Aim to understand that the church grew because the members made indemnity conditions
Aim
* To understand that the church grew because the members made indemnity conditions
* To learn more about indemnity conditions
Materials
* The Unification Church is Born, by Linna Rapkins
* Unification Church Flag
* Children’s worksheet
* bowls, forks, cooked rice and kimchi,
* miniature flag-making kit
* Visual Aids:
– Unification Church symbol
– Chungpa-dong Church, Seoul
– Mrs Oak and Mrs Kang outside the Sae Dae Mun church in Seoul, winter 1954
– Seoul members outside the Sae Dae Mun (“Three Door”) Church the day after the official founding on May 1st 1954
– Rev. Moon during the Seo Dae Mun days
– Pictures of David S. C. Kim
Lesson Outline
1. Introduction
2. Tell the story
3. Unification Church Flag & Symbol
4. Discussion
4. Activities – worksheet, colour the church symbol, act a typical day, make a flag
5. Review the lesson aims
6. Prayer
1) Introduction
Review the pictures and names of the early members. – Won Pil Kim, Se-hyun Oak, HyoWon Eu,, Hyun-shil Kang, Yo-Han Lee, Duk Moon Eum, and David S. C. Kim
2) Tell the story
(a summary) Father wanted all Christians to receive his message and unite together. This didn’t happen, so he started his own church. On May 1st 1954 The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity was officially begun in Seoul. Through much persecution, hard work and sacrifice, this tiny church began to grow.
Far önskade att alla kristna skulle emot hans budskap och förena sig tillsammans. Detta hände inte, så han startade sin egen kyrka. Den första maj 1954 grundades The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity officiellt i Seoul. Genom mycket förföljelse, hårt arbete och offer började denna mycket lilla kyrka att växa.
Key points of the story
1) Because the Christian churches would not respond to Father’s message, he had to start his own church. Holy Spirit for the Unification of World Christianity.” was founded May 1st 1954 in
Seoul
2) The attitude of Christians to Father was the same as Jews attitude to Jesus. They thought his message was false, because it differed from traditional understanding.
3) Father didn’t wait for God to tell him what to do. He went ahead.
4) When nobody joined, Father asked Mr. Eu to teach the spirit world everyday, as a condition to bring new people.
5) An indemnity condition is an offering to God. When we sacrifice and give our 100% effort, God can accept the condition and spirit world can give us the support we need
6) Father’s attitude was to invest himself completely in finding new members.
7) After 6 months results started coming
8) Father learned that whenever guests went home after only one day, they always got involved in their family problems and hardly ever returned. He tried to convince the guests to stay at least three days.
9) A Typical Day
Morning lecture on the floor, Lunch, Afternoon lecture, Dinner, Evening lecture, Father introduced and he spoke, Singing, Discussion, Try to keep guests until after the curfew, until it was too late to go home, Sleep the night.
After another day of lectures, the same routine happened. Listen to Father speak. Eat some rice and kimchi. Sing some songs. Share some thoughts. Curfew. Too late to go home. Alright, sleep under the quilts. The third day – same thing.
10)Father became exhausted and members wanted him to rest. This was difficult, because Father felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders’
3) Unification Church Flag & Symbol
The Unification Church flag represents our movement. The colors of this flag are red and white. Red, the color of the Unification Church symbol, represents power, energy and positivity. White, the background color, symbolizes purity and holiness.
The Unification Church symbol was designed by Father at the Chungpadong Church in Seoul.
The symbol was first worn by members on identification badges in Korea. Later, it was used in books, on church signs, etc.
Circles – The center circle symbolizes God, truth, life, and light. Those four elements reach out or radiate from this origin to the whole cosmos in twelve directions. The number twelve indicates the twelve types of human character. Historically, the number twelve has been important in God’s dispensation; for example, Jesus had twelve disciples. The significance of the symbol, then, indicates that truth (the Principle) is able to spread out in twelve ways. According to Father, the structure of the heavenly kingdom is also patterned after this basic system; i.e., twelve tribes and twelve character types. The outer circle represents the harmony of giving and receiving action, the principle of the cosmos.
Square – The square represents the four position foundation. There is a black & white illustration of the symbol on the webpage – 12 rays emanating from a central disk are inscribed within a square whose corners touch the inner edge of a thick circle; 8 of the rays are completely within the square but the four diagonal rays extend beyond both the square and the thick circle. In this illustration there are 2 chevrons or v-shaped breaks in the circle, but I have seen other illustrations without them.
4) Discussion
* Ask what indemnity means.(It normally is to do with a sum of money paid as compensation for a loss. Spiritually it means to pay back to God for mankind’s sin, by making a offering such as prayer or fasting. When the condition is offered sincerely, God can accept it and give His blessing. Without continuing to pray, witness and give lectures, there would have not been enough condition for God to work. New members joining was a direct result of the indemnity conditions that were made. What condition did Father ask Mr. Eu to do?
* In order to succeed in anything we should invest our whole heart, then God’s help will come. Success in school or sport comes from hard work. When we work hard we get a lot back. Laziness is lack of effort, so no good result can come. What ambition do you have?
What effort must you make in order to succeed? What are you really good , because you have worked hard at it?
* To find new members we have to make sincere effort through indemnity conditions, such as prayer, study, bowing, fasting, etc. and going out talking to people. Cheong Song in English means total investment. The many Cheong Song conditions by members eventually helped the ban on Father entering Europe to be lifted.
5) Activities
* Complete the worksheet by completing the wordsearch
1. Another word for Father’s followers. DISCIPLES
2. Father asked Mr. Eu to do this everyday. TEACH
3. Which month did the Unification Church begin. MAY
4. People who follow Jesus teachings.CHRISTIANS
5. Father wanted Christians to UNITE with him.
A. The place where people go to worship God. CHURCH
B. The city where the first church was. SEOUL
C. A word that means you deny yourself for something important. SACRIFICE
D. If you belong to a church or club you are one of these. MEMBERS
E. This is where father prayed every morning MOUNTAIN
* Colour the church symbol Discuss what it represents
* Act out a typical day. Greeting guests, sitting on the floor, eating kimchi and rice, introduce Father, singing songs, missing the curfew, sleeping on the floor, waking up and so on
* Make a flag of the Unification Church symbol. Craft shops have miniature flag-making kits, made out of wood. (flag pole, circular base, wooden flag) Paint the wooden parts. Cut out the U.C. symbol and stick it onto the wooden flag. Children take them home for display
6) Review the lesson aims
* To understand that the church grew because the members made indemnity conditions
What conditions did the members make? They prayed, witnessed and taught the Principle.
Mr. Eu taught every day even if nobody came.
* To learn more about indemnity conditions
An indemnity condition is an offering to God. When we sacrifice and give our 100% effort, God can accept the condition and spirit world can give us the support we need
7) End with a prayer
