On Saturday, December 18, Rev. Joshua Cotter, president of CARP USA, and Rev. Phillip Schanker conducted a seminar for Chicago-area members. Its purpose was to share Hyun Jin Nim¹s vision of an educational pipeline for our second generation that begins with their primary education in the blessed family and continues through youth ministry, STF, college life, family tribal messiahship and leadership in our movement. As well, it shared a witnessing strategy to bring together home church and tribal messiahship.

Rev. Cotter offered a PowerPoint presentation that dealt with the ideal, explaining Father¹s vision for blessed families. In particular, our second generation learns about living for the sake of others as they experience their entire family offering sacrificial service and unconditional giving.

The 100 participants then broke into five discussion groups, which really turned into the heart of the seminar, as brothers and sisters from every background shared their hearts, hopes and ideals for building the ideal family, church, and community. These discussions were extended to include the elements necessary to educate our second generation in a heavenly and holy manner.

Our group, which I am sure was typical of the others, consisted of a Japanese National Messiah, an African state leader, a pregnant South American member, a Japanese UTS student, a Japanese state leader, a young Filipino center member, several American members, and two STF members assigned to Chicago.

Our discussion, which took many twists and turns, included some of the following concerns: how to raise blessed children when our mission is suddenly changed and our family has to move to another locale; how to inherit True Parents¹ tradition in our own family; what to expect after having children; and how to improve our families and bring them more in line with True Father¹s vision. I shared that we need of a family guidance manual and opportunities for parents to share together to help each other find solutions.

We very much appreciated the contributions of our two STF brothers. They explained that before STF, they did not really have true faith in God, who, for them, was a concept or an ideal rather than a reality in their lives. In this respect, they felt that STF really provided a means for them to develop their own faith. Another critical point was the testimony from one STF brother that his learning of the Divine Principle has helped him develop his relationship with his own parents.

A second point that emerged was how important it is for each child to feel loved on an equal basis with their siblings and valued for more than just what they do or their accomplishments.

It came up that second generation children develop resentments toward parents who have always been on the front line. One STF brother shared how his experience on STF had genuinely helped him understand the sacrificial lifestyle that his parents had lived while he was growing up.

Our discussion (which wasn¹t nearly long enough) concluded with two points. The first was that second-generation members must be allowed input. There are few forums within our movement where the second generation feel that they can be heard.

The second point dealt directly with the process itself. Someone in our group mentioned that it had been 12 years since he had been involved in a small group discussion within our church. Usually, one member noted, there is lots of time for long lectures but very little if any time for group discussion. Certainly these small group discussions and especially the input of the second generation were two of the main highlights of the seminar.

After a wonderful lunch provided by the Chicago Family Church, Rev. Cotter gave a second PowerPoint presentation, ³Issue Centered Campus Witnessing and Home Church.² We again broke up into our small groups. I heard in the discussion that it is much easier for our second generation to attend a college with an existing CARP chapter than to start one from scratch and about the potential of connecting professors with CARP, PWPA, or Ambassadors for Peace. We also discussed how to convey Father¹s ideals to the greatest number of people and how we make our presence felt on campuses.

Finally, we talked about how to reach out to members who are no longer active with our movement as well as how to help first or second generation members who do not regularly attend church.

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