Side-by-side
EuropevsUnited Kingdom
Two national histories of the Unification Movement, plotted on a shared year axis. Drawn from the movement's own published histories.
David S.C. Kim arrives in Swansea
Rev. David S.C. Kim enrols at Swansea University (then part of the University of Wales) and becomes the first person to introduce the Divine Principle in the United Kingdom. Among his early contacts is Rev. Joshua McCabe of the Apostolic Church, who travels to Korea for 80 days to study with Rev. Kim and helps with the first English translation of the Divine Principle.
First missionaries sent from the United States to Germany
The European Unification Movement begins when missionaries — most of European background — are sent from the United States, where they had encountered the fledgling Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. Peter Koch and his sister Barbara, Ursula Schuhmann, Paul Werner and his wife Christel, Elke Klawitter, and a little later Teddie Verheyen, Sandy Pinkerton and Doris Walder come to Europe as pioneers. They had all met the movement on the West Coast of America through Dr Young Oon Kim, one of the first Korean missionaries to the western world, who translated the first version of The Divine Principle from Korean into English.
First European branch founded in Frankfurt
The first branch of the Holy Spirit Association in Europe is formally founded on 11 December 1964 in Frankfurt, Germany. Humble apartments in Frankfurt and Essen soon prove unable to house the steadily growing number of new members.
Mission work spreads to the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Austria
Missionaries are sent to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Centres open in other German cities, and Paul and Christel Werner begin the mission work in Austria.
True Father's first visit to Europe
True Father visits Europe for the first time during his world tour in 1965. He tours Europe for about forty days, from the first city visited — Lisbon in Portugal — to the Vatican.
Nineteen holy grounds established in sixteen nations
During the forty-day tour, True Father establishes nineteen holy grounds across sixteen European nations.
Prayer at the Vatican holy ground
At the holy ground in the Vatican — described as "the concentrated hub of European civilization, the place where the essence of European civilization accumulated" — True Father offers a heartfelt prayer to bring the innumerably divided religious denominations and orders into oneness. True Parents go on to visit Europe more than twenty times, guiding mission work with deep blessings and grace.
Dr Young Oon Kim — first appointed missionary
Dr Young Oon Kim arrives in the UK as the first official missionary of the Unification Movement. In those days the organisation is called "The Unified Family". She has three months to lay the foundation for True Father's first visit.
True Father's first visit · Holy Ground in Kensington Gardens
Rev. Moon arrives at Heathrow from Madrid on 14 July, accompanied by Mrs Won Pok Choi and President Hyo Won Eu. On 15 July he chooses a damaged London plane tree in Kensington Gardens — near the Peter Pan statue — as the National Holy Ground, because "its damaged condition represented the state of the nation". His first recorded UK speech, "Our Mission is Great", is given on 17 July in a Mayfair house. Sir Anthony Brooke (the last Rajah Muda of Sarawak) is among the welcoming party of seven.
Sandi Pinkerton sent from the USA to pioneer London
After the Blessing of Holy Grounds worldwide, True Father sends Sandi Pinkerton from the United States to London, with Dr Young Oon Kim becoming responsible for the European Movement.
Italy, France and Spain opened
Mission work begins in Italy. Reiner Vincenz goes to France and Ursula Schuhmann goes to Spain. Within the next five years True Parents are in a position to dispatch missionaries to pioneer or support mission work in ten other European countries, and even on other continents.
First UK centre at 17 Emperor's Gate, South Kensington
June Darby — witnessed to on holiday in Italy that August by Doris Walder (Orme) and Martin Porter — joins Sandi in London. The first centre is established at 17 Emperor's Gate.
Emilie Sterberl sent into Czechoslovakia
Paul Werner, national leader of Austria, sends Emilie Sterberl — a Slovakian who had been deported from her homeland as part of the outcome of World War II — as the first underground missionary to Czechoslovakia. She had been a church member for just two years. At the time of her dispatch, Warsaw Pact countries are crushing the Prague Spring reform movement and occupying Czechoslovakia.
HSA-UWC founded as a UK registered charity
June Darby, Evelyn Hardman, Patricia Hardman and Marion Dougherty register the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity as an educational charity in the UK. The movement soon outgrows Emperor's Gate and takes a seven-bedroom house in Streatham, south of the Thames.
True Father's second visit · with True Mother
True Father and True Mother — pregnant with their third son Hyun Jin Nim — visit London together for the first time. Forty members from across Europe squeeze into the Streatham centre "like sardines". During the visit Miss Kim consults with True Father on Blessing candidates; Doris Walder is matched to Dennis Orme, who has joined only a few months earlier. Members are asked to pray from midnight to 3 a.m. for 120 days for the new couple.
European Blessing of 8 Couples
Eight European couples — including Doris Walder & Dennis Orme — are blessed by True Father in Germany. This becomes the spine of European leadership for the next two decades.
Movement grows in Czechoslovakia under Alžbeta Danišková
When it becomes difficult to continue mission work in Prague, Emilie Sterberl moves to Bratislava and witnesses to twelve people in two years while studying Slovakian at university. She remains only until 1970. Alžbeta Danišková then leads the movement, and the membership grows. They establish thirty pioneer centres by 1973.
True Father names Great Britain "in position of Eve"
In a speech of 19 March 1972, True Father explains that Britain — by virtue of its role in the world wars and its centuries of Christian missionary sending — stands in the position of Eve in the providence. The same year the movement expands to twelve UK cities.
Thirty members arrested and imprisoned
With membership exceeding a hundred in the Czech Republic, the police arrest nearly thirty members. They are accused of "subversion of the republic" and sentenced to prison terms of between one and four years.
Maria Živná dies in Bratislava Prison
Maria Živná dies a martyr in Bratislava Prison on 16 April 1974 — the first martyr to die while conducting missionary work in a Communist country. In the following year another person also loses his life in prison. In 1994, True Parents officially recognise Marie Živná as a Unification Church martyr.
Fourth visit · "England will be completely clobbered"
True Father visits Britain and announces a coming surge: "The time will come when I bring many thousands of the International Mobile Team from America. I think that England will be completely clobbered. I think 3,000 Unification Church members will completely overwhelm Britain."
Fifth visit · Third ICUS Conference
True Father returns later in 1974 for the third International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences — the academic outreach project that will become a defining feature of the 1970s and 1980s providence.
Cleeve House and a network of centres
By 1976 around fifteen centres are established in the UK. On-going workshops run at the farm near Swindon, at Cleeve House, in Dunbar, and at Lancaster Gate HQ. A print works is set up; in 1977 a fishing venture starts in Falmouth, Cornwall with two line-fishing boats — including Baby Lion, built by Ed Stacey — selling mackerel across the south of England.
42 Lancaster Gate rented as national HQ
No. 42 Lancaster Gate — previously a nurses' hostel — is rented from the Norwegian Embassy and becomes the British national headquarters of the Unification Movement. It is finally purchased in 1979.
Home Church providence begins · 118 couples blessed in London
To begin the Home Church providence, True Parents stay for four months in London, England, during which they bless 118 couples at the UK headquarters church. True Mother had been unable to accompany True Father because she was in her last month of pregnancy, so True Father and Ye Jin Nim officiated the Blessing Ceremony.
True Father's seventh visit · longest outside the centre nations
True Parents arrive at Heathrow as a complete surprise to European members. They are delayed three hours by immigration before being granted temporary admission; an extension is later won in court after the British government tries to use the US "Koreagate" Fraser Committee subpoena as evidence. Rev. Moon's counsel — Mr Fox-Andrews QC — gets the judge to reprimand the government for relying on press speculation. The visit lasts over 120 days, the longest True Father ever spent in any country other than Korea, Japan or the US.
Blessing of 118 couples in London
118 couples from all over Europe are blessed in London. Tabloid coverage focuses on the 40-day separation condition ("Moon slaps 40-day Sex Ban on newly-weds") and the familiar charges of brainwashing.
The Daily Mail libel case begins
The Daily Mail runs a series of articles headlined "The church that breaks up families". On behalf of the British church, its president Dennis Orme sues the Daily Mail for libel.
"Mission Butterfly" sends volunteers across the Eastern Bloc
True Parents appoint Peter Koch to succeed Paul Werner as national leader of Austria. Beginning in 1980, Austrian members under Peter Koch's overall guidance enter Eastern Europe at the risk of their lives, carrying out underground mission work in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, East Germany and even the Soviet Union. Until 1992 Butterfly missionaries are sent out — mainly from Austria under the guidance of Peter and Gertrud Koch — experiencing unspoken hardships but also many miracles of spiritual guidance and protection.
Thirty-nine couples blessed in Germany · machine tool investment
When True Parents stay for some weeks in Germany in 1981 to invest in the machine tool industry, they officiate a Blessing Ceremony of thirty-nine couples and the engagement of 309 Blessing candidates. The machine tool technology introduced into Korea at the time later becomes a model for technological equalisation.
Jury finds for the Daily Mail · longest libel trial in English history
After coming to court in October 1980, the jury delivers its verdict on 31 March 1981 in favour of the Daily Mail, adding a rider that the tax-free status of the church "should be investigated by the Inland Revenue on the grounds that it is a political organisation". By the time it ends — with the Court of Appeal dismissing in December 1982 and the Lords refusing leave on 10 February 1983 — it has become the longest libel trial in English legal history. Huge costs are awarded against the Church.
"Pornography Destroys Love" rally · Trafalgar Square
CARP holds a national rally in Trafalgar Square — the movement's major UK event of the year — drawing members and supporters from Aberdeen to Plymouth.
Attorney General's case to remove charity status — dropped
Under pressure from MPs after the libel defeat, the Attorney General launches a legal action to remove the HSA-UWC and SMM Foundation trusts from the Register of Charities. The church spends four years preparing affidavits. In February 1988 the Attorney General announces in the House of Commons that, after "exhaustive investigation", he is dropping the action — he has no evidence to counter the "strong presumption" of the UC's charitable status. Costs are awarded against the Government.
Professors World Peace Academy proclaims Soviet downfall · Geneva
In Geneva, Switzerland, at a time when the expansion of the communist realm has reached its zenith, the professors of the Professors World Peace Academy proclaim the downfall of Soviet communism in accordance with True Parents' own prediction.
Hyo Jin Nim leads 3,000 CARP members at the Berlin Wall
Two years later, Hyo Jin Nim leads three thousand CARP members from across the world, who have come to appeal for the end of the Cold War at a demonstration in front of the Berlin Wall. He prays: "God is eternal. Let us join our forces to break down this wall. Let us do it with love, with true love. True love can break through anything." The passionate appeals and prayers set in motion the domino effect that would culminate in the collapse of the communist realm.
Home Secretary refuses Rev. Moon entry
The Home Secretary refuses Rev. Moon entry clearance "because of your character and conduct". The fallout from the 1981 libel verdict still hangs over the movement.
Immigration adjudicator overturns the entry ban
After an appeal, the Adjudicator allows it and orders an entry clearance to be granted. The government does not appeal. Letters of consent are issued in late 1991 and summer 1992.
True Mother's European tour begins · WFWP inaugurated
From 1992 True Mother tours to all parts of Europe and guides their revival, hosting events including the Women's Federation for World Peace Inaugural Assembly, the Assembly to Proclaim the Completed Testament Age, and the inaugural assembly of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. She endures a grueling schedule of visiting one nation a day to convey God's Word.
True Mother arrives in the UK · Church of England ordains women
On 13 November 1992, the day True Mother arrives in the United Kingdom, the Church of England finally allows the ordination of women after years of debate — an incident symbolising that the era of women had indeed arrived. During her European tour, True Mother sings "Santa Lucia" with authentic Italian pronunciation at a celebration following a speech.
British members join the 1,267 and 30,000 Couple Blessings
British members participate in the 1,267 Couple Blessing for Previously Married Couples on 10 April — the first Blessing to include participants of other faiths — and in the 30,000 Couple Blessing on 25 August.
Schengen nations bar True Father · UK refuses entry
Beginning from the mid-1990s, a dozen nations in Western Europe refuse to permit True Father to enter their countries for more than a decade. The Schengen Agreement nations include him on a blacklist, citing the unreasonable view that True Parents threatened national security. Though the United Kingdom is not bound by the agreement, just before True Father is to speak in London in 1995 they bar him from entering the country.
European Blessing Ceremony at Camberg
A European Blessing Ceremony is held at the Camberg Training Center, Germany, with 104 people from twenty countries.
Tim Miller appointed National Leader
Tim Miller is appointed as National Leader of the Unification Movement in the UK.
Tim Read appointed · 11-year tenure
Nine months later Tim Read is appointed as National Leader and serves for the next eleven years — the longest-serving UK National Leader in the movement's history.
FFWPU inaugurated in the UK · New Connaught Rooms
True Mother had been due to speak in London on 19 October but is called back to Korea one week before; Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak comes in her place and delivers her speech to a packed audience of over 900 in the New Connaught Rooms in Central London. The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) is established in the UK.
WFWP-UK registered
The Women's Federation for World Peace UK — first led by Barbara Zaccarelli from 1992 — is registered as a limited company. Linda Brann is appointed president in 1996, followed by Martina Coombs until 2006.
True Mother's 82-city World Speaking Tour reaches London
True Mother speaks at the New Connaught Rooms in London to an audience of 1,300 — including 440 guests and VIPs — as part of her 82-city world tour. A meeting of all European leaders is held under the guidance of Pres. Kwang-kee Sa, European continental director.
True Mother's third World Speaking Tour
True Mother returns to the UK as part of her next world speaking tour, with conferences continuing at the Russell Hotel in London and meetings on "Marriage and the Family" at venues including Woolwich Town Hall.
UPF inaugurated · Schengen ban broken
In 2005, True Parents inaugurate the Universal Peace Federation in the United States and hold inaugural assemblies in Europe. When they arrive in Poland for the first event, it is impossible for them to deliver their speech in Western European nations except Switzerland and Ireland. European members offer eighteen successive forty-day conditions over two and a half years across Europe's thirty-five nations. The United Kingdom — the first nation to deny True Parents entry — finally grants them permission to visit. In 2007 the Federal Supreme Court of Germany rules that putting True Parents on the Schengen List had been unconstitutional.
True Parents' World Tour · 40th anniversary of the European movement
True Parents' world tour marks the 40th anniversary of the European Movement, dated from Young Oon Kim's 1965 arrival in the UK. By this point the British movement has shifted focus toward interfaith and intercultural reconciliation, service projects, and family-values work.
Welcomed by Eastern European leaders · President Moisiu of Albania
During True Parents' speaking tour in 2006, they are welcomed with appreciation by leaders in Eastern European countries, including President Moisiu of Albania. The barriers that had hindered the development of the providence until then have been broken down.
Three Generations Tour · True Mother and True Children
True Mother and the True Children tour Europe, including the UK, on the Three Generations Tour.
Global Peace Festival
The Global Peace Festival comes to the UK, expanding the movement's reach through the new Global Peace Foundation and the Family Church.
True Parents' European Speaking Tour
True Parents return for a European Speaking Tour. After arriving at the Hilton on the Thames, the programme includes a reception at the Houses of Parliament with speeches by Members of Parliament.
True Father's Ascension
At 1.54 a.m. Korea time on 3 September 2012, True Father ascends. 250,000 people pay respect at the altar in the Peace Centre and at altars around the world — including one at the Lancaster Gate HQ. The British altar is set up in the same room where True Father had given his first public UK speech in 1972.
True Father's Seong Hwa
True Father's Seong Hwa ceremony is held at 1.30 p.m. with 50,000 mourners present in Korea.
UK Memorial Service · Friends Meeting House, London
A Memorial Service for True Father is held in the Friends Meeting House in London, organised by UPF and Ambassadors for Peace, with VIPs, interfaith religious leaders, Ambassadors for Peace and members in attendance.
True Mother's devotions on twelve Alpine peaks
After the declaration of the Foundation Day of Cheon Il Guk in 2013, True Mother offers devotions on Alpine peaks in Switzerland — a blessed land where True Parents had stayed at length in 2005 and 2006 and where True Father had spoken at the United Nations' Geneva Headquarters. Gathering the resolve of all Unification Church family members worldwide for success in Vision 2020, True Mother offers devotions at the summits of twelve mountains. Her prayers for world peace echo throughout the Alps and become the driving force behind activities in the Cheon Il Guk era now being led by European members.
UK Leaders meeting at Cleeve House
The post-Ascension era for the UK movement opens with a national UK Leaders' meeting at Cleeve House.