Hyo Jin Moon
January 10, 1988
Hyo Jin Nim delivers his speech at the dedication of the National Headquarters Chapel. To his right sit, left to right: Rev. Ken Sudo, Mr. Antonio Betancourt, Rev. Takeru Kamiyama, Rev. Lorman Lykes, and President Mose Durst. Behind him sits Nan Sook Nim.
It is a great honor for me to stand today in front of so many distinguished ministers and people of social importance gathered here to celebrate this occasion together with our Unification Church members.
I truly feel that the purpose of churches and places like this building is to allow people to feel the true freedom of God and the true love of God -- love that is absolute, unchanging, unconditional, and eternal. Thus this place should be the most happy place, where every person who comes here can clearly see and feel what an ideal standard of love is. If every individual in this place substantiates the love of God 100 percent, then the love of God will be tangible to all who come here. This is a great occasion, because it represents a new dedication of our hearts as well as the dedication of this beautiful place. This is a time for us to dedicate and commit ourselves completely toward setting an absolute standard of love.
Heavenly Father needs people who will be committed to absolute love and will take action to embody it. He never meant the fall of man to occur, but because of His true love, He has been working desperately to save and restore the human race. He wants to change the fallen lineage of mankind back to His lineage. We have the responsibility to live up to Heavenly Father's standard. That is the only way to inherit the true love of God and receive the three blessings that we have learned about through the Principle. Only then can man and woman come together and be fruitful and have true dominion over the creation. We must set an absolute standard of love, and we must follow Heavenly Father's way absolutely, unconditionally. To make an ideal society with a value system based upon true love, we ourselves must become ideal men and women.
We have to take responsibility for our own mistakes and not blame Heavenly Father; our wrongdoings need to be indemnified. There is no such thing as unconditional forgiveness. If there were such a thing, God should have given it at the moment Adam and Eve fell. As the creator, He can do anything! But He couldn't, because we have our portion of responsibility.
We should be grateful even if Heavenly Father makes us go the path of suffering. Consider Abraham's situation. God commanded Abraham to kill Isaac and offer his beloved son to Him! Abraham was absolutely determined to carry out God's command, but at the moment he was about to strike Isaac, an angel came and stopped him. The angel could stop him because Abraham had set an absolute standard of true love.
What about Jesus? He unconditionally gave his life on the cross, for the sake of Heavenly Father. He did it gratefully, trusting God completely. The founder of Unification Church, Rev. Moon, lives by this tradition. It is the kind of tradition that all Unification Church members must inherit, cherish, and be proud of.
Heavenly Father needs people who can live their lives unconditionally for the sake of true love and even be willing to die, if necessary. Satan has so many people who are willing to sacrifice their very blood and everything they value for the sake of the satanic ideology of communism. What shall we do as God's children? We have to be more committed to God than they are committed to Satan. That is the only way to restore them and get them to change. That's the only way to win over communism and overcome Satan. There should absolutely be only Heavenly Father, no Satan.
This is a time of new dedication for our members, so let's not complain about anything anymore! The ministers here are inspired to work for God, but we can't just sit around and let them take all the responsibility. No, we've got to do more. As we offer this place to Heavenly Father, we must make an unconditional offering of our hearts as well. From this day on, we must carry this spirit and try to do more each day, or else this dedication ceremony is meaningless.
I am very grateful for all the distinguished guests who came to this celebration. This is our time to make a change, and I believe with all my heart that we can do it. I want to take more and more responsibility upon my own shoulders for the sake of Heavenly Father and bear my parents' responsibility as much as I can. I'll try my best to be worthy to carry out Father's mission and responsibility. And you must do the same, because this is a family. Our Heavenly Father is longing to see the ideal world of one family.
As the eldest son of Rev. and Mrs. Moon, I am trying my best to convey what I believe they feel inside and want to share with you at this moment. I don't know if I did a good job or not, but you can tell my father when he comes back! Thank you very much.
Hyo Jin Nim and Nan Sook Nim, just after cutting the ribbon of the newly dedicated chapel.
National Headquarters Chapel Dedication
Tamara Grapek
Based on an article by Richard Lewis
On the afternoon of Sunday, January 10, 1988, in a moving ceremony attended by New York area members and specially invited ministers and VIPs, the renovated headquarters chapel of the Unification Church of America, located at 4 West 43rd Street in Manhattan, was newly dedicated to God.
In the spirit of his commitment to take responsibility for True Parents in their absence, Hyo Jin Nim, with Nan Sook Nim at his side, cut the ribbon to open the dedication ceremony. He then delivered a stirring and profound talk to all the members and distinguished guests.
The building was originally designed as a hotel with a large central courtyard into which horse-drawn carriages entered. Columbia University bought the property and later transformed the courtyard into a ball room. Now it is the spacious chapel of our church.
After many months of round-the- clock restoration work, the black tar roof has been replaced with a gleaming copper one, the ceiling and walls have been restored, a central air-conditioning and heating unit is now in place, and a sophisticated sound system with the capability of simultaneous translation into Spanish and Japanese is in operation.
A Time of Sanctification
Dr. Mose Durst, president of the Unification Church of America, gave the main sermon, entitled "Dedication, Sanctification, and Offering." Pointing out that this building stands just two blocks away from the sordid reality of Times Square, President Durst said that, although we can see the divine in nature, we do not often sense that holy presence in the city. Now "we come together this afternoon to dedicate, to sanctify, and to offer a time, a place, and a people to God." He continued:
The house of the Lord is meant to be all places, all times, in which dwell all people. All things must be set apart, made holy, and offered to God, according to His purpose and desire, if we are to dwell in His house.... People in New York often feel alone in the midst of a crowd. I don't feel a holy presence as I enter into the busy offices on Sixth Avenue. If the world is indeed meant to be -- all of it -- the sacred creation of God, then all places are meant to be celebrated as places where we can feel the divine presence. Rev. and Mrs. Moon teach us that every place must be dedicated and offered to God, because God wants His love and truth to dwell everywhere....
When I met Rev. Moon for the first time in my life, I met a man with moral passion who tried to live the ideal. He awakened my original nature. I realized that man is recreated by the word, and in offering himself to God, everywhere he goes becomes a place where God dwells.... Today we come as people who seek restoration. We stand filled with a desire to love and to make all things holy, and a passion to overcome all obstacles.
Rev. Ken Sudo, pastor of the New York City church, explained in his remarks that "God wanted to live in man as His temple. Because of sin, God needs another temple." which are the churches and chapels of the world. He dedicated himself "to work so that we do not need these churches and chapels anymore
For his dedicated and inspired work of restoring the chapel, Rev. Takeru Kamiyama received a plaque of appreciation from the Unification Church of America and the Unification Church of New York. On it were the words:
With deepest appreciation
to Rev. Takeru Kamiyama
For his great faith and vision
in designing and directing
the restoration of the
National Headquarters Chapel.
This inspired accomplishment
truly brings honor and glory
to our True Parents.
Rev. Kamiyama was also honored publicly for his great contributions to our church over the years, first as a missionary in Japan and then here in the United States. He thanked all those who had worked so hard on the project, noting that although our brothers worked day and night to renovate this chapel, compared to world restoration it is a very small offering.
Respect and Gratitude
Three of the distinguished guests then offered their congratulations to the church body. All three VIPs greeted Hyo Jin Nim and Nan Sook Nim in a gracious and deeply respectful manner, addressing them as "Rev. Moon, Jr. and Mrs. Moon." Hyo Jin Nim later commented on how moved he was that each of them had compared him to his father in this way.
Ambassador Phillip Sanchez, publisher of Noticias del Mundo, spoke about "the many beautiful people I have met" from the church, noting that, "Once when I was asked if I was a church member I explained, 'No, I am not that good: "He ended by bowing deeply to Hyo Jin Nim and telling him, "You can preach to me any time!"
Rev. Linden Lindsay, a Congregational minister from Brooklyn, declared that while "some of the great cathedrals are so ostentatious it makes it hard to feel the presence of God, this chapel in its simplicity fills me with a grandeur I cannot express."
To conclude the dedication of the chapel, Hyo Jin Nim led the recessional as the congregation sang "March of the New Age" and then President Durst offered the benediction.