National Marriage Blessing Is Celebrated in Detroit, Michigan

Two couples participated in the Holy Wine Ceremony and Marriage Blessing in Detroit. The whole congregation enjoyed the day and had a wonderful experience. The next day, Rev. Willie Downer of Greater Love MBC invited Detroit Unificationists to conduct the Blessing as a part of his church service. After Rev. Downer’s sermon on the coming Kingdom of Heaven, he turned the service over to Rev. David Kasbow, who opened with a reading of Gen. 1:28. After explaining God’s original desire to bless Adam and Eve, he spoke about the basics of the Human Fall and how the Holy Wine ceremony was initiated by Rev. and Mrs. Moon under Jesus’ guidance to “reverse the curse.” After he demonstrated how the Communion of Holy Wine is taken, he had the married couples take part and then had everyone in the church take the Holy Wine.

After the Holy Water ceremony and the ring ceremony Rev. Kasbow explained the three other parts of the Blessing process and then read a portion of Father Moon’s message on marriage. The Unificationist church choir concluded the Blessing portion of the service by singing “Song of the Banquet.”

Rev. Downer expressed that it was a beautiful experience. “My heart was warmed by the Blessing ceremony,” he said. Another elder said that it is in marriage that God’s love is revealed to us. He said this ceremony was special to him and his wife because they had just gotten married in May but since it was just a legal ceremony this was a beautiful experience for them to begin their marriage again with a ceremony centered on God.

Rev. Downer agreed to have further education for his congregation on the Blessing and marriage. Rev.

Kasbow and the Unificationist congregation felt hopeful that this can now be a model to bless many more local congregations.