Passing of Our Beloved Brother, Marcus Beresford

Our beloved and dear brother, Marcus Beresford, pastor of the Boise Family Church in Idaho, ascended to the spirit world on Saturday, July 2. Marcus has served in many capacities and leadership roles over the past 40 years, since he met True Parents. He is survived by his wife Melissa and Daughter Lanyoung.

Let us join together in support of Marcus’ family during this important and special time and offer our prayers for his victorious transition to a glorious new life in the spiritual world.

Following is a biography and information of the Seonghwa Ceremony from Inchan Park, District Pastor in District 10.

Dr. Ki Hoon Kim Continental Director

Dr. Michael Balcomb President

The Victorious Life of Marcus Roderick Beresford November 2, 1952 - July 2, 2016

Pastor Marcus Beresford was born in the Republic of Uganda, then a British protectorate. He grew up in Uganda, Cyprus and England and was educated at Canford public boarding school. At the age of 22, Marcus traveled to Canada and then to the United States. He first met the Unification Church in San Francisco in November 1976. Three weeks later, he traveled to southern California and encountered the church for a second time in San Diego.

In 1978, Marcus joined the Mobile Fundraising Team (MFT) in Texas. While on MFT, Marcus served as a witness in the English Daily Mail court case in 1980, and was matched on December 30, 1980 to Melissa Pharris. The two were blessed at Madison Square Garden. Marcus graduated MFT in 1984 and completed work for the Interdenominational Conference for Clergy (ICC) and Confederation of the Associations for the Unification of the Societies of the Americas (CAUSA) in Baltimore. Melissa joined him there in 1987. He then became a city leader for Raleigh, North Carolina.

In June 1989, after a leaders’ meeting with True Father, the couple relocated to their adopted hometown of San Diego as city leaders. During the Desert Storm mobilization, Marcus spent three months in Cote D’Ivoire in the town of Abengourou, about 100 miles north of the capital, Abidjan.

Pastor Marcus stepped down from the role of city leader in 1992 to pursue a business career. Meanwhile, he and his wife continued to be active church participants until 2001, when Marcus returned to a position of leadership as an assistant pastor in San Diego, responsible for American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) activities. He and his united and dedicated team had some success in this mission.

The couple’s daughter, Lanyoung, was born in 2005, and in 2007, the family relocated to Melissa’s home state of Idaho. Marcus was invited to be a state pastor and humbly accepted the position. He became part of the pastoral leadership team in the Northwest and has been a source of inspiration to our team for the duration of his service. The Boise Family Church has some irrigated land, which Marcus let out to refugees from Rwanda and Congo for six years. For the past two years, refugees from Karen have farmed there.

Those of us privileged to know him can readily testify to Marcus being one of the great faith saints of our era. While he struggled with many difficult health issues for many years, Marcus steadfastly, and without complaint, witnessed and represented True Parents with great dignity and gratitude, as did his family.

Seonghwa Ceremony

Marcus’ Seonghwa will take place on Wednesday, July 6, at 11 a.m. at:

Kramer Family Funeral Home 2500 Decker Lake Blvd. #1 West Valley City, Utah

The Viewing is today, Tuesday, July 5, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the funeral home.

If you wish to make a donation to the family, please visit this link: https://www.gofundme.com/298uy5z8

The In Memoriam page for Marcus is: https://bfm.familyfed.org/in-memoriam/in-loving-memory-of-marcus-beresford/