Seattle was at it's best on Friday, March 9th. Unlike the normal prodigious rainfall of this Pacific Northwestern seaport, this was an outpouring of faith, hope, love, and a focus on the family as presented by the "We Will Stand Tour" criss-crossing the whole of America in a fifty one day blitz.

Heavy Friday rush hour traffic was but a small obstacle for the hundreds of religious leaders and their flocks who filled the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel and Conference Center at SeaTac (Seattle/Tacoma) to participate in an evening of revival and restoration. Highlighting the program with his unique interfaith appeal was a keynote speech from 81 year "young" Rev. Sun Myung Moon, affectionately referred to as "Father Moon."

An early afternoon seminar conducted by Stephen Lazarus from the Center for Public Justice on the specifics of the Faith-based Initiatives programs proposed by the Bush Administration preceded the evening fellowship. According to Dr. David Burgess, the program coordinator, approximately 50 clergy and community leaders participated in the seminar.

These attendees were later joined by over 1200 other clergy, community leaders, congregation members, youth community volunteers, and faith oriented citizens in a celebration and revival of community spirit and commitment focused on the faith-centered family as the key building block to restore the community, society, nation, and world.

Michael Jenkins, President of the Family Federation for World Peace (FFWPU), noted during the afternoon press conference, "This is not a witnessing effort for any one particular denomination, but a call for people to participate in the church of their choice. We need to unite together as a community of families of faith in order to restore the moral fiber of our nation as a whole. The beginning point of restoration must come from individual families, centered on God's ideal"

The mood for the evening was set beautifully by the Sun Hak Choir , an FFWPU choir of youth under the direction of Nancy Kubo and the Total Experience Choir directed by Pastor Pat Wright

Archbishop Delnier Tripp Robinson of the Anglican Church from Auburn. Washington, gave the invocation for the main program. In his prayer, he noted the significance of this time in human history and requested that God's blessing be upon us and the generations to come.

This was followed by proclamations from the Consul General of the Seychelles, the Seattle City Chamber of Commerce, Sen. Paul Shinn, King County Executive Ron Sims, and Seattle Mayor Paul Schell.

Archbishop Timothy Paul Baymon of the Christian Orthodox Church of Springfield, Massachusetts and President of the World Bishop's Council served to introduce the keynote address by Father Moon.

Archbishop Baymon referenced the situation in Micah, Chapt. 7, when Micah felt a desperate need based on the universal problems of his time: Not many good men were left; Leaders were corrupt: People had no confidence; Parents and children were in conflict.

Archbishop Baymon noted the parallels to today's situation and expressed his confidence that just as God sent a message of guidance and hope in those days, God has also now raised up a man and a woman who are willing to stand to rebuild His ideal here on the Earth. He identified Father and Mother Moon as two chosen by God. Archbishop Baymon directed the audience to recall the words in Matthew 10, that those who stand will be despised and reviled by the masses. He then challenged the audience to stand to rebuild the family and go beyond doctrines of faith by working in the community, no matter what others may think.

Father Sun Myung Moon then presented the keynote address, "The Path for America and Humanity in the New Millennium" from a prepared text.

Some extemporaneous and inspired comments preceded his text. Addressing the over 100 Interfaith clergy and community leaders sitting in the first five rows of the audience, he began by asking them if they loved God. Following the resounding "Yes!" he asked them if they loved God. Responding to the silence, he noted that we hesitate to answer because we have heard about God, but we have not actually seen God nor spoken directly to Him.

"If we really love God, can we describe Him in detail? Do we love God's body? His heart? The essence of love which is the source of power in the universe? To what degree do we love God? In what context? Father Moon noted that people hesitate to specify an answer, but the truth is that we love God because of the unity of mind and body which comes from God.

"God cannot regain His lineage through free sex. God needs absolute sex! For this reason, the Messiah must come to establish True Parents". "I was told this secret by God. As a result: I began the holy wedding to begin to perpetuate families centered on true love, true life, and true lineage to gain back the generations for God.

"You may be angry at these words, but anger is not the answer. We must humble ourselves to receive these words. The ultimate goal of humanity is to build a true family centered on true love, true life, and true lineage."

At this point Father Moon noted that he had already spoken for an hour-longer than the speech he was scheduled to give! Although the speech itself lasted for another 90 minutes as Father Moon often enhanced the text with explanation and illustration, very few people in the audience left before the end.

The program ended with several gifts of appreciation to Father and Mother Moon from several groups in the audience. Several awards were also presented by the event committee to honor the "Hopes of the Future"-young people in the community who have volunteered their time and energy for those in need.

—Regional report

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