Responses 201-300

WHAT INSPIRES YOU? WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?

 201. 1st gen in Suwon, Korea: I think it is really good to have some special portion before or after the service. Last year our assistant minister gathered members who play guitar, drums and other instruments and created a small band (just make sure they can sing well too. lol!) They meet a few times before the service to practice some songs or even create their own and then they perform and teach it to the congregation. They usually do this while they are waiting for all the guests to arrive. Those who came early can be entertained while waiting for the service to start.

Another thing they added recently is to assign one family to introduce themselves each week. Some of them prepare a ppt presentation of their family photos while they introduce each member of the family. This way everyone can have a closer look, as we only see them on Sundays. This is done before the announcements, which signal the end of the service. They give 5 minutes for the family introduction.

 202. 1^st gen in Seoul, Korea: I am attending the Korean Sunday service. The spirit of a Korean service is completely different from a western one. The part I enjoy is after reading the pledge and before starting the main ceremony. They show a short video of True Father or True Mother speaking and then the main ceremony starts. That part I enjoy the most. We wish for many changes but one hand does not have a sound~ ha ha.

203. 2^nd gen in Seoul, Korea: I attend a service at the CBG (HQ church in Seoul) even though it is not very often. I sometimes attended the Korean service, but these days I try to attend the English one. For me the most inspiring part is the singing and the sermon. In the Korean service, they often have choirs that perform songs at a very professional level, and that is often very inspiring to me. Knowing the effort people have put behind the songs and hearing such beauty is a very good part of the service. It’s also nice to sing songs ourselves though, and we have more of that in the English service. Ideally, I’d like a mix of both.

For the sermon, honestly I have often been disappointed by the Korean sermons because they are often intellectual or made as a report, and I cannot connect well with that. Intellectual sermons about the DP are OK once in a while, but the most inspiring sermons for me are either testimonies or sermons about our everyday lives with advice and thoughts we can connect to~ sermons about TF’s life or interpretations of his teachings for our practical lives is also good. That is what gives me the extra inspiration to go through the week :)

Finally, just meeting new people, socializing and chatting with tea, coffee or cookies after service is also a time I like very much. In the Norwegian church, they always have tea, coffee and cake at the end, and when there is a bit bigger sermon where we invite guests or other speakers there often is lunch also. I like that a lot, it makes it possible for new people to feel comfortable. There is also an announcing of new guests and I like that part too.

204. 1^st gen in Bangkok, Thailand: We have a new Sunday service started by our continental director. He calls it the Sunday New Life Service. His direction is to ask all members to bring new guests (family, friends, etc) to attend this service. It is more like a lecture style. If you need more details please let me know. Last Sunday there were about 200 new guests. He started this in the Philippines, and the first time they tried it the new chapel was filled to overflowing~ http://new.livestream.com/accounts/1514979/events/2391770/videos/31822528

 205. 2^nd gen in Korea: I am currently attending the CARP Sunday service and so it is a service just for university students. The most inspiring thing for me is that the students organize the service and make it what it is. Therefore, there is a lot of room for creativity and very open to changes. We also have home-group sessions after the service where we go out with friends to eat lunch and share hobbies together. We also have a worship Sunday service once a month where we sing many worship songs and there is a very short sermon.  I am pretty satisfied with this Sunday service. The sermon targets university students so it is inspiring, relatable and useful, about things that we can put into practice during the week.

206. 1^st gen in Bridgewater, England: I don’t really attend any services any more.

 207. 1^st gen in Burney, CA: I don’t attend any UC service. My wife goes to various other churches sometimes. Long story. Short story, there are no UC centers within 200 miles. We live in a small mountain town.

 208. 1^st gen in Denver, Colorado: We try to keep it simple~ music, message, and announcements, followed by lunch. We desperately need a good music team. That is important for any successful ministry to grow. An excellent Sunday school is also very important to attract and involve young families. The message should get people’s attention, not just intellectually, but also emotionally. If you are not getting audience responses during the message, then it is not quite there yet. That’s all I know. Many of our people come more to fellowship with their friends over lunch than to commune with God. But, that’s just how it is.

209. 1^st gen in Seoul, Korea: Attendance at Sunday service and what is the most inspiring part of it. Well, here in Seoul and CBG we have started again with English service together with the Philippine community but I haven’t any suggestions because still things have to settle and we need to get our international community to come together again. But there is hope for the future.

210. 1^st gen in Beacon Falls, CT: I enjoy Yoga practice (in a studio/class) on Sunday mornings and love everything about it. I do not attend Sunday service and have no plans to, except occasionally to connect with people at the local Congregational Church where we used to attend when our kids were young. Once a year we go to a Unificationist event on the old God’s Day, Jan 1^st. It’s a day of meeting up with old friends, good food, sports and arts events at the University of Bridgeport, and has enough to keep our interest~ for that day. That’s it. Unless someone dies or gets married, then I attend their service.

When I did attend Unification services, one big contention that was exasperating, was the variation in length. It could be an hour, could be three. Create something that has a pattern and people can plan around — that respects their time. Keep announcements short and sweet. Make sure there is time for fellowship (coffee, hanging out) for those that want to. Do not drag this out, or overdo any of it, or place unreasonable financial demands on people. There should be one service that communicates a message to everyone, not one for “members” and another for “guests.” Oh, and most important — have an interesting, coordinated Sunday school for the children. When parents find value for their kids, they are happy to attend services and show support. Attend other churches to observe if you need to see how this is done and structured.

211. 1^st gen in Kathmandu, Nepal: It is indeed a matter of heart and mind that matters in any kind of spiritual service devoid of any sects to human beings ~to become spiritual means to forget yourself as personal Ego, and pour your entire spirit down to the downtrodden or any needy living beings or things for protection of the nature and environment of this world. This world is a home of entire souls who are eager to emancipate from self to the supreme or selflessness depending upon their beliefs and manner to conduct for its attainment.

So behave as a human~ that is the most important thing. Do no harm to any body, do not expect from anybody, try to give what you have, do not promise what you don’t have, do not believe on what you have not tasted, seen or heard of. The world is full of mesmerism and attachments, which are a means of craving. Let us try at least for one day for the detached life that makes you sense as a retreat, and know one’s self. This is what I do in my own way. Respect all religions and creeds and do not cross their ideas but be careful to choose yourself in selflessness, as the being potent to transform as the supreme self. Any rustic villager can be a Prime minister or statesman.

212. 1^st gen in Durham, North Carolina: We attend a local church that has an average attendance of 30 people. It’s been a roller coaster in the US with what we do for Sunday Service.  At this point it’s a mix of our local pastor giving the service, members giving it, and watching Kwon Jin Nim. All are inspiring when one is open to receive. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if they are appropriate for guests. We have great music because of some talented musicians in the congregation who take the role seriously and are not allowed to play on Sunday unless they show up for the weekly practice. Also we have a second gen pastor (21 years of age), which is refreshing.

 213. 2^nd gen in LA, CA: I attend service here in LA. Somehow it’s become that I’m the only one in my family that goes to church now, but I think for me I go because hearing God speak to me through other people is something I’ve come to really value. It’s kinda like my conscience’s kick in the butt. But I think that for many young people to come to terms with embracing their faith it has a lot to do with connection. If church isn’t a place where you feel safe, comfortable, and welcome then of course it isn’t somewhere you’d choose to be. For many people, especially ones growing up in the church, it can be easy to confuse how we feel in the church environment with how we feel about a life of faith of our own. And I feel like relationships play a big part in that. I’m lucky to have many friends that go to church. Even when we’re just hanging out, I know these are people I can turn to.

For me, I would love to see our community grow to be more personal with one another. There are so many aunts and uncles I see that I never talk to or that never talk to me, and it’s quite sad.  A part of service I really enjoy is the music sessions. Personally, I love praise and worship so music really hits home for me. Our band is pretty awesome, but they only play a few songs. I’d love to see Unificationists expressing our faith through praise and worship, but right now it’s kind of out of our culture to be all out there in the open like that, if you know what I mean. Oh, and I think getting help with family counseling, or marriage counseling would be a huge plus, because that really hits home with second gen, and children in general.

 214. 1^st gen in New York: I attend the Cathedral of the Blue Skies and Fresh Air! Ocean Church was always much more my style. Get up early and spend the day out on the ocean. That was my “classroom and cathedral.” Now it’s just the hills and plains and blue skies. I would recommend “walking services under blue skies.”

 215. 1^st gen in San Francisco, CA: I see the service as having three components which are equally important: 1) The music through which we open our hearts to God and bind together as ‘one voice’ in worship of our God; 2) The message which should be able to divide us through the word of God, not just our own ideas. When the word of God is delivered then our original mind is touched and we see clearly what we need to do to separate from our fallen mind; 3) Then we have fellowship. The people of God come together to make correct horizontal relationships after first meeting with God. An ideal service is when all 3 come together and we leave feeling closer to God and closer to our brothers and sisters.

 216. 1^st gen in Seorak, Korea: I attend the Cheongshim Church in Seorak. It is a rather unique situation since it is here at Cheongpyeong, and under DMN’s guidance. Nevertheless, as with many “worship services,” it can sometimes be boring, and we find ourselves attending out of duty rather than joy. The most inspiring parts are to hear the sermon in Korean (so we can improve our Korean); to see a video of True Father/True Mother and to hear their words (the content is nice, and again, the Korean is there); the music from the choir is a big part (we have a nice choir and the music is often very moving); the singing of hymns by the congregation is again a good chance to study the Korean meaning, but the singing is a “sigh” experience.

The sermon is not always that moving. Sometimes another person will give a report or testimony and that is usually interesting, if not inspiring; the announcements are formal; our Korean class right after service is good for friendship, touching base with friends, and study; the social time before, during, and after service is nice. We are given milk and bread after service, which is convenient. We have a long way to go in terms of having an inspiring service.  I would not feel comfortable bringing a guest to our service. We follow the Christian liturgy too much.  When my wife and I focus on meeting God, we are okay, but the other “routine” things are “ho-hum.”

 217. 2^nd gen in Portugal: My family and I usually attend Sunday service in Porto. I don’t know how the service is done in other countries, but here, it’s the traditional way; we start with a few songs, read the family pledge, a speech and a few more songs. In my opinion it’s becoming monotonous and I believe many of 2nd gen share the same opinion. It’s important to innovate and make Sunday service more motivating and exciting; people should be more involved and stimulated. For example, instead of giving a speech, why not debate about a theme (not necessarily related to the church) to hear other’s opinions. I find learning about people and hearing their life experiences so inspiring and interesting. It’s a way of seeing life in a different perspective and there’s always a lesson to learn from others.

 218. 1^st gen in Basel, Switzerland: We have been attending Sunday service 2 times a month, one time in Zürich, where often 2nd gen give sermons or in combination with 1^st gen. Reports, fundamental themes or some points of someone’s study. The other time we drive to Biel for a smaller meeting with a few families. After service we always have a potluck and share our thoughts. On Sundays where there is no official service in a distance of one hour, we also enjoy watching Joel Osteen from 10:30-11a.m. In a short time period he gives us such valuable content. We often think about it for days.

 219. 1^st gen in Seoul, Korea: the most inspiring part of the service is the message given by the leader.

 220. 1^st gen in Eagle River, Alaska: I am a consistent attendee. Most important is passion and truth in the speaker, a clean environment (not misc stuff around), and engagement with the audience at some point.  We do have testimonies after the sermon, songs, and music~ just make sure there’s life in them. We have supper or brunch after every service~ it’s our tradition~ potluck, sit down and meet. Don’t make it like a Christian format. Educational, uplifting, and enriching are words that should describe it. Invite second gen up, and get them to lead in places.

221. 1^st gen in France:  As Henri Blanchard used to say the best kind of HDH is when we can relate deeply to each other. Whether we sing songs or listen to Father’s words, the most important thing is the loving relationships; then God’s spirit is there.

We are a group of families and we meet in different apartments.  We were just discussing last week if food should be served.  I think everyone agrees that to put the burden for food on people because we visit their houses is too much but a drink can be served.  When people have to eat, it is better that each one pays their own.  Each family has to see to their own needs.  In Ireland, people put money into a kitty and food is served. They are a big group. In Switzerland, everyone brings something, buffet style.

222. 1^st gen in Cleveland, Ohio: I guess the heart is the main thing. I feel service can vary greatly since we are not really tied to a tradition ~ as long as it includes a message, song, announcements and prayer. We conduct a cozy home service with our community, sharing the duty among blessed couples to present the message and be emcee. We emphasize that 80% of the message time should be focused mainly on Father’s words, DP, church history, and or application of those, rather than extrapolating too much about other ideas. We allow time for testimonies too. Also we try to make it simple enough to interest the children. With our small group we don’t really do a separate Sunday school session.

223. 2^nd gen in Brazil: I haven’t attended a UC Sunday service for 3 years now, and to be very honest, I don’t miss it either. Rather spend time with my family on the beach or doing something more exciting.

224. 1^st gen in CA: No, we don’t attend services any more. I prefer not to talk about this aspect. I do however have no regrets for my time in the UC.

225. 1^st gen in Giessen, Germany: I personally don’t like to call it sermon because that word reminds me too much of all the typical and heavy sermons of my childhood. In Giessen we have managed to rejuvenate our Sunday service. We have a band accompanying the singing, they are mostly 2nd gen and have a more lively way of singing, a bit faster ~ not so serious as we 1st gen used to have ~ 3 or 4 vocals, keyboard, 2 guitars and drums. That’s power and life!  We sing Holy Songs and any other Christian or church songs, and sometimes we have a solo performance, or our choir sings.  We have 23 families in our community ~ over twenty 2nd gen, who all study at the Giessen university. We have 4 members who take turns giving the sermon. It is quite good because each is so different and the overall input is quite balanced. Men tend to be more intellectual and women more heartistic and emotional and bring more experiences of their own.  We always have HDH, True Father’s words, but we keep it quite short, because listening to someone just reading a text can be very dry if the person is not a really good reader and emphasizes the words correctly.

It’s up to the “preacher” to use TF’s or/and Bible quotes. The talk lasts about 20 minutes. After the talk we have short meditation, usually with a nice piece of music from a CD or youtube. We have a screen and can project videos~ “A Thousand Years” (Christina Perri) played by the Piano Guys; “Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts” also by the Piano Guys. Other examples: “Gabriel’s Oboe” from the movie the Mission or “Instrument of Peace” by the Canadian Tenors.  Beautiful music touches the hearts. We also have an MC who guides the service. After a final song together we have a review of the past week, some testimonies and announcements, and finally coffee and cakes. I personally like the singing and usually the speech as well. The speech should be the highlight of the service, touch the hearts and inspire and motivate the listeners. The question is always how can we bring the living God to the church? ~ a real revival.

226. 1^st gen in San Lorenzo, CA: 1) What is our unique value/who are we and what do we have to offer to others as a church community? Seeing ourselves as a church will not allow us to grow or help us realize our unique value.  People these days, for the most part, are not looking for a church or organized religion to join.  They do seek relationship, community, happiness, and love.  And, once they taste this then many people will be open to more of the truth of the Principle.  So living the DP by being loving people and a loving community is the key.  If we think, as a whole, we’re doing a good job, then we need to look how many people have joined, and stayed with our movement in the past 20 years.

2) Where will we be/what will we look like as a local church community by 2020?

I think this question could better be phrased to ask how we would hope ideally to look like by 2020. One way is for our community to have well been on its way to creating the Real/True love environment where young people are more connected by being inspired with our One Family under God and inter-religious ideals and more in genuine leadership roles.  Another way is for us to grow through having become an authentic Blessing Movement where Heavenly Parent truly dwells in our marriages and families.  We can surely attract many others (including our own adult children) to want to join such an attractive and appealing federation (or, better, community) of blessed individuals, couples, and families.  There are many things to work out, but to do a better job of drawing out, encouraging, and supporting the gifts and talents of our local community is also a must if we are to be successful in achieving such positive change and thus joy and comfort to our True Parents ~ and to each other!

227. 1^st gen in NJ: One issue I believe is important with regard to our Sunday worship is whether or not they should be “guest friendly.” If witnessing is now the priority, then I suggest an overhaul of the service, or at least a re-evaluation.

At a recent Sunday Service I attended there was the glorious picture of TPs in their full blessing robes, the UC logo, a bow to TPs, numerous mentions of Cheon Il Guk, Pledge#6, the new CIG anthem and about 10 more references to CIG in the lyrics. All this is perfectly appropriate if the service is for members, but if we are looking to use Sunday service as a vehicle for witnessing then our ceremonies need to reflect that.

I’m all for music being a significant aspect of our services, but it needs to be done well. To quote Mark Twain: “Hell is a place where everyone is an amateur musician.” I cringe at poor music. There is no witness in mediocrity. The spirit gets thwarted when well intentioned but weak singers are featured. Better to have good congregational singing with songs the congregation is familiar with. Selection of the sermon giver is important too. Well-intentioned people who are not well prepared are a downer. I love when people share their testimonies about how God worked in their life.

228. 2^nd gen in Berkeley, CA: I stopped going to church and frankly I haven’t had any contact with the church other than my mother. However, at one point in my life I was a devout Unificationist, and if I were to reflect back to what was the most inspiring part of service, I would have to say it was the personal testimonies from members. How they came to join the church, what caught their eye to join, what kind of changes the church made to their lives etc. Ideally, I would rotate the speakers in order to see more variety of people sharing, and hear more personal experiences. It gets boring hearing everything from one person.

229. 1^st gen in Boston, MA: I love True Father’s words and wish the theme of the sermon would be like the book World Scriptures, where Father’s words exemplify the theme, and then it is shared and discussed for everyone to be inspired for the week. After the incident in Brazil, which I felt was handled poorly by our leaders, I have kept away. When it comes to living life, I sensed a false feeling from the service. However, now as the church is trying to warm up~ in Boston there are many nice families~  we will see. Get the 2^nd generation to have leadership as well. What matters most is we all have great ancestry that gave us direction and vision. Somehow we need to bring this breath back into service to re-inspire the 2nd generation.

230. 1^st gen in Sheboygan, Wisconsin: Our situation is a bit unique in that we have only two small families here that attend church – usually 4 or 5 people. So we listen to Michael Balcomb’s occasional address, Mother’s speeches, or, more recently, Kwon Jin’s sermons from Las Vegas. Kwjn’s talks especially are inspiring. What I really miss is any kind of music in the service. When Lovin’ Life was going, we had the pre-service band. Now, unless some of our kids might be visiting, we have nothing. But I still enjoy going. If we had to go to the Church Center, which is a good hour away, I know that I wouldn’t be going very often. During the good weather, before and after our long Wisconsin winter, we have a service about once a month for all the state, in a park. That’s very nice~ to know what’s going on, and see brothers and sisters we don’t often meet.

231. 2^nd gen in Seoul, Korea: Yes~ I usually go to the service if I don’t go to work. Unfortunately I am not inspired by any part of service these days. Maybe there is no time to share our sincere thought and feeling. So I want there to be more time like this.

232. 1^st gen in Schweinfurt, Germany: We are in our hometown, and go mainly to different Christian churches. I think it is very important, that one feels he is welcomed at the church.

233. 1^st gen in Pompton Plains, New Jersey: The best of any message, indeed of any messenger, is how another reacts. Perhaps, that is why “the ice breaker” of many a speaker is some form of anecdote or story, even a joke that brings a response. One speaker recently recounted the acceptance of the common potato in a relatively short time considering it had been only recently, in relation to human history, introduced to the world from Europe. So, the speaker quipped, “Why not the Principle?”

New Jersey is part of District 3 (NJ, CT, PA) and NJ alone has over 600 families. Our two services on Sunday are very well attended. With emphasis placed by TM on having 500 services in the US, our local congregation gained a third active Sunday service in Elizabeth, NJ. Of the 500-service goal in the US, our district should realistically have 350 or more of the total if considering ratio of families to total families across the US. Presently, the area can count 8 local churches in the entire District 3. (One hosted by Hyung Jin Moon at his home in PA, near Kook Jin’s family).

234. 1^st gen in Portugal: I need a little thinking to organize my ideas. That’s a point that interests me a lot because I think it is a key point for attendance or not.

235. 1^st gen in Seoul, Korea: I do attend a service. Best~ the part in which the church leader conveys/ delivers our TP’s word. Change~ the singing should be more alive and we should stop thinking of which country we come from. Let us think that we are really a part of the same family. Especially here in Korea, I think we lack the feeling of belongingness.

236. 1^st gen in Seoul, Korea: What I’m inspired about most~ 1. Bible-based sermon related to ongoing providence; 2. Uplifting music (choir).

237. 1^st gen in Seoul, Korea: We have not been going lately due to our little twins, but we always enjoyed seeing testimonials from members that they add from time to time.

238. 1^st gen from Fargo, North Dakota: We have been in my home state of North Dakota since Father announced the hometown providence. Since we have always had a small amount of families, we have done small group services. We generally rotated homes where we held the service as well as the person who selected the readings of Father’s words. We have found that it has actually been a very good way to educate our 2nd generation. They felt very connected to the church. After the service, we had dinner and often activities for them to participate in. We also frequently brought guests, so the 2nd generation also learned to care for other people during this time and could realize the value or power of DP and Father’s words. (Our services were Sunday evening so we could visit other churches during their service times in the morning.)

All families tried to connect to the whole too~ we participated in Blessing campaigns, speaking tours, conferences, Cheong Pyeong, regional workshops, Blessing workshops, Camp Sunrise, etc. That way it didn’t feel like we were such an inward group.

 239. 1^st gen in Tampa, FL:  Getting together with brothers and sisters, having a good fellowship and enjoying the time together is the most inspiring thing. Four brothers rotate to give the sermon each Sunday.

240. 1^st gen in Seorak, Korea: In my case, I believe that there are many places that we need to be but we can be in one place only. For example, there are Sundays that I go to CP instead and listen to DMN speech. As for me, first of all, of course, a service where I can receive clear guidance from somebody who has modeled what he/she says is the best, but it’s not always the reality. Another thing in the service that would be inspiring besides the sermon is the singing part. As I remember being a Catholic ‘til I was 18 years old, we always had new and jolly songs, which everyone could sing, not just the choir. Actually, songs have a strong binding impact because until now, my friends and I still recall those songs and sing them together, even though I am now 48 yrs old.

When I see the pastor try to greet and care, especially if the language is different ~ that’s when we see the heart, especially to new and non-active ones in the community.

I remember from one of the Christian churches in America that we used to visit is that: first, the whole community sings together; then, the pastor gives the sermon for the family; then, kids go to their own level/rooms and then he can talk about adult messages. It was fun. The husband is the pastor; daughter was the lead singer and the kids, video, etc. I think it would be nice to see the young second gen have a choir~ to see and hear their young beautiful faces would be inspiring.

241. 1^st gen in Seoul, Korea: I don’t have any special ideas about the Sunday service as I haven’t been attending recently. I rather focus on my personal spiritual growth these days, which brings me satisfaction. I don’t pray a lot, but I meditate. There are many, many chances on Internet to find sources of inspiration. To be honest, they just somehow appear on my screen. But I know when a student is ready the teacher always comes. We are guided to receive what we need in a given moment of our spiritual journey. I’m always grateful for this guidance but finally we come to a point when we can rely on our own internal guide, the one within. Let’s listen to its quiet voice.

242. 1^st gen in London, England: It’s a good idea to ask for opinions. The topic of Sunday service is something that has been debated about in London for a long time. The strictly ‘church’ format is comfortable but hasn’t seen any growth in attendance. For me the most important parts are the local announcements and information on world movement events. World news rarely happens, even though the national leader is there. I think it’s a problem. Some inspiration from words and music is important. Formality is not important and gets in the way. New people are not impressed by formality. They want to feel warmth. Socializing afterwards is very important~ some food and drinks. I’ve been to huge services in Japan and the US, where everyone just leaves at the end ~ duty done, lets get out of here. Christian churches don’t do that. They always have people ready to talk to new faces and share a tea and snack with.

243. 1^st gen in NY: I stopped frequenting my local service because it stopped being relevant to my life. Real life issues were not addressed, the service was too long, there were too many children running around, time seemed to be elastic to fit the announcements, and the power points got to be too boring. The holy songs were devoid of spirit and no other songs were ever sung. Fellowship time was dominated by children running around and parents looking after them ~sorry, I’m in my 60s~ so fellowship quality time was nonexistent during lunch. Off the top of my head, those were issues that contributed to my lack of attendance.

My ideal service would have relevant messages, vision, strong spiritual component but practical as well. Ample time devoted to quality fellowship, all ages respected. At some point a pastor should be brave enough to invite Q&A about controversial issues, and ownership by members encouraged. Information needs to be shared so that crucial decisions regarding the blessing, divorce, comfort blessing, etc. can be discussed in an atmosphere of acceptance and decisions made after full information is disclosed.

244. 1^st gen in MD: Health reasons have made it difficult to attend Sunday Service. I think the key is getting second gen involved. In fact, the Maryland pastor is a second gen and is doing a good job. Bringing both second and first gen. together is also critical, I think. Even if they are still a bit young it’s good to get them involved ASAP. One way to help 2nd gen understand 1st gen is to provide a forum (this could be Sunday Service, or not) for 1st gen testimonies. I think many 2^nd gen would be blown away by their elders’ experiences, and come to respect them more. I am working on my own testimony. I have no idea how much time I have left on this earth, and I want leave the story of my life behind.

245. 1^st gen in Kansas: We go to the church center in Kansas City once a month. Otherwise we attend our local Christian churches here.

We have around 10 blessed families and we get along quite well. We have to improve our services though as they are more like meetings and can end up in discussions, which I think are not appropriate for guests. We are trying to work on it but it is hard to break old habits. Brothers and sisters always like to talk and share testimonies and it can be good but not always in a public setting like a service. Many times they speak about “in house” stuff.  Non-UC members would have no idea what they’re talking about. Sometimes I think it’s not even appropriate for 2nd gen.

One good resource would be Rev Kevin Thompson’s sermons from the Bay area Family church. He gave a speech on how to give sermons and 1 thing he mentions is that you have to be aware of your audience. He always thinks about 3 different types of people attending his service: a guest who is here for the first time and does not know much about the church, a first gen. who has seen a lot and is more or less inspired and a 2nd gen, who has a lot of questions and is not sure about his faith. Another interesting book to read is from a Christian minister, Andy Stanley. It is called “Deep and Wide, Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend.” I would also keep the service around 1 hour. Good singing is nice. Having some individuals taking turns to prepare a special song always brings a deeper atmosphere.

246. 2^nd gen in Miami, FL: Some of the things that we have been focusing on is good worship music, good service flow and a short inspirational message with lots of time for fellowship.

247. 1^st gen in Korea: My wife and I conduct Sunday services in our own home at 10 am, Sunday. The most important part of a service, to me, is that it honor the traditions established by True Father. For example, we recite the Family Pledge as True Father established it and not in the way it was changed after his Seonghwa.

248. 1^st gen in New Jersey: I love the music but most of all, I love the word, the Bible, the DP, Father’s guidance and anyone God can speak through. Then I cherish the fellowship. I am a great believer in and practice small group and community fellowship regularly ~practicing what we preach. At this time of my life I am not particularly interested in sermons though. I would say honestly, I seem to be allergic to sermons. I will not say why but that is a fact. As long as you are sincere and truthful, God will use any kind of Sunday service.

I have been doing small group for a long time and it is my passion. I see it as a tool to keep our spirit alive and our faith burning. It is an extension of family and can be a safe haven for new contacts. I just keep setting up a schedule~ let us say every Sunday at 3pm in my home or another blessed family’s home. We take turns. We have some songs, a prayer, HDH, discussion, and potluck dinner. You can be creative. Sometimes we go to the holy ground, to the beach, or to the park. We support each other in many ways. It should not be more than 6 or 7 families. Too big becomes impersonal.

Our community has 3 small groups. Each has a name and organizes according to the interest of the people. They make their own schedule. Ideally, meeting each week is best. In our case we meet every 2 or 3 weeks, some once a month. Summertime we do not meet. The community or the three groups meet every 2 months. Consistency, some passion, some vision, a goal and motto are a must. But keep it simple and practical for all. If there is too much pushing and a heavy agenda, everyone loses interest and focus. It must be fun and everyone needs to feel accepted.

We can invite our neighbors and our friends but we do need to have time just for ourselves as well in order to keep the closeness of the group. If you go online, there are a lot of suggestions about small group churches. In my case, I keep organizing year after year and keep updates about everyone. I could go on and on. Any church with a strong SG system becomes successful. Sometimes, it starts as a SG then it multiplies and you have a church. It’s the most successful way from what I read.

We used to have 40 small groups all over the state, and it was one of the best periods for our church. People felt very connected. Our NJ church was dismantled under Lovin’ Life ministries. Many people were pulled out as NJ is close to NY, has the largest number of blessed families (over 400) and some of the most talented in all fields. I believe very few small groups remain now.

249. Guest in Korea: I think if it is in a non English-speaking country with many foreigners, the church needs to have an English service or English translation. Then many foreigners will come. Before I went regularly to the church when they had an English service. There is no English service every Sunday, so that’s why I’m not going regularly now.

250. 1^st gen in Jangsu, Korea: I go to church with my family every Sunday. The pastor’s message is the most inspiring for me, and the books of True Parents.

251. 1^st gen in New York, NY: Yes, I do attend Sunday service. Important for me is the atmosphere. One way to set the atmosphere is through music. It could start very simple with sincere singing then adding a guitar accompaniment or piano accompaniment until a small band is formed. Song is the “word” with the vibration of music so it is very powerful. If the word (sermon) is presented with sincerity it can be very moving. Here in Manhattan things to me are fine. The band is excellent, comprised of second gen youth who are very talented.

 252. 1^st gen in Lisbon, Portugal: Most of the brothers or sisters that give sermons use ppt presentations. That makes the contents a little less boring.

 253. 2^nd gen in Hawaii: The most inspiring part of a service is when the spirit is lifted and it can be consciously felt. This can happen through raising voices in song or discussion, something that requires the unity of the group but creates individual receptivity. Whatever it is, something participated by all usually provides to each individual a personal experience. No one can be left out~ no one.

 254. 2^nd gen in Charleston, South Carolina: I attend our South Carolina state meeting once a month. It’s about 50 percent 2nd gen, 50% 1st gen. There is no local church where I live. Recently it hasn’t been very inspiring because I am in a back room taking care of my 15-month-old baby. I do like to talk to the other mommies. I am working on setting up a broadcast from the main room to the mommy room to follow what’s going on. In the ideal there would be good music, a concise and inspiring talk and some activities for the children.

 255. 1^st gen in Croix, France: This week I have the mission to ask all our members about Sunday service, and how to improve it.

 256. 1^st gen in Moldova: I’m attending Sunday service, or watching online. We brainstorm about it a lot in Moldova. The main concept even from Christians is powerful music. I like holy songs too~ modernized holy songs are better. Also I like unison prayer, around 7 min. I don’t like too scientific messages without God and True Parent’s example.

 257. 1^st gen in CA: I always enjoy Sunday service, but I do not go often. I live 3.5 hours away from the church, but even when I lived in Berkeley, and had a church mission, I only attended twice a month~ just lazy. I keep Heavenly Father with me in other ways. Yet there is no doubt I do enjoy Sunday service. I like it even more because we have good speakers. Notably an effective pastor, effective stand-in speakers, and the 2^nd gen are coming along.

We should quit this word Sunday service and call it Sunday Celebration. And it ought to have a lot more music and a short homily. It also needs a place to hang out after the service, and drink coffee, or eat lunch together. What I like much more than Sunday Celebration is summer Family Camp. I figure if I spent 100 hours at family camp~ 5 days and nights~ it is worth a year of Sunday Services, though probably not quite equal to a year of Sunday Celebrations.

258. 1^st gen in New York: Our Sunday service is always inspiring to me. Our pastor always gives deep and insightful sermons. The most inspiring part is being in the midst of my brothers and sisters and singing also sometimes deeply inspires me. This past week, our pastor said he would love it if we could become more interactive and not just someone speaks and the others listen.

 259. 2^nd gen in Seoul, Korea: I always attend Sunday service, whether I am in Las Vegas, New York, Korea or anyplace in the world. I really like when they use Father’s words or when people give their testimony about joining the church and their life of faith and any experiences they had working with True Parents. To me, that’s the most interesting thing to hear about. Also, the best communities give time after church to stick around and talk and get to know one another on a deeper level instead of just leaving right away. The last thing is the music. I remember several years ago I felt like that was the main reason I went to church~ to feel inspired by the music.

 260. 1^st gen in Kagoshima, Japan: I go to UC Sunday Service at least once a month now, since the 2nd half of this year unlike before that I go almost every Sunday, just attending even w/o so much understanding the language (can’t read or write Japanese yet even been here for 18 years). Here, the style is so very formal, not open and not so very family style. Our small local church here is just renting a small facility. It’s better to have our own facility to conduct church activities more freely. Inspiring part? I miss the Philippine Church where everybody can get involved in many areas of our movement’s activities/events: CARP, UPF,  etc.

 261. 1^st gen in Seoul, Korea: We attend the CBG HQ Church as our Korean is horrible at this stage. The singing and videos are uplifting and therefore important. We also attend the new English service ~ the most inspiring part is the testimony. Members sign up to share a 10~15 min testimony. Always it is uplifting to hear how Heaven is moving in others’ lives.

For my teens we do HDH daily but on Fri, Sat, we conduct it later, 8 or 9 am. On Sunday I have them create an electronic HDK: they must convey a heartistic message via video, power point, or music from a laptop (of course they can reference Father’s words but the presentation must be electronic).

 262. Guest in Seoul, Korea: I think if a Sunday Service provides a meditation session with great classical music, a short speech about people’s lives delivered by your church members, a home video clip contest, etc. I think normal church services are sometimes boring and always the same.

 263. 1^st gen in Seoul, Korea: I attend with my family every Sunday. There are many inspiring parts depending on how you personally see, listen and receive them~ from singing, singing praise to God, HDH words of True Father, testimonies of different experiences from our elders and the main part is the message for the day and the week. It depends on the pastor or whoever gives the service, how he/she delivers and conveys God’s Words, and how he/she relates his/her personal experiences that can inspire the congregation. So vice versa it’s up to the people attending/listening how he/she internalize and absorb those inspiring moments.

 264. 1^st gen in Edinburgh, UK: We go to Sunday service here in Scotland. We have a rotation of speakers. For me, music is very important. I would say over 50% in value. Also to mix it up a bit with a ppt, etc. The youth take responsibility for one service per month ~they always attract the greatest turn out!

 265. 1^st gen in San Francisco, CA: I loved “Lovin’ Life” live in Manhattan, and feel sorry that we once again threw the baby out with the bath water.  Our obsessive judgmentalism is threatening to reduce the movement to a footnote in history, which is about to be re-written as Her-story as we enter the golden age of the return of the Divine Feminine and true unconditional love.  We inadvertently became a movement of conditional love, which sucks.  Father talked for years about the age of the Pacific Rim being the age of women ~return of the Divine Feminine~ and established the crown jewel, “High School of the Pacific” on the Big Island of Hawaii. That’s gone now.

Give Mother a few years to find herself beyond keeping Father’s voice afloat. I am here to declare that there is great hope, our 2nd Gen. They are the ones we have been waiting for, but they are still on default in the fog auto pilot factory setting.  They need to download and install the new 5D operating system.  It will help them wake up as the generation of righteousness and create their version of paradise reality, the only thing needed for the next millennium, the longed for Golden Age.

 266. 1^st gen in Portugal: I attend service every week. Of course that we need Sundays sermons and I feel so inspired when I see True Parent’s videos and True Parent’s news, but is also a good time to me when I enjoy a coffee with some brother or sister at the end of the service ~ family environment is important.  Here we have always some coffee break at the end and once a month we bring some food to share and take lunch together. About improvement I think that we should involve the young people more, but still I don’t know how.

 267. 1^st gen in Jacksonville, FL: We must include the Cheong Il Guk National Anthem in our Sunday service. It’s Mother’s desire, and Bishop Kim reminded us at a National Council meeting at East Garden.

 268. 1^st gen in NY: I go to Sunday service, and the fellowship with brothers and sisters is good. We have about 50 people in our church. The sermons are OK, and sometimes good, but I need to help our pastor learn not to wander off onto too many topics but keep the sermon short and on one single point.

The most inspirational part of my church life is not in church, but in a small group that I am a part of that includes a medium. One of the key points in our group is to get to know Heavenly Mother. We believe gender equality is a centrally missing piece in our movement in its attempt to live by the Principle of Creation. And the core of gender equality is to come to know the Heart of God in Her femininity. It has been suppressed for so long.

 269. 1^st gen in Cheonan, Korea: I attend the Sunday service every week. Of course, I go for God but I meet people because I think we need to know each other and relate in order to become one in heart for activities like witnessing and because our final goal is to build one world with the same heart of love.

Another reason to go is to give something. People need to give their 1/10 of salary of course but also their 1/10 of time, like doing social services and helping others in church activities.  We need to train ourselves and our children. Sometimes, when parents don’t want too much to go to services, they still need to go when their children are young because they have to be an example. If one time, you don’t go, then twice, and then later, children also, they‘ll tell you they want to rest and stay home.

In the family, parents should, since their birth or soon later, get the habit to do HDH like we did before when we had the Pledge to do at 5 a.m. every Sunday and Holy days. I was used to give cakes or cookies or a little gift to my children and they liked to wake up and do the pledge together. It’s a habit, a tradition that can help their life of faith and family life in the future.

Why don’t we have interesting things after the speech? The future world is a world of culture and idea and imagination and creation…Reverend Hyo-han Lee had his birthday 98 years old a few days ago and some of his students from Theological Seminary are used to meet him to congratulate him but also of course, as an elder brother with a father’s heart, ask him some advice. He said sometimes T.F. comes to him and Won Pil Kim too. And he explained that he was so shocked that members, specially elders or relatives of TP don’t go or feel they don’t need to go to the services. They think it’s for young members. How can we improve the services? He said: Every member needs to have the heart to really want to see God and praise Him when they go to the services, and also, to meet someone and vice-versa.

Some elder who never missed the services for 40 years had a dream where God told him: “Why did you never go to the services?” And he said: “What? NO, I never missed it, even once.” But God replied that He did not see him. That means that the heart for God, the strong desire, the longing to go to the service was lacking. God is love and heart and without that, God cannot feel.  So, first, we need to give the motivation of heart and love for God, and second, I think it’s the same thing for the members between each other. When they go to the services, each one should have the strong desire to want really to meet, with a deep heart of loving, to hear from him/her, to speak with someone, at least with one other member. And it’s needed too that someone really has the strong desire to meet ME too. I must feel I am needed by the other brothers and sisters.

Actually, it’s the first blessing: To be one with and experience and feel God’s Shimjeong. To be happy if God is happy and to be sad when He is sad. Of course, according to their culture, people have various motivations to go to the services. Korean people go to the services to meet each other like friends and acquaintances. Japanese go because the church leader told them to go because they have been educated like sheep to follow blindly. Western people go usually as they have a Christian background, for God alone (without considering who is going?) and because of their independent spirit, they don’t care too much who is going and who is absent.

As these days the trend of ideology is humanism and democracy, even Christian church choirs look towards the people while singing and NOT towards the stage or the altar in order to praise God. They dance and have festivals for people to have fun. Otherwise, no one would come. So, we should return to Godism and teach people to do it for God.

In Korea there are many associations for Multicultural families for the purpose to know people and teach them about life and family. I think it would be better to create an association for a “single or unique” cultural family, which is said in the Family Pledge “One Shimjeong culture.”  Last week, we had the famous World Dancing Festival in Cheonan with our Japanese, Nepal, Vietnamese families dancing and parade with the last days, a marathon. I saw the prospectus with those numerous associations. One was, “Educating the “효” through Daekwondo”~ filial piety education. Actually, outside people don’t have much to say. We have the Principle and God’s Word, which are our weapons. We need to be confident that we can do much better.  Why don’t we do that? This is just what True Mother is doing with the 2^nd gen. I’m going to propose that to our new national vice-president, Rev. Lee Ki-Seong, (his new name from Mother is Lee Kyu-sam).  I think we can educate people about Korean culture, which is a part of UC culture~ even a song or a poem~ anything.

270. 1^st gen in Atlanta, GA: We have discussed this endlessly for years in Atlanta, along with structures for good church governance. My conclusion, which I’ve given sermons about, is that the structure of Sunday service and church leadership is of little importance. More important is that members have an individual commitment to a lifestyle of growth, dedication to tradition of reporting, mentoring, counseling, and to make conditions to remove fallen natures & restore original true nature. Otherwise all the stylistic changes of worship and organization are mere style, versus the true substance of individual adults, and couples, devoted to personal growth centered on God, DP. It is a joy to work with adults responsible for their own 1st Blessing work, otherwise too much focus is on effectiveness of this ritual, what songs to sing, etc.

 271. 2^nd gen in Valley Springs, CA: I attend church regularly. The most vital part of a successful service, I think, is the live music. A good band changes everything. A more personal sermon, the reverend allowing him/herself to be intimate with the congregation~ that would keep me coming back.

 272. 2^nd gen in Albuquerque, New Mexico: I definitely think that Sunday service can be improved. I am from New Mexico and we have a pretty small community here, only about 9 families. I do attend service most of the time and I really enjoy spending time with the BC’s after service. I’m not sure if I would consider service to be particularly inspiring anymore to be honest. Last week we watched a video from a Korean Broadcast about Father’s life and his work and that was very inspiring. I don’t feel like I really understood the impact Father really had until that video. Personally, I wish that we had more events or interactive activities at church that would bring our community closer. It’s hard to create a service that speaks strongly to 1st and 2nd gen. I think that’s what the tough part is. In New Mexico for a while we had families giving service and every week we would switch. I loved that because we got to know other people and could hear their experiences and understand the impact of God and TP and DP in people’s lives.

Sometimes I feel we are being taught DP and it is so dry and I don’t even know how I am supposed to apply it in my life. HOW are we supposed to make a difference as a community? I think that if our communities were close and really knew each other’s hearts, each individual community would be more inspired to share our values and true love with the rest of the world. It is hard to do when you feel alone. I would like to have more DP discussions, not just lectures. I hardly ever gain anything when someone is simply talking about DP. But when I can ask questions or have them explain the concept in another way it usually has an entirely different impact on me.

We have about twenty 2^nd gen, but I see about 10 of them on a regular basis. A couple of the sisters and I have been talking about this lately and they have done a great job renovating the church to make it more comfortable and now that that is done we are hoping to get started on some activities. Once a month or so we have a 2^nd gen service and I gave it myself a couple weeks ago and shared an experience I had with True Father and Jesus last year. I think we need more people to share and be real, and so we are thinking of beginning the individual testimonies again. Once a week one family holds a DP workshop, but not many 2^nd gen go because it was very dry and 1st gen oriented. So maybe I’ll talk to them about that.

 273. 1^st gen in Las Vegas: I think the best idea is to share testimony among the blessed families at Sunday service. Now is the era we need to know each other well as true brothers and sisters. We are used to working on the front line and have neglected our own families. That’s what we need to do now to move forward to another level.

 274. 2^nd gen in Los Angeles, CA: Yes I attend Sunday Service. In short, I started helping out because I worry a lot about our church members. I think many of the 1^st gen haven’t been appreciated for who they are/what they’ve done, and the 2^nd gen didn’t have a nurturing environment where God, faith, and their own identity could be explored. For me, Sunday Service is a place to honor God together as a family. Walking into God’s home.

Common feedback is that sermons should be short, good music is important, announcements should be succinct and only kept to the essentials, the coffee must be good with real half/half, and there needs to be a place to hang out before and after. Good sound makes a world of difference and creating an external environment that lends itself to a Godly streamlined environment is important too. Many church buildings are out of date, and to be God-centered doesn’t mean a picture of True Parents in every corner, but there should be at least one.

I’ve noticed that when the ushers, band, sermon or volunteers are focused on honoring God and loving people by serving, the spiritual atmosphere is heightened. When they are focused on doing it as a job, externally, the environment is somewhat deadened. Doing this takes work and requires personal investment, listening and talking (listening first) with the team.

Also it’s important to understand our identity as Unificationists and where we now stand in our movement. Recently Mother has been directing us to go back to the old ways, focus on Divine Principle and the heart of our movement. She’s right, but I also caution that the avenue in which we do this may not replicate the old ways. We also have many hearts to heal as members have had their hopes broken, are worn out, have nonfunctional families, are financially unwell, and uncertain about church/future things. A strength of our church is that we are deeply faithful, it’s just creating the foundation of substance that we’re working on.

Something I’ve seen with many 2^nd gen is that it’s not entirely clear what we’re trying to do as a movement. Sure, we have the Messiah, the Blessing, etc~ but the core focus is hazy. To me, it’s been restoring/loving the world and our family in it. Divine Principle is just a how-to manual (a very good one). Also, not all 2^ndgen subscribe to the belief that our movement has the truth, or at least verbatim. This ties into our education and how we’re enrolling the next generation into these beliefs. Just because something is right or good for a child, doesn’t mean they’ll inherently get it. To reach the point of conviction many first gen have to go through a process, which takes time and being allowed to question.

Also, for many of us 2^nd gen it’s frustrating because if we do anything churchy we are hailed a saint. This is annoying and stressful, where we feel we can’t be who we truly are. At the opposite spectrum, often we are treated as if we do not know anything and must be instructed to be proper. Appreciating the God in people, and how it may be different from our understanding, is key to creating a loving community. It’s not an easy task creating a meaningful, loving environment centered on God and True Parents. Key points:

– Center on God/TP;

– Know our identity as Unificationist ~where we come from, where we’re at (both good and bad) and where we’re going;

– Treat people as human, loving and enjoying them as a child of God.

 275. 2^nd gen in Austria: To be honest, I am very disappointed in the Sunday Services here. There is a huge lack of spirituality here and the service itself is almost always just a report about things going on elsewhere, and nothing inspirational, uplifting or guiding.

I go to church regularly and there are so many members who have never spoken to me or even know who I am. The members are not very friendly and I am embarrassed to bring guests there. I often go to the Mormon Church here because I prefer their real open hearts and loving, welcoming behavior. I cried happy tears the first time I went to the Mormon Church service because so many people greeted me and asked about me and even got my email/phone number and no one in the UC community has ever done that. Even the 2^nd gen have their own “clicks” and exclude others.

I love hearing testimonies from 1st gen and messages from other sources outside of our church (Deepak Chopra or other spiritual leaders for example).

 276. 2^nd gen in Belgium: I think everything is fine. I went to other Sunday Services once. There isn’t so much difference, just we have less members. I think it’s fine how we are doing until now.

 277. 2^nd gen in LA, CA: I’m going with what the church in LA does here. The things that I really appreciate are the music here and the pair sharing after the lecture. We also have small groups here where anybody can start one up and invite people to share a common hobby such as soccer, dance, music, etc.

 278. 2^nd gen in Nappa, CA: I almost never attend but that’s because we live so far away. I love it when the Sunday service is readily applicable to our lives. The matching, for example, and being good people and an explanation of what it even means to be a BC. Topic Ideas. Being a UC and respecting other religions. I believe the UC community looks down on other religions and creeds. I think we lost sight of what Rev Moon’s actual purpose was. Another one is the importance of the matching, from a BF, parent, community standpoint, not just the standpoint of heaven.

 279. 2^nd gen in Worcester, MA: I attend church service maybe 3 times a month. We have a great community, with community barbecues, hiking trips, ping-pong tournaments, and social gathering clubs that take place outside of church. Community and friendships are very important for the church here because they build relationships, which make service better when everyone is happy to worship with each other. I especially like when I can connect to the speaker when they share stories or personal experiences that allows the audience to relate. Services are great when the speaker delivers a clear message that is relatable to our time NOW. I honestly have a hard time listening to a speaker when they are only talking about traditions, the past, only about father and his legacy, and our mistakes. Church is supposed to be uplifting! And most of the time I visit other churches and it’s not.

 280. 2^nd gen in San Francisco, CA: I usually attend Sunday service but this semester has been an exception because of other another commitment. The most inspiring thing about Sunday service is seeing my friends. I think the theme around Sunday service should be targeted to the audience you wish to include.

281. 2^nd gen in LA, CA: I attend service every week, but not because it’s inspiring, empowering or educational. I do it because here in Los Angeles we are currently seeking the same answers as you and I wanted to help out. I am 22 and unfortunately there are only a few my age that actually attend anything that is church-related. There is a large population of older 2^nd gen who have no desire to come at all. The sermons are not something they feel are worthwhile or valuable to listen to or attend, being busy with school or work. However, what I do know is that many of those who do attend service don’t see it as something they gain anything from. Some suggestion points I’ve collected from various meetings and discussions with others have been:

– Simplifying sermons to have a clear message so they know what to take away from it and how to apply it in their lives

– Many are tired and turned off when hearing about anything that has to do with providence work.

– Someone who is a good sermon giver (knows how to publicly speak)

However, communities need more than Sunday service. Fellowship in small groups outside of Sunday service during the week is where true learning, growing and deepening of relationships can occur.

282. 2^nd gen in Los Angeles, CA: I don’t attend regularly anymore. When I do, the best thing is and will always be the people and opportunities to interact and do meaningful things together. By meaningful I do not mean indoctrinal activities. What I would love to see change, although I’m not hopeful it ever will, is that this church stop abusing its members ~financially, emotionally, and in terms of faith.

283. 2^nd gen in Bay Area, California: I attend service quite regularly. Living in the Bay Area we are lucky to have had a consistent pastor ~one that still makes us laugh after 20yrs~ and several key members who have been contributing to our church for a long time. That is huge. The pastor in my opinion is really important~ how he/she relates with the congregation, and the level of trust he/she holds with the members.

I enjoy going to church because it’s a place I can see many of my closest friends, and people I care about. The social aspect is huge.  Also, the motivational aspect of church is really important.  People go to church to remind themselves to align with God, to center on love, to live with purpose and direction.  I think a good church service has inspiring music, relatable sermons, and most importantly a place to connect with friends and God.  Mixing the way service is held is great too, like having it in a park one week, or doing a service event.

284. 2^nd gen in Bay Area, California: Just so you get an idea of where I’m coming from, I regularly attend service and am involved with Berkeley CARP and Youth Ministry in my community. I’m fortunate to have Rev. Kevin Thompson as the pastor for my community and I do appreciate his sermons. What I find works and what I connect to most are three things: 1) 1) Music before the sermon. I always love to have a good song I can connect and feel God through; 2) Rev. Thompson typically begins his sermon with a video that relates to the message he is delivering. I feel partially because we are living in a more technologically inclined age and partially because it’s something simple to remember, but that’s usually my take-away from the entire service. I will remember the video and then remember the message he delivered ~normally a key point or short quote I found inspiring; 3) Finally, there are several minutes given after the sermon where we can share with our neighbors and I really appreciate this part. I can see what stood out to others, answer or ask a question and receive honest feedback. It’s usually 2-3 minutes each person so 6-7 minutes total. I do think if it were longer it would be better. 10-12 minutes would be nice. Of course the sharing can always continue after the service.

I don’t go to church for the sermon so much as the family and friends I can see and talk with. I normally feel more inspired overall by talking to aunts and uncles in the community that I love and respect. As I’m sure you know, it’s very important for 2^nd gen to connect with 1^st gen who aren’t necessarily their own parents. I see the church as a more ideal community where we each have a role to play.

Recently the Bay Area community has held one service every other month outside~ in a park or near a lake ~and we have a BBQ or a picnic where everyone brings their own food. This is great, the service is very short and everyone can enjoy the nature and each other’s company. I would highly recommend it.

285. 2^nd gen in LA, CA: I do not attend regularly. When I do, I typically go to see people, or in hopes that I will find the message or sermon inspiring. I also enjoy the music. I think the changes I want to see are less about the service and more about the church community and theology ~ that it be more accepting of people’s personal decisions, more supportive and less judgmental, less absolute, and less proud.

286. 2^nd gen in Amherst, NH: In short, I don’t currently attend service, or very irregularly, but music has always been #1 for me; Easy to sing to, ties into the message, etc. “Showy” or overly engineered music productions take away from participation. I like hearing from a variety of pastors, rather than the same person giving a message every week. I like being encouraged and supported to go out and make an impact in my community, rather than a push to increase church members.

287. 2^nd gen in Seattle, WA: The service is something I spend a lot of time thinking about. I feel like the main thing that our services need to head toward is something that helps foster a community as opposed to a group of Unificationists who just happen to be in the same room on Sunday morning. This could be done in a few different ways. One idea I like is after the sermon, everyone picks a partner and they share what they thought about the sermon, what they learned from it, etc. Another might be asking people to give testimonies about how God has touched their life this week. This requires planning in advance, and should just be a short 3-minute thing. We’ve tried implementing that here in Seattle, but most people just go on and on and on. They need to be told it’s not a second sermon, but just an opportunity to express gratitude to God for this week~ moderated!

I like sermons that are about someone’s personal journey to God and True Parents. I hate sermons where someone just tells me to follow absolutely and not question everything. No spiritual value there at all. I feel like the sermons should be catering to the questions and struggles of the community. So that way they are always relevant and speak to the hearts of the congregation.

We have a large college-age demographic (close to 80) ~although the number who actually go to church is very small. I wouldn’t go, but I try to help with the service. If I didn’t I would just go at the end to see my friends. Most of us don’t feel like the church service meets any of our spiritual needs and so it becomes a chore to go.

288. 2^nd gen in Rennes, France: I love having a day where you can feel refreshed and spiritual. Makes me reflect on what’s important in my life and help me set myself straight. The most inspiring part is what you gain from doing the morning service~ perhaps you may need to go have a cup of café with somebody else that needs it, setting a condition for a stronger bond between you and the other person. You can be creative with your morning service, as long as it helps you become the person you want to be and reinforce the goal you want in life. For example, I felt so great being with my match and her sister, just singing together and eating a cupcake. In an ideal situation, I challenge people to be creative and see the benefit of the morning service, instead of seeing it as a duty.

289. 2^nd gen in Westchester, NY: I regularly attend Sunday service at Belvedere in Westchester, NY. The reason I continue to attend is because of the people I can connect to there. Many of my friends go, and that is another place where we have the chance to hang out and simply be together. We share our insights and our struggles. I tend to enjoy most of the messages, too.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any specific improvement recommendations. I simply know that the feeling I would like to have when I attend service is that we are going somewhere. I want to know that things are happening. I want to be a part of something that is progressing and vibrant and alive. I do not want to be a part of something that is hiding and surviving. I can survive anywhere. I want to be revitalized on Sundays so I can go forward with energy.

I realize that’s probably what a lot of people will say. I guess I would like to hear practical and relatable messages. I want to sing songs that don’t sound like funeral marches. I want to be motivated and inspired, not judged and chastised. I would rather hear what I can do to improve rather than what I am doing wrong.

 290. 2^nd gen in New York: When I am at school I do not attend service, but when I was living at home I went to service every Sunday. The most important part of service for me is the atmosphere that is created (through music, friendly people, setting, etc) as well as the content of the service. I like the idea of churches all over America, in a lot of towns. I was never a huge fan of the Lovin’ Life services because it felt impersonal. I really like the services at UTS. The community is a good size- not too big and not too small, and the sermons are never longer than 30 minutes, which is nice. We used to do youth services every few months, where high school and college-age students organized and led everything- that was always nice as well.

 291. 2^nd gen in Westchester, NY: I actually don’t go to Sunday service because I work during the weekends. But I think one thing that can be done to improve the service format is to take more advantage of Sunday service as a tool to build community. Sometimes it just seems like service is all about the message or all about just being there, so I would like to see that time as a time where people who not only already know each other but for people who do not know each other to form a relationship as well. For me personally, I’m always inspired by a solid song session.

 292. 2^nd gen in Boston, MA: I’m currently in Boston for college, so I go to the Boston church. Personally, the best part of the service for me is the small group discussions we have after the main talk. It’s more engaging than the sermons. Ideally, I’d like to see a bit more of a service that takes place at my home church in the California Bay Area. There’s a lot more non-traditional music and our band is very talented. Also, I think that an important aspect that my home church is trying to implement is trying to make fun events for the high school/young adult community and their non-BC friends. Parties and outings are great. Just getting the young community together to bond, not necessarily to worship or learn the teachings all the time creates a more positive response to church in general for us youth, in my experience. The fact is that if you want youth to come to service, you need to make it a place that their friends will be going as well. We tend to do things as groups.

 293. 2^nd gen in Bay Area, CA: I no longer attend service, but when I did, the music and audience was the most inspiring to me. If no one was in the audience, or if the audience was depressed and exhausted, I didn’t want to be there.

 294. 2^nd gen in Bridgeport, CT: I think something that inspires me most when I attend service is honesty. I don’t want any candy-coated, peachy-clean talk that means nothing to me. I want a real life story of a struggle or a pivotal event in someone’s life that can be shaped to inspire others, and with this there is a level of honesty that is necessary. So I want vulnerability and openness from our first gen and older brothers and sister.

 295. 2^nd gen in Valley Springs, CA: I do attend service although not as often as I like. The most inspiring part of service is the stories that the speakers share. It just makes what they say so much more real than if they are just speaking about the principle.

 296. 2^nd gen in France: I don’t attend so many services because I live far away from the church. So, I do service at home. I usually watch True Children’s video, but now I can’t find any, so I do HDK. The most inspiring part of it is when it is giving advice about our way of life. I really like true stories~ they inspire me, especially about TP. I like hearing something new and not always the same thing. In an ideal scenario, I would like to watch services on streaming church services at home. I would like to have a service more energetic, like in San Francisco, where we can invite guests.

 297. 2^nd gen in LA, CA: I attend Sunday service every week in LA, which is held at a movie theater in the heart of the city of Alhambra. I’m also part of the church band, so I get to see some of the behind the scenes of the whole production. The most inspiring part of service for me personally would be the message given by the speaker, and also the interaction between the speaker and the congregation. Obviously the point of the speaker’s message is to inspire, but I think the speaker’s ability to give the message effectively has to do with how comfortable they feel on stage, and the spiritual atmosphere. My issue with Sunday service is having it held in a movie theater, mainly because the energy is different from that of a church building. I would prefer having Sunday service in a brightly lit room instead of the dark movie theater just because it feels different. I think the LA church has done an amazing job with what we have, but I think it would be a lot easier logistically and spiritually to have service in an actual church building, or a big enough space that we own for that specific purpose.

There are some other factors that contribute to the spiritual energy~ for example, worship music is a large part of it. I think it’s important to have inspiring music with a good message, and also something that ties in with the topic of the sermon. Also, I think it’s important for the congregation to be able to involve or engage themselves during the service in order to support the speaker. It’s not easy to speak in front of a large group of people, so I always enjoy seeing church members being more responsive during the sermons. I think the main point is trying to create an atmosphere where people feel comfortable and get that familial vibe when they come to church. It would be awesome to create different opportunities for the members to interact with each other before or after service. Not just interact on their own, but together as an entire congregation.

I always like the idea of having church picnics maybe once a month, or something called BAZAAR we used to have which was started by kodan. It’s kind of like a flea market where kodan members would set up stands and sell anything from lunch and baked goods to old clothes and toys, with the purpose of creating those opportunities of interaction between church members and church families. Those are just my thoughts on Sunday service based on the experience I’ve had.

 298. 2^nd gen in St. Louis, MO: I really like knowing people of my faith~ 2^nd gen and 1^st gen~ and having a platform on which to connect. We are all so different~ so half the time we may connect with other church members because the only thing we have in common is our Sunday morning faith. That’s enough for me. I don’t need to be best friends, I just need to know them. That’s the only reason I go to church on the Sundays that I do go.

Now I have young children 9 and 8 years old. I want them to know the principle but I think that’s something we (as parents) will have to teach them. I don’t know that I can expect the church to teach my children. After all, isn’t that part of taking ownership of the world, to replace the church with the family? If we had a larger community where I lived I would have them do things with the church kids all the time ~like a choir or clubs and of course Sunday school and camps. But my community isn’t big enough for all that so that is left to each of us to organize.

 299. 2^nd gen in Bay Area, CA: Currently, I attend church in the Bay Area primarily to reconnect with friends and family who I haven’t seen in months. I wish I could say that I am also inspired by the message, etc., but sadly these are not the primary reasons that I attend church. Once in a while I will hear an inspiring message, but the messages I remember were either outdated, repetitive, or not relatable to 2nd gen. Please keep in mind that I attend church very infrequently, so my opinion may be biased or slanted.

When I go to church, I want to be inspired by TP’s message and have the urge to share that message with other people. I think the issue I struggle with most often is that our services can be very uncomfortable for guests. I want to create a church environment that is young at heart and one to which I would be happy to bring my friends. I want the message to inspire me to live my life according to TF’s principles by applying the DP in everyday life. I want the message and the music to feel “alive” again.

In terms of changes, I think small changes and large changes need to occur. Our church is comprised of an amazing group of talented individuals, and I have no doubt that we are capable of creating an amazing church service! I am an artistic person, so I would like to see the programs and other forms of graphics updated to match the fresh styles that other churches are currently implementing. I would love to see the walls of the lobby reflect all the amazing projects that the church does, such as service for peace, Boy Scouts, service projects abroad, DP workshops, interfaith breakfasts, etc. We should be proud of these events and have tasteful photo displays in the lobby to inspire others to keep implementing church values in the world, and to bring in some color to the white lobby!

As I have mentioned, I think we need more second gen delivering messages that relate to the large group of second gen in the Bay Area. We have a large college community, and to my knowledge, most of them do not attend church. As a college student, I completely understand their busy schedules. In order for them to attend, they are going to want to hear a message that relates to their lives; college students seek a message in which they can apply TP’s values in the small things. Because I do not attend church often, I try to find ways to experience God through each test I take, through my engineering research, through each friendship I make, etc. I would like to see church sermons reflect the way that most people (maybe this more specifically applies to second gen) are able to experience faith on a daily basis. I think a very practical way to do this is to deliver a sermon that inherently has concrete action steps that can be followed. I am grateful for any way that I can help our community.

 300. 2^nd gen in Silver Spring, Maryland: I do attend a service occasionally in Maryland, but honestly the most inspiring part that keeps me coming back is the relationships I have with specific people. Everything about the way service is conducted leaves something to be desired. Two weeks ago, for example, the sermon was given by a 20 year old who has previously done NGA, but the way he overplayed the public speaking tactics he was taught made everyone in the room very uncomfortable. Service itself is conducted in New Hope Academy each week–an elementary school. I’ve always thought about bringing friends from work to church, but every week I’m so grateful I didn’t because of some awkward thing or another. Even personally, I only go when I’m performing in the band or if I miss seeing my specific friends. I’ve never walked away from the service feeling moved by the service yet.

I think in Maryland we’re still trying to figure out which angle we’re going for: a service that’s moving because of it’s tradition and ritualization, like a Catholic service, or a casual and completely anti-ritual body of free thinking intellectuals talking about world issues.