowship member of the church community in Ridgefield, tells how she invited student reporters to a Saturday afternoon meeting of the local fellowship. As believers of any religious community would do, they offered their Christian witness, and by all accounts, it was natural and compelling. To some, it was a welcome contrast to newspaper stories of decades past that caricatured or insulted Unification church members. Why such good coverage in Oregon and why now? Maybe it's because the "conditions are right;" because of heavenly fortune, years of three generations praying together; or maybe it's a New Age. Maybe it's the humidity. But something happening in the state of Washington seems to be right.

When The Reporters Got it Right … And Why

Testimony from Tiffany Takao, member of the home-fellowship church community in Ridgefield, Washington, who shares the results of her invitation to student reporters to a Saturday afternoon gathering.

One day in April I got an e-mail that at first seemed like some kind of scam. A girl was saying she was a journalism student from the University of Oregon and that she had picked an assignment to interview young people of the Unification Church. They publish a monthly e-magazine for the school. I looked at the list of people she had sent it to, and it included the pastor and several families in the Portland church, as well as some not so connected now and even some deceased.

Since I recognized the names, I decided she might be for real. I wanted to quickly respond to her so that she would have a good impression of us. I wrote back right away, asking more about her and found out she had gotten the list of members somewhere on the internet, and that she wanted to meet our members in some way or come to a church service.

I am personally very inspired about our community's Hoon Dok Hae (scripture-reading) group that meets on Saturday nights, because it is a casual gathering and involves several married second-generation Unificationists, so it seemed like a great location for her to conduct the interview. I also mentioned the newly-released autobiography of the church founder, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and sent her the autobiography in document form by e-mail, so that she would have more understanding of the man who started all of this and have a more substantial foundation of facts.

She agreed to come up from Eugene, Oregon to Ridgefield, Washington one weekend. It is about a two-hour drive each way. She arrived late in the afternoon on April 24, 2010 with another journalism student and a photographer, which was a pleasant surprise. They joined us in watching the end of a video presentation, after which we had introductions, and they joined us for dinner and interview time. We talked very excitedly about many things, and the students who came seemed a little surprised by our stories of our church's early days, the matching and blessing process, international marriages, current affairs, and our vision of three-generation families. Neal Stumpf, 21, happened to have his new wife Eri Inaba visiting from Japan, so that was incredibly perfect timing for the interview.

I think we expanded their minds with all of the discussion. We also prepared holy wine for them and explained we were adding it to the juice, and they accepted. It really was a joyful and natural experience, and it confirmed for me the power and importance of acting quickly when your intuition tells you to. When the article came out, I was very pleased with the accuracy, its fairness, and the great photos. The University of Oregon has approximately 30,000 students. If even a fraction of those read it, we probably gave a good impression of True Parents and our movement. It was a great experience thanks to Heavenly Father/Mother and the spirit world.

Contributed by Tiffany Takao, Unification Church member from Kalama, Washington 

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