This week in history, November 5-11:
True Father is admitted to the United Kingdom after 27 years (November 5, 2005)
The Inter-Denominational Christian Association is established (November 7, 1966)
A dedication ceremony is held for the Cheonseong Wanglim Palace (November 7, 1999)
UTS students hold a prayer walk for religious freedom in the Soviet Union (November 8, 1987)
East Germany opens the Berlin Wall (November 9, 1989)
True Father proposes an international highway (November 10, 1981)
David S.C. Kim’s Seonghwa Ceremony is held (November 10, 2011)
True Mother begins a 12-city speaking tour of the United States (November 11, 2007)
November 5, 2005
True Father Admitted to the United Kingdom after 27 Years
On November 5, 2005, at about 11 a.m. an airplane carrying True Parents landed at a small airport, Biggin Hill, in the foxhunting countryside near the London suburb of Chislehurst. This was True Father’s first visit to the United Kingdom since the summer of 1978, when he came with Unification Theological Seminary students to pioneer home church. Since 1995, the British government had banned True Father from entering Britain. Germany subsequently banned True Father as “a threat to public order” and was followed by fourteen additional European Union nations who employed common immigration practices under the Schengen Agreement’s immigration system. Schengen Agreement provisions were designed to prevent terrorists and drug dealers from abusing liberal European travel codes. Unificationists eventually would be successful in demonstrating that the ban on True Father was illegitimate and having it removed. Prior to that, in October 1995, British Home Secretary Charles Clark lifted the British ban and True Father delivered a public address, “True Family and I,” in London as part of the Universal Peace Federation’s Inaugural World Tour. On disembarking the plane, True Father was reported to have said, “Hmm … harder to get into Britain than to enter the spiritual world.”
NOVEMBER 7, 1966
Establishment of the Inter-Denominational Christian Association
A ceremony marking the foundation of the Inter-Denominational Christian Association was held on November 7, 1966, at A-seo-won, in Jung district of Seoul. This was the result of the Christianity-based interdenominational activities that had been held since 1965. True Father said, “If a hundred members become people central to creating harmony, they can be remembered by Heaven. To bring about harmony, interdenominational activities must be carried out to a degree where one would even fall into debt for it.” When first established, it was launched under the name the Christian Inter-Denominational Movement Headquarters but was renamed the Inter-Denominational Christian Association eight years later in October 1974. (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee)
NOVEMBER 7, 1999
Dedication Ceremony for Cheonseong Wanglim Palace
On March 10, 1997, there was a groundbreaking ceremony at Cheongpyeong Lake in Korea for what was to become a major sanctuary that could hold up to 10,000 workshop participants at a time. In design, it was understood to be a replica of a palace in heaven, a reality that was attested to in calligraphy provided for the occasion by True Father, which read, “The Heavenly Palace that came down from Heaven.” Essentially, a small mountain was leveled to construct a magnificent marble structure overlooking Cheongpyeong Lake. Named Cheonseong Wanglim Palace, the edifice was dedicated on November 7, 1999.
NOVEMBER 8, 1987
UTS Students Hold Prayer Walk for Religious Freedom in the Soviet Union
The “Soul of Russia,” a Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) student-based prayer and educational group concerned with ending religious persecution in communist countries, held a prayer walk with more than 250 participants at UTS on November 8, 1987. Titled a “Restorational Prayer Walk for Religious Freedom in the Soviet Union,” the candlelight walk was timed to follow the 70th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The turnout generated extensive media coverage, including front-page photos in local newspapers.
NOVEMBER 9, 1989
East Germany Opens the Berlin Wall
The Unification movement dedicated itself to “Victory over Communism” for many years. In 1985, True Father sponsored a major conference in Geneva, Switzerland, titled The Fall of the Soviet Empire. At that time, few thought this was a realistic possibility. However, four years later, on November 9, 1989, East Germany officially announced freedom of travel and border guards opened the gates which had restricted travel since 1961. This major symbol of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain subsequently was demolished and the Soviet Union itself collapsed less than two years later.
NOVEMBER 10, 1981
True Father Proposes International Highway
In “The Creation of a New World,” the Founder’s Address at the 10th International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences (ICUS), held in Seoul, Korea, from November 9 to 13, 1981, True Father proposed the construction of a “Great Asian Highway” that eventually would link the world. This, he said, “would be a great international highway around which freedom is guaranteed.” He also envisioned the highway as a spur for economic development and cultural integration. His call resulted in the establishment of the Japan-Korea Tunnel Research Institute and the International Highway Construction Corporation, which conducted extensive private research and public relations activities during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2005 at the Inaugural Convocation of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), True Father renewed his call for an International Highway System, focusing on “a passage for transit across the Bering Strait.”
NOVEMBER 10, 2011
David S.C. Kim’s Seonghwa Ceremony
David S.C. Kim working with the One World Crusade.
David S.C. Kim, one of the five founding members of the Unification Church in 1954, the second missionary to the United States in 1959, and the founding president of Unification Theological Seminary (1975-1994), passed away on November 8, 2011, at age 96. On his passing, True Father stated that he had “entered the Garden of Heaven as a representative of filial piety and loyalty.”
NOVEMBER 11, 2007
True Mother Begins Twelve-City Speaking Tour of the United States
True Mother began a U.S. 12-city speaking tour titled Providential View of the Pacific Rim Era in Light of God’s Will on November 11, 2007. She began the tour in Los Angeles and concluded it in New York on November 21. Wherever she spoke, many people came. Throughout the tour, True Father offered conditions on Geomun Island, Yeosu, Korea, and encouraged True Mother by telephone. (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee.)
This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of November 6-12.