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University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present University Relations
8-12-1974
Unification Church representatives leaving Missoula for New York mid-August
University of Montana--Missoula. Office of University Relations
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Recommended Citation University of Montana--Missoula. Office of University Relations, "Unification Church representatives leaving Missoula for New York mid-August" (1974). University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present. 23628. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/newsreleases/23628
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IMMEDIATELY lenihan/rb 8-12-74 UNIFICATION CHURCH REPRESENTATIVES local + cs LEAVING MISSOULA FOR NEW YORK MID-AUGUST
By Gregory S. Lenihan UM Information Services
Ml SSOULA-- A group of 70 Europeans from 10 countries have spent most of the summer in Missoula and other parts of Montana spreading the message of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a Korean evangelist, and promoting the expansion of the Unification Church.
The group has been I iving communally in the Sigma Nu fraternity house of the
University of Montana in Missoula, holding daily teaching sessions at the house, witnessing anyplace there are people to I isten and developing a core of American converts to remain and continue the expansion after the group leaves for New York in mid-August.
Robin Kuhl, a former Britisher and the Montana state coordinator for the Unification
Church, said the reason Moon is so successful in America is that he is speaking for God today, not merely reflecting upon the past, but anticipating man's spiritual needs for the future.
Central to the Unification Church is an understanding of the "Divine Principle," an
interpretation of the Bible written by Moon. Like Christian fundamentalist groups,
Moonltes emphasize an experiential understanding of I ife, as opposed to an intellectual
understanding.
"Our group is anti-individualistic," Kuhl said, "in the sense that we are bul lding a religious foundation on love for mankind, not love of self."
Kuhl said there are 10 groups of 70 I ike the one in Missoula traveling around the country. The groups are self-supporting by sel I ing peanuts, silk screen stationary and candles. In Helena the group also runs a dry cleaning service. UNIFICATION CHURCH REPRESENTATIVES LEAVING MISSOULA--page 2
Controversial aspects of the Unification Church include a body-mind dual ism;
prohibitions against pre-marital sexual relations; a staunch anti-communism and opposition
to atheistic capital ism; and, from the orthodox Christian viewpoint, a heretical
redefinition of the gospel.
According to Moon, Christ wi I I come again in our time because he failed to accomplish
his mission the first time. Because the people sinned and failed to understand Jesus, he
consummated only a I imited goal and wi I I return to fulfi I I his original mission.
In Missoula, the Unification Church wi I I have a center at 533 Connel I in the tal I.
Kuhl said approximately 12 converts have committed themselves to the Unification Church this summer through the group's recruitment activities.