The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification began as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. The name “Unification Church” is an unofficial colloquial name that media outlets and the public adopted.

God is constantly seeking in our lives to make a personal relationship with us, and we have a unique take on how to achieve that. We believe that family is the cornerstone of society and of personal spiritual development. We learn about God’s love through our family relationships. You can learn more about our core beliefs here.

No, the “Unification Church” is not a cult. FFWPU is a duly registered religious nonprofit organization. We began as a new religious movement that expanded rapidly and called for radical change, and whose members lived their beliefs. The establishment felt threatened and responded by labeling it a “cult.” Our organization strives to promote world peace and unity as one family under God.

Dr. J. Gordon Melton, a leading American new religions scholar, categorizes the “Unification Church” as a religious movement.

While many couples go on to have individual wedding ceremonies, the mass wedding ceremonies of the “Unification Church” are a unique experience for couples to receive the Holy Marriage Blessing upon their union. We see marriage as not just a ceremony to bring two individuals together but as representative of what world peace can look like through generational and cultural healing. By committing to a relationship alongside other couples, they are making a public promise to bring joy to God through loving each other.

Mass marriages are becoming more populararound the world, and we are proud to say that we have led this effort for over 60 years.

It’s a scary thought that someone could convince you to believe in something you don’t. Are people that gullible? Is it possible that the Unification Church “forcefully indoctrinates” their followers? The simple answer is that brainwashing does not exist.

The FBI even looked into this. According to the FBI’s own investigative reports of the Unification Church (1967-2002), zero instances of “brainwashing” were found.

Sociologist Eileen Barker found that 90% of those who attended three-day “Moonie seminars” didn’t join up. And a large percentage of the 10% who did join didn’t stay longer than 2 years. So if brainwashing was really applied here, then it had no power. And if something like brainwashing has no power, does brainwashing really exist? No.

The American Psychological Association does not recognize “brainwashing” as a useful theoretical concept. This term is improperly used by critics of a religious minority to prejudice an audience against them.

“The popular idea is that brainwashing techniques can completely alter a person's opinions, while he or she is powerless to stop the conversion, but such techniques have never actually been found to exist,” says Roger Finke, professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at Penn State.

Brainwashing is an easy narrative that many journalists use because our brains are pre-wired toward negativity. The press popularized the term to begin with. It is the “bad things” that grab our attention, stick to our memories, and, in many cases, influence the decisions that we make. So the press use that to their advantage. Negative narratives sell.

The term "brainwashing" was first used in English by Edward Hunter in 1950 to describe how the Chinese government appeared to make people cooperate with them. It comes from the Chinese term xǐ nǎo, which in the Beijing dialect means “brain” and “wash.” And just like that, the word was all over the papers (Merriam-Webster).

You’re probably thinking of people in robes holding AR-15s and wearing gold bullet crowns. This is the World Peace and Sanctuary Church founded by Sean Moon, a younger son of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

This gun church has been a source of fascination in the media, especially VICE, who have caused confusion in the media by calling it the “new Unification Church”. It is certainly not part of the Unification Church movement. The two organizations are separated by harsh criticism and even court cases.

Since the death of his father and founder of the Unification Church in 2012, Sean (Hyung Jin) Moon, a younger son of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, has been claiming that he is the true leader of the global religious movement, not his mother Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.

The images of Sean Moon’s World Peace and Sanctuary Church in Pennsylvania, with crowns made of bullets, holding AR-15s in marriage ceremonies, and their hateful rhetoric are far from the origins of his father’s peaceful movement.

In a 2018 statement from the Family Federation for World Peace USA (the official name of the “Unification Church”), the organization states that “Family Federation is in no way affiliated with Sanctuary Church.” It continues, “While we respect every individual's right to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and other constitutional rights, we oppose violence and do not use weapons in any of our religious ceremonies. Sean Hyung Jin Moon has disregarded his father's teachings regarding the importance of true love and reconciliation in addressing the problems of the world."

Sean has publicly denounced his own mother and “divorced” her from his deceased father, marrying him to another Korean woman. That in and of itself is enough to question the mental state of the group’s leader.

Sean Moon was inaugurated in 2008 as President of FFWPU International. He claims that since his father “anointed” him as successor, he is the rightful heir and inheritor of the movement’s assets.

But a brief look at Sean’s Rod of Iron Ministries since being removed as FFWPU International President is proof positive that his group and doctrine are not representative of the broader movement.

Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon is the current leader of the worldwide Unification movement (a broader term for the spiritual Unificationist community and affiliated groups). She is the wife of the late Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and resides in South Korea.

Claims have been made by two of her sons, Sean Moon and Preston Moon, that they are the rightful heirs. Court cases have been filed against both groups for illegally repurposing church assets and misusing the church’s logo in relation to events that do not represent our beliefs.

Born in 1920, Sun Myung Moon emerged from a Korean farming village to attain global stature. After founding the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (the first name of Family Federation) in 1954, he launched organizations for dialogue and alliance across all boundaries, centered on God and true family life. He is the founder of Unificationism and the global Unification movement.

Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, affectionately called the Mother of Peace, is the co-founder and the current worldwide leader of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, colloquially known as the “Unification Church,” since her husband, the Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon’s ascension to the spirit world in 2012.

Unificationists are people of faith working to build a better world. We participate in Unification family churches and communities as well as in all the world’s faith traditions. We come from all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and nationalities, and strive to live as one family under God. We believe that God called the Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and his wife, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, to bestow the Holy Marriage Blessing, which liberates us to build ideal families for world peace. We honor the world’s great scriptures and view Reverend and Mrs. Moon’s teachings as an expression of the principles and ideals common to them all.

Based on current projections, it is estimated that 45% of all marriages in America will end in divorce. From 2019 to 2022, the ratio of couples who received the Blessing to couples who divorced was less than 16 percent.

Yes, Unificationists believe in God. We uphold God, our Heavenly Parent, whose kingdom begins with the family. God is both masculine and feminine, embodied in men and women. God’s love is embodied in blessed marriages and families, which open the way to peaceful and prosperous communities, beyond religion, race and nationality.

Yes, Unificationists believe in Jesus and that Jesus will come again. Jesus clearly foretold his return, and he said that its time, place, and manner will be revealed to the faithful. Jesus coming on the clouds is unacceptable to the scientific mind. Some believe that the Second Advent occurs whenever Jesus comes to dwell within the heart, but Jesus has been dwelling within the hearts of faithful believers for millennia. Others teach that the Second Coming is Jesus’ return as a spirit, but Jesus has always visited Christians in the spirit.

Father Moon presents a biblical alternative. The prophet Malachi foretold that Elijah would come down from heaven, but Jesus said that John the Baptist was Elijah. In like manner, Christ could be born on earth. In fact, in the Bible, God never sent a person on the clouds. Every single prophet, saint, and the Messiah himself was born on earth.

We believe the Second Coming will not be on the clouds, and is more than an event in the heart or in the spirit. To fully repair our lost relationship with God, Christ must come in the flesh, on the earth. We believe the Second Coming is the couple of Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.

We believe that God reveals His Word and His central providence in the Bible. Father Moon’s teachings, the Divine Principle, provide a logical and practical explanation of the Bible for today’s world. It sets forth principles by which we can resolve conflicting views of the Bible, and clarify the Bible’s stories of humankind’s origin, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Israel, Jesus and the Second Coming. Everything in the Bible provides guidance for our individual lives and the whole world.

We believe that the scriptures of all religions are holy. The Unificationist scriptures include the Exposition of the Divine Principle, and a three-volume compilation of Father and Mother Moon’s teachings and words called the Cheon Seong Gyeong (“Heavenly Scripture”), Pyeong Hwa Shin Gyeong (“Peace Scriptures”), and Chambumo Gyeong (“True Parents Life Course”).

True Parents is an affectionate term for Father and Mother Moon, the co-founders of Unificationism. They are a husband and wife who, based on their personal maturity and God’s Blessing, unite God’s love with their love. They have taken the responsibility as parents of humankind, representing God on earth, to love and unite God’s family, which is all of humankind both living and in the spirit world. The first true parents are the perfected ancestors of all humankind, so we capitalize the term in their case.

This is important because Adam and Eve were meant to be those True Parents, but they fell. Because we have not had True Parents, we have suffered apart from God, and we could not become true husbands and wives and true parents ourselves. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are our spiritual True Parents. On their foundation, God called Father and Mother Moon to be substantial True Parents, to lead us into blessed marriage and completely vanquish sin and suffering.

No, Unificationists do not worship True Parents, also known as Father and Mother Moon. The word we use for our relationship with True Parents is “attend.”

To attend means, out of gratitude for what they have done for us and for all people to keep that person in your heart, and to share common purposes and values in a relationship of love and respect.

Attendance entails filial piety, loyalty, fidelity, faith, sacrificial service, and benevolence. We do find God in True Parents. We also find God in our spouse, our parents, our children, all people, and in nature. Most importantly, we find God in our conscience.

Father Moon, with five disciples, established the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, colloquially known as the “Unification Church,” on May 1, 1954 in Seoul, South Korea.

Father Moon had to build his own institutional foundation to fulfill Christianity’s mission because of fierce opposition from ministers in Korea. That mission was to overcome Communism and the breakdown of youth morality, to unite the world’s religions, to restore values to science, the arts and media, to establish true God-centered marriages, and to proclaim the Second Advent of Christ in True Parents.

Yes, the “Unification Church” started a worldwide movement. It grew from a house church in Korea to 120 churches within six years, to 120 countries in 22 years, and to virtually all nations in 40 years.

Putting our vision into practice, members developed affiliated organizations to apply God-centered values to academia, religion, race relations, governance, family and community formation, business, oceanic development, science, the arts, and media. Many of these organizations established chapters and activities for the sake of peace and human betterment throughout the world.

The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, inaugurated on July 30, 1996, is best understood as a worldwide para-religious movement. Religion traditionally places the salvation of the individual at the center, and we support all religions in this mission. Our goal builds upon that to the salvation of the family unit. Our goal is to build true families through the Holy Marriage Blessing, and on that foundation to create communities, nations and a world of peace.

Family Federation for World Peace and Unification families meet regularly to pray, read, and reflect on Father and Mother Moon’s words, fellowship, educate children and youth, share the Holy Marriage Blessing, and offer service and friendship to the larger community.

All religions can prepare people to create true marriages and families, and so the community of any and every religion, be it a parish, congregation, synagogue, masjid, temple, or family church, can participate in the Family Federation. Father Moon envisioned that, based on the principles of true love, the kingdom of heaven on earth is nothing other than the community life of blessed families of peace.

The Marriage Blessing is the marriage ceremony bestowed by the True Parents, an affectionate term for Father and Mother Moon. Similar to other marriage traditions, it features vows, and the exchange of rings, and is legally recognized when administered by a registered officiant. However, the Blessing is unique in that its main purpose is not simply to bring a man and a woman together who love each other, but to restore marriage and family life to the way God intended it to be.

Unificationists believe that God had a beautiful ideal for marriage and family, something that we yearn for but often do not experience. We believe that since the beginning of human history, God wanted each of us to experience living in love, but we have been trapped by the sins of our ancestors. We have lived in a world that does not reflect God’s lineage as direct sons and daughters. The Marriage Blessing liberates us to create ideal families that stay together on earth and in heaven.

In the first decades of the ministry, Rev. and Mrs. Moon as the True Parents arranged marriages for tens of thousands of couples across nationalities, religions, and races.

Today we support young people to take an active role in finding a spouse in partnership with their parents in a process called “the matching”. It is an intentional engagement process where single Unificationists get to know each other with the intention of marriage.

The Marriage Blessing frees us from the sin of the first parents, which has to do with their marriage and is the root cause of all sin in the world. We have this sin removed when we are reborn as husband and wife through the Marriage Blessing. Sata’s claim on marriage is removed and we are engrafted directly into God’s lineage.

The Marriage Blessing does not bring instant perfection. What it does is open a gate to the path of perfection that was never opened before. Each husband and wife now can step forward to fulfill the purpose of creation, even if we make mistakes along the way, knowing that God is always with us as our Heavenly Parent.

Yes, absolutely. We believe that the cross-cultural Marriage Blessing helps transcend the barriers of race, culture, nationality, ethnicity, and religion to create one worldwide family.

When the children of enemy families join together through the cross-cultural Marriage Blessing, love each other, and build a happy home, the grandparents grow closer to each other. In time, lineages that were once enemies become friends. The family is the pattern for people to live together in harmony. With the grace of God’s Blessing, we will see this become the pattern for nations to live together in harmony.

Unificationists believe that the root cause of suffering in this world comes from the first human family. Adam and Eve engaged in an illicit sexual relationship and fell away from God, thus severing all subsequent humans from the direct lineage of God. We lost our identity and dulled our connection to our conscience.

God as our Heavenly Parent grieves over the suffering in the world and the suffering each of us goes through. Nonetheless, God created us with our own portion of responsibility, which He will never take away from us. God does not interfere with our choices, even if they lead to suffering.

God invests love and guidance, hoping we will choose to bring happiness to others. When each of us fulfills our responsibility to live for the sake of others, we will not have the suffering we see today.

We endorse the spiritual disciplines of all the world’s religions. We engage in and encourage all traditional spiritual practices: prayer and meditation, developing a daily and weekly spiritual rhythm, regular study of scripture, active participation in the life of a spiritual community, service to others, receiving and giving mentoring, and most important, the practice of sexual purity. Individuals sometimes choose to invest in more strenuous spiritual practices, such as fasting, vigils and so forth.

A more internal, yet very important, spiritual practice for Unificationists is to substantiate love in personal relationships with one's spouse, parents, and children. This ability to love expands to the community, nation, and world. This ability to love expands to the community, nation, and world. We believe that the greatest spiritual practice is to love our enemy and win the hearts of those who are different from us.

Yes, we believe that the kingdom of God is possible on earth. By connecting you and your family back to God’s lineage through the Marriage Blessing and committing to a life of true love, this world can become the kingdom of God. Isaiah 46:11 says, “I have spoken and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed it and I will do it.”

The Fall of man from God destroyed the original world that God envisioned, but God has led providential history by bringing all people step by step to naturally surrender to the love and heart of God, our Heavenly Parent. When evil evaporates, the kingdom of God will naturally appear, because it is the original desire of God and of all people.

We are neither left nor right-wing, but rather “headwing”. It is a system of thought centered on God’s truth and love. It embraces both the right and the left as a family.