American Clergy Leadership Conference: Celebrating 22 Years
We Will Stand Tour, Texas, 2001
“As religious leaders, we are the moral compass for humanity,” said Dr. Chung Sik Yong, Regional President, FFWPU North America and American Clergy Leadership Conference, National Co-Chair. “If we unite around the vision of Father and Mother Moon, we can finally achieve world peace. Anniversaries are a good opportunity to revisit our values and review our accomplishments.”
May 21 marked the 22nd anniversary of the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC), which was founded in 2000 by True Parents in Korea. National leaders and members of ACLC — a coalition of clergy united to strengthen marriages, rebuild families, restore communities, and renew America and the world — celebrated in the Northeast with a special anniversary program held online through Zoom and social media. Some 60 participants heard messages from ACLC’s founding figures and other faith leaders.
“True Parents established the ACLC with 120 clergy from 17 denominations who affirmed their God-given vision of the reunification of the Body of Christ,” said Dr. Yong during his keynote message. “This is Jesus’s long-awaited dream. And through the network of the ACLC, faith leaders from all over the nation have come together to share this love with each other and our wider communities, going beyond racial and denominational barriers to provide clear, moral direction for America and our leaders.”
ACLC in Israel, 2003
“True Mother has reminded us that we, as clergy, are members of the chosen people and their mission from God is to spread His love and blessing to humanity,” Dr. Yong continued. “With the breakdown of families causing many social ills, it’s critical to expand and share the Marriage Blessing movement.”
He emphasized how the Marriage Blessing strengthens marriages, family ties, and cultivates a healthy environment for young people in the family and community. This, in turn, will help America fulfill its destiny as a beacon of freedom, faith, harmony and prosperity. ACLC leaders recommitted to this primary goal as they looked back on achievements over the last two decades.
Bishop Jesse Edwards, an evangelist and founding member of the ACLC, recalled their 2003 pilgrimage to Israel to unify Jewish and Christian believers. “During our Middle East Peace Initiative to the Holy Land, we went far back into the West Bank,” he said. “Sometimes our lives were at stake. But we would bring leaders together from both sides and pray for unity for the whole region.”
“We’ve also been to Korea, right at the DMZ line, where 120 pastors prayed for peace,” he continued. “We laid our hands on the fence that divides the North and South from families, friends, and loved ones. Father Moon prayed, as Jesus prayed, that we can all come together and be as one ... What an experience.”
ACLC at the DMZ line, South Korea, 2011
Several leaders shared how ACLC’s core values are needed now more than ever to heal America and the world. “We, as pastors and Christian witnesses, facilitate these values of rebuilding families, restoring communities and renewing the nation,” said Rev. Michael Sykes, ACLC executive committee member and senior pastor of the United Missionary Baptist Church in East Orange, New Jersey. “The family model in America is in trouble, but the ACLC provides another way — an alternative to immorality and degradation that exists in many families.”
Today, the ACLC has swelled to more than 20,000 clergy of many denominations. With chapters nationwide, the ACLC has hosted monthly prayer breakfasts to facilitate meaningful dialogue and exchange among clergy, as well as national convocations, pastors' forums, and the annual True Family Values Awards Banquet — an interfaith and intercultural education effort recognizing prominent peacemakers around the country.
True Family Values Banquet, Chicago, 2019
The ACLC also played a central role in True Father’s 2001 national speaking tour, “We Will Stand in Oneness.” And since its inception, multiple associations have emerged, including The 172 Clergy and Women in Ministry (WIM). In December 2019, True Mother inaugurated the World Clergy Leadership Conference (WCLC), where two more associations were established: the Korean Clergy Leadership Conference (KCLC) and the Young Clergy Leadership Conference (YCLC).
“For America to be a template of the world ... we need to bring up all the young people through YCLC so they can be fruitful in fellowship,” said Rev. Sykes. “We must continue to come together and coalesce in order to share the good news we have been tasked with.”
YCLC Banquet, New Jersey, 2019
ACLC leaders thanked members and affiliates for their tireless work and dedication to instill faith in the lives of everyday people. “We appreciate the sacrifice of the unsung heroes of our community and our organization,” said Rev. Zena Sykes. “If it wasn’t for everyone working together, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
“The Kingdom of God is in our midst and it’s in our hands,” shared Rev. Michael Sykes. “It’s through each other that we make the Kingdom of God real and glorify Him. We are looking forward to another 22 years of witnessing.”
An ACLC 22nd anniversary banquet and awards ceremony will be held in New Jersey and New York City in June.
You can learn more about the American Clergy Leadership Conference here.