District Elections Bring New Faces to Leadership Posts
| November 16 2012
Two and possibly three Unification Church (USA) districts will welcome new district pastors following the first-ever elections of district councils in late October 2012. Rev. Hyung Jin Moon notified the church on Nov.15, 2012 that the nominations of interim district pastors put forward by the newly elected councils had met with his approval. The exception was district five, encompassing several southeastern states where the selection process has been extended.
The district councils based in Tarrytown, New York, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta selected new district pastors. District One, based in Washington, D.C. selected Rev. Henri Schauffler and spouse Loretta Schauffler, to serve jointly in the District Pastor position. They will replace Rev. Randall Francis and Kumiko Francis. In New York, Rev. Andrew Compton, the pastor of the West Rock Church, replaces Rev. Bruce Grodner. In Atlanta, the final selection of district pastor is pending a survey of members around the region. The nine incumbent district pastors were nominated by the councils and will continue on as interim district pastors.
Introducing Henri and Loretta Schauffler, District One
In District One, both Rev. Schauffler and Loretta had been suggested for the pastoral role. They emailed the following statement to the news team:
Rev. Henry and Loretta Schauffler.
“We believe it is absolutely essential that the generations work together on an equal playing field when we are all adults. We in the first-generation may have more experience and spiritual development through the direct training of our True Parents, but they are “today” and they are so creative, talented, media aware, so…young, and we need to be forever young!
“We feel completely united with Rev.Hyung Jin Moon with his dual focus of teaching Divine Principle and building the Freedom Society. We volunteered immediately to help develop the teaching of Freedom Society, and Henri has been working with Jim Gavin to pioneer how the Freedom Society will be rolled out in America with a new one-day conference program.”
Henri and Loretta Schauffler were born and raised in Oregon and California, respectively. They joined the Unification Church in Oregon in 1973 as a married couple with a young baby and started church life in Eugene, Oregon. Henri went to training at the Belvedere facility in Tarrytown, N.Y. and became a teacher of Divine Principle workshops and 40-day team leader at the Barrytown training center. Loretta went to national MFT, and their daughter went to the children's center in Berkeley, California. They participated in the Marriage Blessing for previously-married couples in December,1976.
Their missions have included CARP state and regional leadership as well as church, state, and regional leadership. They were appointed by True Parents to the American Freedom Coalition in 1987. Henri ran for the State Legislature in Portland, Oregon in 1998; in that race he lost but got 47 percent of the vote. He later served as senior pastor for the Washington, DC region, 2000-2002. Henri then became executive assistant to Dr. Douglas (Dong Moon) Joo at the Washington Times. Henri Schauffler currently runs his own small business, CEO Focus, where he is a consultant to small businesses. Henri and Loretta have five children, ages 39-24. Loretta has been serving as a mentor and residency coordinator at the 43rd street building in New York City for the last three years. Henri is a graduate of the Unification Seminary, class of 1985.
Andrew Compton and Lydia Compton, District Two
Rev. Andrew Compton, for nine years the pastor of the West Rock Church in Tarrytown, New York, steps into the District Two Pastor position vacated by Rev. Bruce Grodner. Rev. Compton has written to Unificationnews the following autobiographical information:
Rev. Andrew and Lydia Compton.
“I was introduced to our church, at the time the ‘Unified Family,’ by Richard Zinke on the high- school campus in Berkeley. He invited me to come and listen to a lecture on a new philosophy from Korea. That was in 1971. It took me about nine months of studying the Divine Principle, reading the Bible, and some prayer before I was able discover God and the fact that True Parents were indeed the fulfillment of the Second Coming of Christ.
“In 1972, when our church leader, Dr. Edwin Ang, asked for volunteers to participate in True Parents’ speaking tour across America I volunteered. I dropped out of school (UC Berkeley) and a van load of us drove across America to meet True Parents in New York. The tour began in New York City and ended in California, in San Francisco. From there I was sent to pioneer a church center in Richmond, VA.
“After pioneering in Richmond I went to our church leadership training program in Belvedere. I was then sent to be State Leader in Arizona. From Arizona I was sent to attend the leadership-training program in Barrytown, NY. After that I helped care for pioneers who were starting centers in NY and NJ and PA.
“Next, I worked on the Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument Campaigns. At that time I was State Leader in West Virginia. Following the Washington Monument rally, I was sent to National MFT. About a year later I was asked to be state leader in Minnesota. I was there for about four years. I then was assigned to Ohio and from Ohio to New York – to teach DP workshops. While I was in Minnesota I was blessed to Lydia L Gross, in 1982 at Madison Square Garden. We have four children, three of whom are blessed in marriage.
“I have been in the New York area since 1983 – working as workshop teacher and later as the witnessing team leader at 43rd Street. Later, I became the pastor of the Manhattan Church and assistant to Rev. In Hoi Lee, the Korean leader at the time. In 2003 I was asked to become the pastor of our WestRock community, including Westchester and Rockland counties in New York.
Rev. Compton said the following regarding his vision for District Two.
“For me the key points are the following. First, vertical unity. Without that God is not going to work and we won’t have long-term success. For this reason, I am especially grateful to Rev. Hyung Jin Moon for coming here and standing firmly in unity with True Mother.
“Second – members have to see a church movement that inspires them and gives them hope. They have to see the glass of our church that is half full. Without such a positive perspective – no one is going to want to invite others. If we don’t have the desire – to go out and meet people and befriend them, etc., we won’t be able to grow our church.
“Third – we have the greatest truth in the
world. In order to transform people to become our members
(children of our True Parents), they have to receive the truth
and be changed by it.
I would like to explore new ways of
packaging Divine Principle and conveying it to the public. For
this, I believe the second-generation can be a huge help. We
need their creative energy and abilities.
“We need to convey God’s heart of love (the Holy Spirit). I believe the best way to do this is through caring for each other, the pastors setting the example on Sundays and through visitation and phone calls, and all members through the small groups. Small groups are the closest thing we have to tribal-messiahship. We need to care for each other. That care is going to revitalize our members and give life to spiritual children.
“I would also like to explore the idea of ‘church planting.’ There may be some members who have years of training in teaching and caring for others, whose kids have left the nest, and who would love to pioneer a new church (beginning with a home-church) in a pre-selected location. The main church could provide them with initial assistance to get started.”
Contributed by Douglas Burton.