As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, the book that tells the story of True Father’s life in his own words, is now available in the UK! Many thousand autobiographies have arrived at 43LG. Different communities are picking up their orders. Father has asked us all to distribute over 400 copies per Blessed couple/family.

This is the time we can start to really share father’s heart with people in a powerful way. The Korean version reached the bestsellers list in Korea, and the new 2nd English translation is greatly improved and has included pictures too.

You can buy a box (containing 28 books) for £100 each, or individual books for £3.50.

We are suggesting if you wish to sell the books on to make a standard cost of £12. Of course you are free to sell them for less and of course to give them to people as a gift, but it is good for people to know that they are also being sold for a real price. We will provide price tag stickers for those who want them. We will be setting up an amazon.co.uk shop asap which will allow us to sell them online too.

Uncle David surveys the container

If you have creative and good ideas that you want to own and get support on for distributing Father’s book, then get in touch.

Arriving at Lancaster Gate shortly after 10am, I met Takao , Réamonn and Sung Jong waiting in the lobby area of Headquaters. We were anticipating the arrival of a lorry bearing the expected 11,000 copies of True Father’s autobiography. I mentioned to the lads that I had walked past a lorry, which I suspected could be the one for which we were waiting. After a brief conversation with the vehicle’s driver confirming this, he skillfully manoeuvered his articulated lorry into the spaces in front of 43 Lancaster Gate.

Then the hard work began, transferring more than 400 boxes (containing 28 books each) from the lorry container into the building. It took not much more than an hour to transfer the boxes from the shipping container to the inside of our church Headquarters.

Just as we were nearing the end, Uncle Bernard Chellew arrived to collect as many of the boxes as would fit inside the Chrysler Voyager he was driving. Later, Uncle Franklin Fortune and Uncle William Haines also dropped by to collect boxes of books. Each time a vehicle drove away with their load of books, I prayed for the rear suspensions not to be overwhelmed!

With perfect timing, just as the last item was removed from lorry, the absolute good spirit world blessed us with the emergence of a Westminster council waste collection vehicle. The refuse collectors were happy to throw our left-over pallets into their rubbish truck, which gobbled them up quite easily.

Matthew de Souza then emerged with some lucozade bottles and some maple and pecan pastries, rewards for the hard workers (prepared by Uncle David Franklin, I assumed).

Many thanks also goes to Irene, Abi, Kenko, and Matthew de Souza who all offered their help.

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And here’s a (rather dull) film stitched together by Simon and myself:

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?

• 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.

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.

Alex and Chigo check out the big DVD donation from Kenko for the LG refurb fundraising campaign. If you have something you would like to donate that you know will sell which you don’t use or need, please leave a comment, or get in touch by facebook, email or phone: 0207 723 0721.

Some of these we should keep for a permanent LG classics collection. Zoolander?

We will be doing a big DVD sale this Sunday after worship in 43, Lancaster Gate. First come, first served.  Trust me this is a seriously diverse collection of quality DVDs.

Thank you to all of you who are coming forward and supporting. Every bit helps. Keep donating and making it happen.

Or sponsor a healthy person: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=loseatleast5kilos&isTeam=true

Ballroom estimated completion date: sometime next week. AND if you have skills in decorating and time next week  get in touch with us if you would like to help start on the hallway and alcove paint job. We want to keep the budget in control by doing a bit more DIY.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: making the ballroom breathe a breath of fresh air, – updating the technology – New Projector on the ceiling, with a permanent drop down screen, new lighting, new curtains, and spiritual revival every Sunday morning …and hopefully before the end of 2010 every afternoon too.

CLICK here to support NOW. It is easy to donate. We aim to finish the work by JUNE.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=simonlcooper

Or directly to the main fund: HERE at paypal.

I am getting thinner. I am doing a sponsored ‘lose 5 Kilos’ to raise finances for the restoration of 43, Lancaster Gate. Did you know we are on the local 94 bus stop TFL map?!?!

It is my local church now, so every day I feel more and more how important it is to make it shine. We get there most mornings at around 5am for morning devotion, and every time I get up in the morning early enough to arrive on time I feel strangely awake.

(although when today in our morning mediation I lost track of time, Chieko was not convinced it was me reaching a higher plane; more of a deep slumber)

But we want to also make it a place which is immediately welcoming when anyone visits. And so we made a budget and then a goal to fund redecorating a large part of the public space. Right now we are working on the ballroom.

Please sponsor me. Just click HERE or go to the link below and make a donation.

Dieting is hard work, especially with a wife who cooks better than Nigella, and working in an office where people are always so generous with bringing in tasty snacks.

But I must say it’s great emotional self discipline. I am trying a pretty bizarre diet given to me by a charismatic Italian brother. So, no more diet tips please…I need your donations. Trust me it is a worth while cause. I will get back to 85Kilos and our national HQ will shine more brightly.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=simonlcooper

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!

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.

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.

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.

Yoshiko Chellew brought her Japanese friend & Joanna de Souza her Chinese friend, so there were  8 of us listening to William Haines teaching about Adam’s & Noah’s Families  at our weekly Monday evening Divine Principle presentation & discussion at Lancaster Gate.
Why is this important? Well, if our identity is socially constructed by our relationships, then surely the most significant relationships for each of us are family relationships.  Our self understanding comes largely from this source, and in an ideal world, we would all essentially feel that we were a sons/daughters of God.  However, because of fallen human lineage, we are on a roller coaster emotionally as far as our identity is concerned. We tend to invest everything in being British, or being a Man Utd. fan etc.
Because of the Fall, Adam was in the midway position between God & Satan, so neither side could clearly deal with him. Therefore Adam was symbolically divided into his two sons, Cain, further from God, & Abel, relatively closer to God.  If Indemnity is to fix what has been broken, then Abel was in a position to restore the Foundation of Faith by believing & following God’s word, and Cain was put in a position similar to the Archangel, and he had to show by his attitude that he had no relationship with Satan.
William made the story of Cain & Abel more interesting by readings from the Talmud & Koran, showing that how we think & feel & behave are such important conditions in coming to God’s or Satan’s side. God loved Cain, but Satan had a claim on him through his attitude in the offering, so what could God do, except warn him to be careful!
Noah made many conditions to establish the Foundation of Faith, however Ham had to inherit his fathers foundation in order to stand as Abel.  We heard from the Talmud that because of bad conditions, his shameful response to his naked father showed that he was from the lineage of Satan, and God could not use his family’s foundation any more. Sometimes, when we react really badly to a situation, almost out of control, it is because of something we have thought or felt or done, and we should reflect on our conditions. Are we showing the lineage of God, or the lineage of the enemy?
Next week we will hear about Abraham’s family.

Just saw our theologically advanced builder put a hole in the wall at LG while quoting Buddhist philosophy, that’s why I love this place.

We have had a total of £1500 donated over the last week. A big thank you to all of you who have donated. We also have another £1500 donated from the Lancaster Gate Church cooking team (money they have raised over the last year from serving lunch to the congregation.)

If you have not donated yet, please give generously! We would like to get all the work done before the end of spring, but we need your support!

Going back to William our builder we were very lucky to get him to come and do the new door design for the planned reception area. He is actually saving us about 50% on the structural changes to the reception because of all his experience, and passion for our HQ.

Check out some of his work here:

Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of how the work is progressing:

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.

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.