Divine Principle Seminars Sprout across the Country

Bishop Jesse Edwards lectured on the “Mission of Jesus” during the OSDP event in Philadelphia.

Last year’s unusual participation of clergy in Divine-Principle conferences in Korea and at hotel conferences in the United States has yielded dozens of smaller teaching events for ministers and interested citizens across the country. Following are reports about two recent Original Substance of the Divine Principle (OSDP) seminars that took place in Maryland on July 7, 2012 and in Philadelphia on July 14, 2012.

The Fren’z Gospel Group of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church, featuring (left to right) Maritn, Solomon and Rev. Taylor.

OSDP Seminar in Pennsylvania

The first OSDP seminar to be held on an Ivy League campus took place Saturday, July 14, 2012 at the University of Pennsylvania. Organized by Philadelphia LLM Pastors Leighton and Crescentia DeGoede and the District 3 (Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey) OSDP-support team of Rev. Hitoshi Onishi, the ACLC representative for District 3 and E.J. Rapada, the community development director for New Jersey, the one-day seminar hosted 28 people. Of the nine guests that attended, five were local ministers, two were working professionals and two were young adults.

The seminar started with praise and worship music led by “Fren’z,” a gospel and inspirational group from

the Mt. Olive Baptist Church. Led by Assistant Pastor of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church Rev. William Taylor, keyboardist Martin and drummer Solomon , the music was powerful and fully invited God’s presence.

Flyers for the OSDP seminar, titled “Kingdom Building Conference” were prepared to invite people to the event.

Lectures were presented by Bishop Jesse Edwards, Dr. Ann Iparraguirre, director of District 3, Pastor Shota Iwasaki, the LLM pastor of Pennsylvania and Delaware, Jana Iparraguirre, communications director for District 3 and Rev. Norris Izumi, a graduate from the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS). According to Dr. Iparraguirre, the guests engaged in serious study and discussion of the content presented. “The spirit throughout the seminar was so alive and familiar. There were no walls,” she said.

During the “Mission of the Messiah” lecture, Bishop Wesley Ledbetter, a respected Pentecostal Clergyman, agreed that people must watch carefully so as not to miss their calling in this time. After hearing the “Fall of Man” lecture, Dominic W., a young certified nursing assistant, sparked a lively discussion with the question: “If Adam had kept the commandment, couldn’t God just kill Eve and start all over?”

In reflection, Rev. Taylor said, “I enjoyed the conference; it was awesome. I was elated that I had the chance to share it with [Solomon and Martin]. Listening to the presentation from Edwards was perfect, because they could see what I had been talking about for some time. It was a great experience.” Rev. Taylor was one of the 172 Christian clergy who answered the call to meet with Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon in Korea in September of 2011.

Accordingto the organizers of the event, the seminar opened new doors in the education of OSDP, as they realized that lecturing on college campuses and inviting college students brings in new discussions and questions on the OSDP content.

“It is an exciting time and people are ready to hear the breaking news. It was awesome to have such a mix of backgrounds, ministers and college students, in the audience. This is definitely just the beginning!” Jana Iparraguirre said.

OSDP Seminar in Maryland

Angelika Selle, former pastor of the Maryland Church, lectured at the OSDP event in Maryland.

Team teaching guided a Divine-Principle seminar developed for clergy in Maryland on July 7, 2012 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Rev. Levy Daugherty convened the meeting at the Charter House in Silver Spring and led the 25 participants in rousing gospel songs and prayer. Pastor Matthew Goldberg taught the “Principles of Creation”; Pastor Zagery Oliver taught the “Fall of Man”, and Pastor Judith LeJeune taught the “Mission of Jesus”; Mrs. Angelika Selle, former pastor of the Maryland Church gave a concluding lecture.

The OSDP conference drew six guests, several of whom have continued to visit the Lovin’ Life Ministries (LLM) services in Bladensburg, Maryland.

The speakers pointed out the rising incidence of social pathologies related to the breakdown of marriage and received notions of morality. Pastor Oliver told the group: “We have massacred our young people by allowing fornication, which we see glorified in the media.”

“Today we have a sad statistic: the churches are seeing a higher rate of divorce than people in the secular world,” according to Rev. Daugherty, a longtime staff member of the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC). He told the gathering: “We can be warriors in the Last Days by going against the grain.”

An optimistic conclusion came with the heartfelt lecture of Angelika Selle, former pastor of the Maryland Unification Church. “God is so much in love with us that he will never give up; the pattern of Cain killing Abel will be repeated over and over until the coming of the messiah in the Last Days,” she said, adding, “but the fact is that in the special age in which we live now, we can become messiahs to each other.”