We headed straight out and over to Hyde Park after worship on Sunday morning. Well, it’s never straight over when your a big crowd and there are small babies to feed etc. but we all congregated eventually at our holy ground by the plain tree.

here’s a short video with a sound track from one of my favourite old tribe called quest tracks:

The message this week and I guess for the next few weeks is about ‘developing spiritual maturity’. We started to look at what it means to become a disciple and how that path is first a choice, secondly requires commitment, and thirdly is experienced through a relationship

Here is the power point:

and if you want more of the content, here is the message on our Ustream archive:

It was a good to see our momentum building through the summer which is normally a difficult time for church development as we all head off for different projects and holidays.

I can see we still have a lot to do, and however well things go, somewhere in me I get the feeling something is still missing, like we are not there yet. Quite a few people came an hour early for worship today cuz I sent an email out about getting together to pray. I felt like; “this is our first service in the 2nd half of 2010, and we’ve got to do something to let God know that we know we have 6 months to the end of the year, and that we want to get our plans together with his.

So we prayed for all our family members, for their lives, and for our community’s goals and hopes. We know that in order to grow in number we have to be more concerned to grow closer together through fellowship, and becoming a channel for each other to experience God’s love.

A big thank you to all who helped out in all those different ways. Especially the people who were taking on roles from staff who were away. Thank you for making it work! One HARP member came all the way in from Collingdale to set up the sound and mikes on Saturday evening, and then came in again for 9am on Sunday to do a sound test with Chris and George. That’s commitment.

…in their lunch break. Franklin Fortune was explaining how you can tell all the good players in the World CUp because they have been trained by Man. Utd. We had our monthly get together. It was good.

There were a lot of inspiring testimonies from different people that spanned from:

- someone paying Simon Rosselli’s kids £20 to NOT wash their car as they went on a house to house fundraiser

-to a member in North London who couldn’t sleep one night and went out early at 4.30am to put outreach flyers through her neighbours’ doors. One of them had also found it hard to sleep and had been up praying at 5am; when the flyer with True Parents picture came through the door. She went to our site and found out that there was a prayer evening in LG and came along the same day with her husband to take part.

We discussed the arrival of Father’s biography in a week or so and organising a book launch. And a long list of other topics…

After lunch we had a short presentation on a seminar I had attended on practical time management. I think the concept of learning how to delegate well was an attractive one for all of us. Basically we want to skill up our staff more and organise more training, this was a step towards that:

We meet on Wednesdays now because there is always just too much going on in the communities on the weekend these days. It’s a good sign.

Here are some more pictures:

hello familyfireplace community

getting down to business

(he missed the group pic.) Mind Body United chairman: Chigo gave a good update on the team. They got some silver for best sportsmanship.

Had a long but good community leaders meeting today. Gave a little power point on time management too, which felt good. But By 5pm I was really wiped out. Cancelled one evening meeting, but still had our regular Wednesday prayer evening at 7.30pm. Watched some TV to unwind, since we have a big screen now in our reception area. It never really works for me, TV, when I need to de stress.

Went up to our main hall to prepare the chairs etc at around 6.50pm and light the prayer candle.

some times we need others to shed light on our state of mind

Still feeling a bit fried. wondering if anyone was going to come, feeling a bit shaky, I knew there were some people in the building, but hey maybe they’re not up for it tonight…you can guess where my mind and heart were going. Was doing a reasonable job of coming to terms with what I had decided was a solitary evening. (God’s telling me: “leave that for me to decide”, not that I was listening.)

Especially by 7.30pm on my watch, I am thinking ‘yep I’m on my own’. I am half German – everything should start as the second hand strikes 12.

Decided to go down and see if everyone had opted to watch the football instead and thought I might invite people up. But as I was going down, people were on their way up – the guys who were in LG to practice for Live Lounge, Masa from our HQ congregation, and Aska from Bromley who had been helping in the UPF office.

That prayer evening tonight was seriously the best part of my day. I felt that we could not know how precious it was for God that we came together to pray. We sang a few songs, I asked everyone for their thoughts on some notes I took from Hyung Jin Moon’s talk. And then I asked Aska to pray – she shared the most exquisite prayer that just gave me the chance to wash my face clean. Then we prayed altogether for a while.

giving thanks

I was so grateful to those young people for just being there and giving me the chance to pray with them. I had been pretty wound up and strung out from an intense day, and had got into my ‘no one wants to pray thought-train’, but they just came because they wanted to and through that example lifted me up and out of my fear. Thanks guys.

Captain Michael Dick and the team

After 3 years of entry our team finally won the Interfaith Diversity Cup here in Scotland which is played amongst a diverse group of religious and charity groups. Today 16 teams took part in this annual 5 aside football indoor tournament played in Edinburgh.

Stephan Williamson (currently in Germany on work experience)organized a team of his university friends who came together in a good display of team unity.

We won the final against a Glasgow side,who were the winners last year,on a penalty shoot out after the final match drew at 2 -2

We not only won the cup, but Murray Scott, our goal keeper won also the man of the match trophy!

Once again I would like to thank the players: Michael Dick Captain, James Steel, Ross Baird, Scott Fusco, Murray Scott, Calum Wright, Murray Scott and also our photographer and kit manager Eric Williamson.

Next Saturday 12th June is one of our main Unificationist holy days of the year. I know South London and Bromley will have holy day arrangements. But just want to invite everyone else who would like to join us in Lancaster Gate to feel very welcome and invited to come along to celebrate. Why not make a day of it?

a holy day that will be a holiday

• If you are driving please be aware that there is NO congestion charge, but you WILL need to pay for parking up to lunch time. That will cost you about £10.

• The sport planned is baseball. We will make teams up on the day. But I am sure there will be some football too. Play, be a spectator, or wander around Hyde Park.

• Bring a picnic, or otherwise pop down to the local Tesco and put one together in the moment.

• South Korea, Argentina, and then ENGLAND are all playing in the PM so there will be lots of world cup action on the big screen in the new reception area.

• But most of all it’s a great chance to be a community, share food, stories, catch up, meet old friends, and make new ones.

• If you want to bring guests for all or part of the day that is also totally fine. EVERYONE is welcome.

Glasgow Seminar

A Divine Principle Seminar was held in the Ramada Hotel in Glasgow on Saturday, 29th of May. This was the second in a series of Divine Principle seminars to be held in Scotland recently. The first was held at a hotel in Livingston where the lecturer Jack Corley was from Ireland. The second was held in the centre of the city of Glasgow and the lecturer was  Edward Stacey from the west country of England. Flora Robertson our MC guided us skillfully through the programme.

 There were  over 20 participants including members, associates and new guests. One of the young members, Vladik Prichina, has just fulfilled a 7-day fast, followed by a week’s hike on the West Highland Way from near Glasgow to Fort William. He brought two  young women students from his university class to attend the seminar. Ed Stacey, as an elder member of much experience, gave deep lectures on the Creation, Fall and the fulfilment of God’s purpose today. Ed joined the Unification Church in 1971 and has over thirty years of  lecturing experience. His lectures are made all the more vivid by his background as a carpenter (Jesus’ trade), his sincere search for the truth which led him to the Messiah and to become a father of a blessed family (118 Couples Blessing in Lancaster Gate, 1978). The seminar was well appreciated by all.

We decided we wanted to make a music video for our LG church community, and keep working on our songs. The idea that we can reach out to others and each other through music that inspires is a good one.

Last Sunday a bunch of our music ministry team and some film crew people were working on the chorus to our unity song.

It’s not ready yet, but just wanted to give you an idea of what we are heading towards. Just imagine worship with a choir like this every Sunday:

and here is Kathleen conducting, while the choir has to sing without the backing track:

So, even though we have not arrived yet, we know where we want to get to. A BIG Thank you to Michael F, Teresa H, Rea, Kathleen, and the choir, some of who came a long way. Let the church arise.

it's good to have professionals around

Inspired by the activities of many of the True Family and the recent witnessing initiatives around the world, the Family Church in Scotland has decided the revive a regular Divine Principle Workshop program.

Our first one-day seminar took place on Saturday, 17th April in Livingston.  We were honored to have Jack Corley, with his experience of presenting Divine-Principle programmes all over the world as our lecturer.  Undaunted by the cancellation of all aircraft flights due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland, Jack drove from Dublin to Belfast, took the ferry from Belfast to Stranraer, where he was met by car for the last leg from South-West to Central Scotland. There was a good turnout of members and guests from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.

Jack opened with a video from recent activities in China that he has participated in, an eye opener for all participants. Then we covered key sections from the Divine Principle including the Principles of Creation and the Human Fall, using some recently-introduced content.

It seemed that all participants enjoyed the program as they generated a good spirit throughout the day. As a bonus, Jack shared insights from Father Moon at the next day’s Sunday Service in Edinburgh.

Since I started working in our Unification Movement HQ at 43, Lancaster Gate two years ago I have been on a little road of discovery. In the last year it has dawned on me how precious this place is, how it was established by some very committed and selfless people and how this building (if we listen to its soul) is telling us how it wants to offer our community an opportunity to grow and thrive.

Imagine for a moment that we did not have anywhere in central London for our movement. (Like several other European Unificationist communities). And then imagine we wished for a multi million pound property in the heart of West London next to London’s most famous park, on several bus routes, a stones throw from the Central Line, with all the fast food you could ever want (except of course for Subway, which we would be better off without) just 10 minutes walk away in Queensway, an historical grade 2 listed building smartly placed in the corner of a well known London square. A place where True Parents have taught and blessed many of their disciples.

It would be beyond our wildest dreams. Well, it wasn’t beyond the dreams of those who made it happen 30/40 years ago.

So for those of us who are a bit younger and still under 40 this place is a miracle, it has landed in our lap like a gift from God. Ok, it needs some restoration, and a good bit of refurbishment, but hey, it belongs to us!

The front reception refurbishment should be completed before the end of April

So what are we going to do with it?

The vision of our relatively new Lancaster Gate church which we inaugurated in November 09 is to teach a Divine Principle and bring people to True Parents. Yes, the building does provide some much needed income for managing our FFWPU charity, but in the end this building is first a church; which means it is a place for a congregation of people who want to worship God. Getting that purpose to be at the heart of what goes on here is our exciting challenge.
It involves a whole range of issues from people figuring out who True Parents are in their life to building a healthy creative culture through which God can feel confident to work. Basically we have to find the confidence to live by God’s divine principles.

This is happening more and more, and with a range of new programs over different days of the week we are finding our spiritual feet. We are also in the process of raising £21,000 to make this place beautiful on the inside. We then want to raise whatever it takes to make it shine on the outside too.

the new general affairs office at the back of 43,

LG does seem to have some magical magnetic force, and over the last few years it has become a very popular place for young people blessed by True Parents to come and live and hang out. Like I said we have been renting out rooms. More recently though we decided to ask people when they move in to agree to a few guidelines.
This was definitely a positive step and helped to clarify for blessed members what it means to live here. But as more and more people are asking about accommodation here its common sense to make things clearer about the vision and purpose. I don’t want to go into details here, but I think it will help people if they get a sense of the culture we are aiming for.

If you are passionate about wanting to build a vibrant, growing, church congregation here at 43, Lancaster Gate and for that reason you would like to rent a room then please get in touch. If you want to come and live here mainly because you think it would be convenient for your personal life, then it is probably not the best choice for you. And of course you don’t need to live here either to still get involved in the vision.

Mitty Thoma, WFWP President

Kathleen Moloney, music ministry volunteer

We want to keep on developing this place so it is easy for people to come and connect to God and True Parents in as many ways as possible, whether through seminars, worship, culture, art, or music. We have a way to go, but when you start to believe in something it starts to materialise, and I think some of us just started believing.

Feeling a bit like I need a day off, but tomorrow is Monday. You know when you just need something to lift you up and help you see the glass half full?

If you have had a long week and are not quite ready for the new one round the corner, then you could try listening to Marian Reynold’s version of the Mariah Carey song, Through the Rain.

She sang this before the message at our Lancaster Gate church. It’s always better when you are there rather than on a cheap camera, but I think this might just move you:

Also a big thank you to Kenta Barrett for making the back drop for our worship service, and to the music team for putting so much time in during the week to get things together. We had quite a few brothers and sisters join us online for worship which was inspiring. Thank you to Ajay and Réa for making that go fwd and develop.

our new backdrop for sunday worship

the music ministry

We are still developing this so be patient with us, but here is the latest from our online worship. The sound doesn’t kick in for the first 20/30 seconds, and just before the second song the computer died cuz it wasn’t plugged in, so….., there is an awkward 2 minutes of dead time, while we got the lyrics back up on the screen. But the beauty of the live recording is that you can just click on the time line and go fwd a few minutes when it’s not gripping you.

The message was a bit long in my opinion, and my main take away is: reduce my notes by 70%, be more concise, and hopefully allow the important points to have more impact.

Main theme: you can only effectively come to God on His terms, because He designed you. And two qualities that make all the difference are when we are willing to trust and be humble: Genesis Ch.12 and 15 (Abraham believed the Lord), and Matthew Ch.18 (unless you change and become like little children). Incredibly challenging but so true.