Sunday, May 1, marked the end of a chapter and the beginning of another in the history of the Unification Church. The 40th anniversary celebration of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity commenced at 10:00 am at the Olympic Park Gymnastics Hall in Seoul where twenty-five thousand members and guests gathered together with our True Parents to commemorate the occasion. Dignitaries, religious leaders and scholars from around the world were also part of the congregation.

As part of the ceremony, Father and Mother gave awards of commendation to Hyo Won Eu, first president of the Unification Church, three missionaries who were martyred in the course of their service to the Church and Young Oon Kim, first missionary to America. The ceremony also included a brief reading of significant milestones in the forty- year history of the Church and a presentation of gifts by representatives of ICC, IRF, RYS and other organizations and projects founded by Father during his arduous, yet victorious 40-year course.

In his Founder's Address, Father reminisced not only about the accomplishments and trials aver the past forty years, but more the motivation which drove him to never resign from his promise to God to save this world. He said that God is not looking for saints who will be remembered in history after their death, but rather those who, in this age, are able to transform the evil world into the world of goodness God longs for. He explained how he pledged that he would accomplish this will of God in his lifetime, even from the depths of prison and in the face of death countless times.

The mandate given by Father in his address was for all to help establish a true heart-centered culture in the world now that we are entering a new phase of our Church's history. In conclusion, he proclaimed glory to God in deepest gratitude for having brought the True Parents and the Church to this point in history. For those who could understand the depths of Father history and heart, many silent tears were shed.

The celebration continued with a banquet and performance at the Little Angels Performing Arts Center, where the hall was filled to capacity. The event began at 6:00 pm and included, among other things, a toast offered to the True Parents by Dr. Morton Kaplan, president of PWPA International, and a plaque of recognition offered by Dr. Tor Ragnar Gerholm, ICUS Conference Chairman, for True Parents' dedication to world peace through scholarly dialogue and cultural harmony.

Again, Father addressed the audience by reflecting on his life's course and expressing gratitude for God's protection and guidance. He recalled the dismal state of the world when he began the Church and how God painstakingly built the foundation through our True Parents to brings us to this point in history. People were genuinely moved by his words and his heart.

The event officially ended Sunday evening, but for some it culminated with an early morning leaders' meeting at True Parents residence the next day. The highlight of the gathering was when Father declared the official completion of the 40-year course of indemnity and the Children's Pledge and Pledge of the Families which represented that period. Having declared this, he proceeded to write a new seven-point pledge to replace the others as we enter this new era of the Church. Father said that since none of us truly actualized the other two pledges during the past forty years, we should place the pledge cards on our altar, make a full bow and pray in repentance for our shortcomings. Having done so, we may then retire the cards to our family archives and begin to recite the new pledge entitled, "The Family Pledge." The official wording in Korean and English will be forthcoming soon.

We now begin a new chapter of the history of HSA-UWC. Let us make it one upon which we can look back with pride, honor and dignity.

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