FFWPU Europe and the Middle East: Hwang Bo-guk replaces Song Gwang-seok as President of FFWPU So. Korea

by Knut Holdhus

Two presidents of Family Federation in South Korea, in-coming Bo-guk Hwang and out-going Gwang- seok Song

On 1st August 2024, a ceremony was held at the South Korean headquarters of the Family Federation in Cheongpa-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul to inaugurate Bo-guk Hwang (황보국) as new president of the Family Federation of South Korea. He replaces Gwang-seok Song (송광석) who held the position since May 2023.

The South Korean paper Mudeung Daily (무등일보) reported on 2nd August that Hwang in his inaugural address said,

“For the past 33 years, my pastoral philosophy has been to provide clear water to the pastoral field, like

water, a symbol of humility and the source of life. […] I will start from the lowest position, absolutely obeying the command of heaven and serving with respected pastors and members.”

According to the daily, Bo-guk Hwang was born in South Korea in 1963. He received a master’s degree in pastoral studies and family therapy from Sun Moon Mudeung Daily University Graduate School of Theology and completed a doctoral program in pastoral studies at Sunhak UP Graduate School. He began his ministry at the Gangwon Diocese of the Family Federation in 1991 and has since then held various leadership positions within the Family Federation in the provinces of Gyeonggi and Gangwon.

From the inauguration ceremony 1st August 2024

The inauguration ceremony was also featured on Peace TVs HJ Global News 3rd August 2024. According to news presenter Christa Kamga Fotso Yeun, President Hwang outlined in his inaugural address his vision for the Korean movement. He declared that under his leadership the movement would actively spread the word filled with spirit and truth, involve the youth, and stand strong.

According to the news presenter, this vision aligns with Mother Moon’s call for an innovation of the Korean movement.

In his inaugural speech, Hwang also emphasized that the Family Federation today is a movement with a God-given vision. “What greater vision can there be?” he asked.

He pointed out that Mother Moon has asked the Family Federation to become a strong movement. But to be strong doesn’t necessarily mean to have a large number of members.

Hwang maintained there are two kinds of movements like the Family Federation. Some are like cruise ships, others like battleships. And there are battleships that carry out operations and engage in battles. He claimed that the Family Federation is like a battleship. In the 1970s, even though the Family Federation - then called the Unification Church - was only present in one location in each district, it had the power to move the entire nation. Hwang stressed that to recover the identity as that kind of movement must be our goal. The Family Federation must carry out campaigns and operations and be a movement that our Heavenly Parent comes to, that can exert a powerful, good influence on the world. Hwang declared,

“I will be the captain of our Family Federation battleship. And we will sail forward!”

Dr. Yong-cheon Song, International President of the Family Federation delivered a congratulatory address. Won-ju McDevitt conveyed words of encouragement from Mother Moon to the new president of the Family Federation of South Korea. The former president Gwang-seok Song gave a “farewell address”. The inauguration ceremony was attended by ca. 300 persons, including most branch leaders of the Family Federation.

Text: Knut Holdhus

Related to inauguration of new president: In a Nutshell Yong-cheon Song on 2nd Aug. 2024 More, related inauguration of new president: Brief about the Teachings

Also related to inauguration of new president: Essence of God

Also related to inauguration of new president: God and Human Beings

And more, related to inauguration of new president: Religious Truth as Progressive Revelation

Yet more, related to inauguration of new president: Essential Motherly Part of Messianic Mission

Still more, related to inauguration of new president: The 3 Blessings and the Process to Fulfil Them

Even more, related to inauguration of new president: Unchanging Truth and Its Changing Expression

And yet more, related to inauguration of new president: The Meaning of History from Viewpoint of God

And still more, related to inauguration of new president: Failure of Key Persons Related to Jesus

And even more, related to inauguration of new president: Amazing Parallels to Jesus and Holy Spirit

Also related to inauguration of new president: Unification Principles

Also related to inauguration of new president: Gender-Balanced Understanding of God and Christ

Also related to inauguration of new president: God as Our Heavenly Parent (Father and Mother)

And also related to inauguration of new president: History of God: From Yahweh to Father to Parent

Still more, related to inauguration of new president: Teachings Make Great Strides in New Version

And yet more, related to inauguration of new president: The Mission of the Only Begotten Daughter

Confucianism and Unificationism ( 11

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM • COMMEMORATING •

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New Legal A warning not to get stuck in our current Interpretation For Specific understanding - truth has historically Group come as progressive revelation July 31, 2024

A talk given by Dr. David Hanna, head of the North European sub- 20th Anniversary region of the Family Federation, at an international prayer meeting by For Thousands Of Zoom on 8 th May 2024. Couples July 29, 2024 Good evening, everyone.

.. Over the last seven weeks we have heard summaries of the lectures d isseminated by the Family Federation International Headquarters.

When I heard t hat this material was being offered, my first thought was, Search. “Is this going to be useful o r helpful in getting our message out to the w ider world, especially the Christian world?” - that was my real hope, and it still is.

In my opinion, The D iv ine Principle rescues Christian ity from being increasingly regarded as Categories irrelevant; it rescues re ligion generally from being side-lined and ignored; and, of course, fundamentally it brings the greatest news -the gospel of gospels - that total salvation is

ava11ac1e ‘lnrougn ‘lne a1reaay rea11sea :,econa Coming. To prepare fo r this was Christianity’s primary purpose of existence and is the Send us a message fu lfi lment of the hopes and expectations of First Name * Last Name other world faiths as well.

Mother Moon is emphasising that the time is not too late, even it is “ripe” to see a worldw ide spiritual awakening and have the immense and First published in 7966 in Korean: the official version of the Unification Email * • rich foundation of worldwide Christianity, Principles, Wolli Kangron. First Email Address especially European Christianity, come metaphorically to the feet of the True Parents. English version, Divine Principle, Your Message * We are, however, from one perspective, bringing appeared in 7973, a w hole bunch of “hereti cal” ideas to the revised version, Exposition of the Christian world, pa rts of which have a historical Divine Principle, in reputation for being “heresy hunters”, avidly 7996. clinging to what in their minds is a settled orthodox view. Submit

How then to bring t he message of Divine Principle to a w ider Christian audience, quic kly and successfully - th at is the cha llenge.

I am q u it e often called to share the Divine Principle content with ministers. I am keen to learn how to do that better and more effectively. Currently, I always begin by saying: “We tota lly respect your m i nistry, and God’s calling you to that ministry” - we do not seek to interfere with that in any way. […]

I also state emphatically - at some later point, w hen already some key ideas have been shared - t hat in no way am I saying that those precious and particular ideas w e have believed in until now are wrong, indeed they have served u s remarkably well and the living proof is that Christianity has grown to be the largest w orld relig ion, work that can only be as a result of God’s gu id ing hand and w ith Heavenly Parent’s support.

However, th e Divine Principle is a new, clarifying and developmental message that has come through Father Moon’s own encounters w ith the risen Jesus - and through combin ing revelation and reason - for the Sun Myung Moon in prayer on Wednesday 17th benefit of all and for April 7935, when Jesus first appeared to him. the ti me w e are Painting by Shigeyoshi Watanabe from 7982. liv ing in now; it is Photo: FFWPU being spread w idely and is bringing ext raordina ry spiritual revival the world over as part of God’s preparations for us to meet the Lord at the Second Coming beyond denominational, rel ig ious and cultural barriers.

I may then say that cent ral to this understanding is that t he Messiah is most helpfully to be considered as a New Adam, bringing forward these ideas that, under the Christology chapter were topics left to a seven-day workshop in the past . A nd just as there was Adam and Eve, the messian ic, saving work is u ltimately to be completed by a couple - a New Adam and New Eve. So the Holy Spirit was given as a counterpart to Jesus, making them the Spiritual True Parents g iving rebirth to all humankind.

Well, you can fil l in all the b lanks. The point is: I never tel l a believer (by word s or by implication) that what th ey believe is wrong. Mainly because I do not consider it to be wrong - it is just their belief, and it has served them and countless others we ll in the past as an anchor for our fa ith, w ith God’s approva l and b lessing. But now we are in a new era, and God is sending us some important words of clarification - we need to become new wineskins.

Jesus, of course, faced as a major obst acle to the success of h is m ission, the stubborn adherence of Jewish rel igious leaders to the letter of the law.

There are six famous sayings of Jesus that all share the same Jesus preaching. Illustration: Biblical illustration pattern: They t ake of Gosoel of Mork Chaoter 3 bv Distant Shores

the form - “You Media I Sweet Publishing I Wikimedia Commons. have heard it said License: CC ASA 3.0 Un p […] but I tell you”.

This formu la is an ingenious one. It avoids having Jesus look as though he is ignoring the Torah, the trad itio n al Jewish teaching, and just bring ing in his own teaching - rather it shows him as one who is respecting the Torah and bringing a new seriousness to th e core beliefs of the people.

These so called “Antitheses” demonstrate how Jesus approach es the task of interpreting and applying the Torah.

Usin g this form u la, Jesus refers t o a comm andment, provides a com m on understanding of that com m andment, and then provides an interpretation which strengthens the force of the commandment. These sayings are really ‘i ntensifiers’, and I don’t think “Antitheses” is a good name at all, they are not opposi tes. They build on the tradit ional understanding rather t han oppose it. Thus, it is not enough “not to kill”, or “not to comm it adu ltery”. It is not enough just to love you r neig hbou r, whi le sti ll h aving hatred for your enemy.

Jesus is saying t h at true ri ghteousness, a person in God’s image, does not even con sider doing any of these things, but forgives w rong and loves enemies free ly.

It is God who must gu ide not only the deeds o f believers, but also their motivatio n and e m o tions, t heir genuine, unseen self. Such strivi ng for perfection signals the breaking dawn of the Kingdom of God, the first light of th e new age of righteousness and justice brea king in upon the earth.

W hy I m ention this is because I believe the reception of the new material -

A pre-publication version of “True Parents’ Status and Value from the Viewpoint of Heaven’s Providence”. Photo: Screenshot from video published by FFWPU.

concern ing the “Status and Va lue of Tru e Parents” - could have been greatly assisted by this approach. As it is, the re is really n o reference to what has been our understanding in the past, or what has been taug ht, even by Fath e r Moon h imself, and I can see t hat it leaves thinking, faithfu l members wondering what has changed and why-worrying less abou t the status o f Tru e Parents, ironica lly, and more about the st atus of the accepted truth.

W ithout the connection to the “You have h ea rd it said,” it seems to im p ly that what we thought before was wrong, b ut I don’t think it is intendi ng to say that at all - rather it is making us awa re of just how serious is the understanding upon whic h we base ou r fa ith, and how much the world needs t his intensification of understanding and should g rasp the full implications o f the truth already revealed, but perhaps imperfectly, or not fu lly shared up until now.

We must not be stuck with one way of understanding, or eventually we will become unstuck - like th e Jews in Jesus’ day, or a faithful Christian w hose rigid beliefs might become an obstacle to understanding how God is working today. And as Unificat ionists, we are not immune from the same tendency. You wi ll remember how the introductio n to the Div ine Principle speaks of history as a history of prog ressive revelation.

However, we do have t o be very carefu l as to how we address the beliefs and u nderstandings that underpin a person’s life of fa ith.

My purpose here is not t o criticise the material we have been given but to stimulate YOU into putting the impo rtant kn owledge that we hold in our hands into a form that can have real, positive, and rapid results - this is ou r job; it is your job and it’s my job.

Let us the refore think carefully about how best to deliver the truth th at God has given us for ou r use t oday, and in such a way that there are NO CASUALTIES.

Let us work t o m ake our wonderfu l b und le o f “heresies” the n ew orthodoxy.

Thank you and God b less you.

Featured image above: Dr. David Hanna. Photo: FFWPU

“Religious Truth as Progressive Revelation” - text: Dr. David Hanna

Related to progressive revelation: Unchanging Truth and Its Changing Expression

Also related to progressive revelation: The 3 Blessings and the Process to Fulfil Them

Also related to progressive revelation: Essential Motherly Part of Messianic Mission

Also related to progressive revelation: God as Our Heavenly Parent (Father and Mother)

Also related to progressive revelation: History of God: from Yahweh to Father to Parent

And also related to progressive revelation: In-Depth Look at the Fatherly and Motherly God

More, related to progressive revelation: The Meaning of History from Viewpoint of God

Yet more, related to progressive revelation: Failure of Key Persons Related to Jesus

Still more, related to progressive revelation: Amazing Parallels to Jesus and Holy Spirit

Even more, related to progressive revelation: Key Role of Christianity the Last 2000 Years

And yet more, related to progressive revelation: The Unification Principles

And still more, related to progressive revelation: Brief about the Teachings

And even more, related to progressive revelation: The Teachings in a Nutshell

And even more, related to progressive revelation: God and Human Beings

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