A History Of The Unification Church In America, |
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Chapter Two The Community The story of the Unification Church and its beginnings in the San Francisco Bay Area is not that of a single missionary venturing thousands of miles from her home. It is rather the story of a community of believers transplanting themselves from rural Oregon several hundreds of miles down the coast to the urban environment of the Bay Area. The nature of this community, its struggle to survive, and its attempt to spread its message is the content of this story. The Community When Miss Kim arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area on November 21, 1960, Doris and Pauline already had been there for more than a month. George Norton had driven her down from Oakhill. Galen and Patty Pumphrey arrived two weeks later. These six people were the beginning of the Unification Church in the Bay Area. All had severed ties irrevocably with the Northwest. Moreover, unlike in Oakhill where each had maintained separate households, in the Bay Area, they found a seven room flat at 410 Cole Street, San Francisco, and moved in together. Miss Kim noted: Our community life really began at this time, in San Francisco. We had decided not to call our group or building a church. . .and referred to the Cole Street house as our Center. 22 To support themselves, Doris and Pauline acquired jobs as waitresses. George Norton became an orderly in a local hospital, and Galen secured a job as a postman. In terms of secular credentials, the group did not appear overly promising. Only Miss Kim had a college degree. George and Galen had both been to college but dropped out. Doris and Patty had not ventured beyond high school, and Pauline had completed only rural elementary school. At the same time, the group, for all its worldly limitations, was 'confident of its call'. They believed that God, not they, had initiated the new dispensation and had called them to the harvest. They all, like Miss Kim, simply had been 'ready'. The original community, plus the few associates and new members it was able to gain, stayed together for eighteen months until dispersing to various cities throughout the Bay Area in July, 1962. Its basic task during this period was survival. Although the group had demonstrated considerable solidarity and commitment in migrating south from Oakhill, the challenge to maintain that solidarity and commitment amid an impersonal and sometimes hostile urban environment was considerable. The problems which the community faced were to test it severely. Visa problems A continuing source of concern to the community and one that threatened Miss Kim directly were her visa problems. As a student at the University of Oregon, she had had no problems, but after dropping out to devote her energies full time to the mission, Miss Kim was constantly threatened. She faced four separate crises before finally winning an immigrant visa in October, 1963. The first crisis occurred shortly after arriving in San Francisco. Previously, while in Oregon, Miss Kim had traveled there to obtain an extension of her passport from the Korean consulate. But in late November, 1960, her visa was about to expire again. Therefore, after depositing the Principle at the Trade Bindery and securing a place of residence, Miss Kim's first priority was to apply for an extension of her visa at the Immigration Office. However, this time she was refused. If Miss Kim were forced to leave the country at this early stage, the consequences would have been grave and possibly fatal for the community. Nonetheless, as her visa had absolutely expired, she went to Japan Airlines and bought a ticket to Korea. A telegram from Rev. Moon arrived on December 11, 1960 which stated, "By all means, you must stay." 23 George and Galen wrote back explaining that there was no way for her to stay. On December 20th, several of the group visited George White, a lawyer, to see about getting a copyright for the Principle text. Miss Kim happened to mention her visa situation, and he declared that the business of distributing one's book was valid reason for an extension. With instructions to go with her sponsor to the Immigration Office, Miss Kim found her visa extended, "most unexpectedly." She wrote: When there appeared to be no way in the world to prolong my stay in America, Mr. White appeared on the scene and suddenly everything was solved. I canceled my flight reservation and lost $20. 24 In March, 1961, the three month extension Miss Kim won in December was ready to expire again. By this time, though, she had met Dr. John W. Hopkins, President of Williams College in Berkeley. 25 He had arranged to have Miss Kim give several lectures in conjunction with the "School of Metaphysical Inquiry" there, and on hearing of her visa situation, wrote a letter to the Immigration Office explaining that Miss Kim was lecturing at his school and couldn't leave. In this way, the second crisis was averted, and Miss Kim's visa was extended until July 31, 1961. Miss Kim was pressured by the same problem in July but solved it in a markedly different way; on the 10th, she was ordained at the Universal Church of the Master. As she put it, Dr. Hopkins had explained the advantages of ordination in forming a religious organization in America. I had never intended to be ordained, even though I had been offered the opportunity to become a Methodist minister in Korea and was fully qualified . . . I wanted to be, rather, a dedicated layman. It was now necessary, however, for our group to be legally recognized. 26 Dr. Hopkins knew the Archers, who were ministers in the Universal Church of the Master, and requested that Miss Kim be ordained. They, in turn, contacted Dr. Fitzgerald, President of the church. Out of respect for Dr. Hopkins, he agreed to consider Miss Kim. After prayer, the issue was resolved to the satisfaction of Rev. Archer, and Miss Kim was ordained. Her visa was thereby extended until the following March. Because her stay in America involved the constant strain of securing temporary visas, Miss Kim decided in December, 1961 to investigate procuring a permanent visa. She consulted Drs. Hopkins and Fitzgerald in January and went to the Immigration Office with her lawyer to inquire what was necessary for a permanent visa application. Essentials included academic records, ordination papers, and the charter of the corporation for which she was ministering. A year passed, and Miss Kim received no word on her application. Finally, in April, 1963, she began investigating only to find out that the Office had lost track of her application. Unfortunately, Miss Kim's inquiry served to remind them, and they contacted her lawyer to whom they had sent a notice the previous year declaring that Miss Kim's permanent visa was denied. Her lawyer, then, contacted Miss Kim and told her that he had put the notice from the Immigration Office in his drawer a year previously, but he too had completely forgotten about it! Now, however, the matter was urgent. Miss Kim visited the Immigration Office and was given thirty days to either reapply or leave the country. Though later granted an additional grace period beyond the thirty days, Miss Kim was in a difficult situation. She knew that those applying whose occupation was attached to a corporation would have had to have worked for that corporation for at least a year, Miss Kim understood that she would not be eligible until September. Hence, there was the possibility of her having to leave the country before becoming eligible. Miss Kim's status might have resulted in deportation had she not suffered a sudden appendicitis attack in June. As a result, she was able to secure a letter from her physician to the Immigration Office explaining that she would be under his care for at least three months. In this way, Miss Kim was able to remain in the country until her eligibility was assured. She wrote: My visa petition had lain dormant for a year through most unusual circumstances, having been simultaneously forgotten by the Immigration Office and by my attorney. Now, at the last moment, there seemed to be no way whatsoever to avoid rejection. However, I was granted another stroke of Divine Providence. Though my appendix suffered, the victory was won, in God's ineffable way. 27 Late in August, Miss Kim was granted an interview at the Immigration Office, and on October 21st, she received her immigrant visa, dated October 9, 1963. From Community to Corporation Along with the need to stabilize her own status in the country, Miss Kim recognized the need to incorporate the group. Although she consulted Mr. White about this matter in January, 1961, it wasn't until the following August that she pursued the issue seriously, and then largely for visa purposes. It also became clear that for tax exemption purposes and legal protection it was necessary for the group to be recognized by the government and receive legal status as a religion. In order to prepare the necessary papers, Miss Kim obtained a legal book about incorporation which she studied thoroughly. She then drafted Articles of Incorporation. To be consistent with the Korean church, she changed the name of the group to the "Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity." Miss Kim signed the paper of incorporation at her lawyer's office, and on September 18, 1961, the Articles of Incorporation were filed by the state of California. Incorporation necessitated annual meetings for the election of officers and the formulation of bylaws. Beyond this, the process conferred a sense of stability and substance to the group. Amended in 1963, her California corporation became and still is the legal basis of HSA-UWC in America. Original signers of this document were Young Oon Kim, Doris Walder, Galen Pumphrey, George Norton, and William Delaney. Improving the Text Closely related to Miss Kim's and the group's efforts to attain secure standing were continual efforts to produce an adequate printed text of the Principle. This, of course, had been a persistent concern of Miss Kim since her first translation of the lectures into English. In Oregon, she spent countless hours revising the English translation. The book underwent three editions during her stay in the Bay Area. Having arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area with the printed and collated pages of The Divine Principles, Miss Kim's first stop was the Trade Bindery to inquire about getting the books bound. Leaving three copies to be bound as samples, the group began checking page sequences of the collated books, a job which took three days. After deciding to go ahead with the binding, Miss Kim visited the Internal Revenue Service to see about getting a permit to sell the book and a lawyer, George White, about getting a copyright. On December 31, 1960, the cloth covers arrived at the bindery, and on January 6, 1961, members brought home 100 bound copies of the first edition. Although it was a breakthrough, the first edition contained many errors, both grammatical and typographical. As people noticed these, Miss Kim spent endless hours going through the nearly 500 copies, "pasting correction slips over large errors and rectifying smaller ones by hand." In July, 1961, after many weeks of "polishing the English," Miss Kim began typing the second edition with editorial help from one of George Norton's acquaintances. 28 The community purchased a printing machine in November, and they decided to print the second edition themselves. Galen Pumphrey's bedroom became the first Unification Church print shop in America, and by January, he and George Norton had learned how to operate the press. During this time, Miss Kim continued typing and proofreading the new edition. On January 1, 1962, they began to print. Although far from professional, George and Galen did a credible job, and starting February 5th, everyone was at work gathering and folding the pages they had printed. This job continued for six days, and on February 11th they took 500 copies to the Trade Bindery. Three days later they received back 110 copies and in March, 1962, the remainder of the second edition. While the second edition was far better than the first, by October, 1962, Miss Kim had begun making revisions and typing out the manuscript for the third edition. In part, this new effort came at the urging of Gordon Ross, a new member and former Woodrow Wilson scholar in linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley. He pointed out deficiencies in the text that had hindered his study and which if not amended would in his view lead scholars to dismiss it. This time, Miss Kim was anxious to produce an authoritative version. She finished typing the manuscript on December 1, 1962, and proofreading began two days later with Gordon Ross and John Lofland, a doctoral student in Sociology at the University of California who was studying the group. They finished on December 5th. A second proofreading began on the 9th and finished on the 11th. Consistent with the desire to produce an authoritative edition, the group decided to use a professional printer. Miss Kim inquired about rates in Japan and Hong Kong. Although the rates were cheaper, shipping costs nullified any advantages, and the job was given to Kingsport Press. The galley proofs arrived in May, and on October 8, 1963, 1,625 copies of the third edition arrived from. This edition was authoritative in Miss Kim's group for the next four years. Friends and Foes While visas, incorporation papers, and successive texts helped root the transplanted community in its new environment and foster survival, another important factor was the community's interaction with outsiders. Whether they were friends or foes was not so important as the fact that they helped bridge the gap between community aspirations and an otherwise impersonal, unresponsive social environment. Although few contacts joined the community, they helped energize it. Basically, these significant others fell into five categories: the occult milieu, church people, Korean visitors, legal authorities, and academics. The occult milieu Among the most important friends of the Unification Church movement during this period in the Bay Area were the loose associations of those involved in what has been termed the occult milieu. Describing themselves, according to one account, as "students of metaphysics . . . seeking enlightenment in the higher spiritual realms," this subculture included a broad cross section of American people, though with a preponderance of middle-aged and older women. 29 Miss Kim already had been exposed to this subculture in her early study of Swedenborg and in Oregon where she had contacted the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship. Besides seekers eager for the newest message, the occult milieu also included spiritualists and mediums ready with prophecy or affirming messages from the spiritual world. In the Bay Area when the Unification movement was largely impotent, their messages were immensely consoling and vital for the survival of the community. Four of these contacts are noteworthy. Rev. Clyde Dibble. Assistant minister and himself a medium at Golden Gate Spiritualist Church in San Francisco, Rev. Dibble met the community shortly after their arrival. Not only did he help Galen get a job at the post office but in late January, 1961, he visited the center. Sitting in a semicircle, the group asked questions about spiritual phenomena. Miss Kim recalled: He kept glancing over at me, and finally, as if he could hold back no longer, said, "I see such great light around you!" He answered a few more questions and then, closing his eyes, rose to his feet. It was apparent to all of us that he was in a trance. He bowed deeply to me three times and said, "It is Lao-tsu." Then he bowed twice more and said, "It is White Cloud, an Indian Chief." White Cloud and Lao-tsu both brought messages which promised great blessings to our group and spoke of the way our movement would flourish and grow in the future. 30 Dr John W Hopkins. President of Williams College in Berkeley and himself an occult enthusiast, Dr. Hopkins offered Miss Kim not a dramatic prophecy but a chance to speak. The following announcement from his school's monthly flyer of March, 1961, well illustrates the openness of the occult milieu to new revelations: Wednesday, March 15, at 8:00 p.m., a lecture by Young Oon Kim, B.A., B.Th., B.D., of Korea on: The Divine Principles. Miss Kim is a teacher of the New Age, giving principles from Divine revelation as taught and verified by her from a Master teacher (whom she will reveal in her lecture). She will give a history of her Master teacher and show his direct revelations pertaining to the end of this civilization or the last days of it and the ushering in its place of the New Age . . . Miss Kim shows further, as is explained also by her book, "The Divine Principles," how her teacher reveals the Divine schedule of Cosmic restoration including fallen mankind . . . The New Age will bring one world, one religion, one language, and other unities as well as perfect harmony of spirit and of body. 31 Rev. Louis Lusardi and Rev. Julian Levy. Two San Francisco mediums contacted by Patty Pumphrey, the Reverends Lusardi and Levy, unlike others, heard the Principle and affiliated themselves with the community as outside members. 32 Although both had disassociated themselves from active involvement by mid-1963, their presence was not without significance. For example, when one member wanted to move out, the two had simultaneous visions: Rev. Levy saw a field of wheat so heavy with grain that the tops of the plants were bent over. Then he saw a small lamb creeping in the field crying out, "I'm so hungry! Oh, I'm so hungry!" The lamb only looked at the ground. It never lifted up its head to see the ripe grain. If it had only looked up, it would have had plenty to eat. Rev. Lusardi saw a tired traveler in the burning desert doggedly following a small candle through the night. The candle led to the edge of a land that was filled with bright sunlight where there was a white castle. As soon as the traveler reached the border into that land the light of the candle disappeared. The traveler looked around for the candle and reentered the desert to find it. Once again the candle led him to the light, and once again the traveler left the bright land to find the candle. 33 An interesting "New Age" variation on the pseudepigrapha of Jewish apocalyptic writings was the lengthy text of "Spiritual Communication with the Apostle Paul: Given Through the Clairaudient Mediumship of Rev. Louis Lusardi, May 20-May 21, 1962." Purported to be the four hour dictation of the Apostle Paul to Rev. Lusardi while the latter was on night shift at a local hotel, the manuscript described the relationship of Jesus to the New Age. Emilia Rathbun. Wife of a retired Stanford University professor, Mrs. Emilia L. Rathbun "received" that "she was the leader of the New Age in America and that her mission was to gather 1000 American women." Through Pauline, Miss Kim met Mrs. Rathbun in late December, 1962, and offered her assessment: She [Emilia] was a charming, gracious woman. She was articulate and refined, but her work lacked a clear message and purpose. I hoped she would redefine her mission in light of the Principle and follow. 34 Although Mrs. Rathbun never did follow (nor, presumably, find her 1000 women), the kind of exuberance and hope such encounters engendered were well expressed in Pauline's later report: Miss Kim and I went to Palo Alto on the 18th of December and had a meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun and three other ladies. They were very much moved by Miss Kim's life story and the message. They bought books and wanted to start a study group in the home of Mrs. Rathbun, who had received parts of the Principle . . . Later she took Miss Kim in her arms and cried and said, "My sister, my sister!" We were all so happy. We know there are many people just waiting for us to bring the message to them. We have to be like a detective for God and find them quickly. 35 Christian Churches Christian churches and church people were, in a very real sense, the first target group of Miss Kim's community and the intended recipients of the new message. That the churches were, in fact, more 'foe' than 'friend' did less to discourage the community than it did to convince them that their message was authentic. As Miss Kim wrote in a sermon entitled, "Suffering Is a Privilege," When we are insulted and rejected by the Christians because of our message, we know exactly how Jesus felt when he was insulted and rejected by the Jewish people. When we are rejected, mocked, and persecuted because of the Divine Principles we teach, we are privileged to experience a small percentage of the thorny path our Leader has gone through. 36 Although no church leaders, ministers, or educators converted, the earliest Unification Church community in the San Francisco Bay Area (unlike others that followed) emphasized church visitation. Bay Area churches in the early 1960s reflected conservative and liberal traditions as well as newly emergent charismatic and ecumenical trends. Miss Kim's group met representatives from each of these four groupings. Conservative. A Baptist minister in whose church members had 'witnessed' several times, Dr. Curtis Nims was a representative of orthodox, conservative, evangelical Christianity. In February, 1962, he sent one of his parishioners to investigate the group. Shortly afterwards, Miss Kim and the group received a letter from Dr. Nims excoriating them and denouncing the teaching. Although he later bought the Principle book, Miss Kim retained the check he gave in payment on which he had written it was a "cult" book and a "spurious approach to Christianity." 37 On February 18, 1962, Dr Nim's declared Miss Kim a heretic from his pulpit. Liberal. Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California and proprietor of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, James A. Pike encountered the Unification Church as a result of handbills passed out by members on the steps of his cathedral. This activity provoked one of his priests who ran out and grabbed the handbills. Enraged, the priest forbade members to engage in that again and threatened to take action if they disobeyed. To forestall this kind of occurrence, Miss Kim visited Bishop Pike the day after the incident. This visit was significant to the community in two ways: first, in that Miss Kim could gain access to an important church official; and second, in that she could see the stranglehold organizational bureaucracy had on the church. Not only did Bishop Pike seem undisturbed that they had been passing out handbills near his cathedral but, according to Miss Kim, "He said that he envied me because I was able to devote my life to religious work." 38 Charismatic renewal. Rector of an Episcopal parish in Corte Madera which was attracting parishioners from all over the Bay Area due to its tongues-speaking services, Rev. Tod Ewald was a participant in the newly emergent charismatic revival. Pauline Phillips had found out about the church and in January, 1963, Miss Kim attended a prayer meeting. A week later, she attended again, shared some spiritual experiences, and met Rev. Ewald. Invited to speak at the next pentecostal meeting, she and Gordon Ross offered their testimonies. While the response of the audience was encouraging, even more propitious was Rev. Ewald's reaction. Miss Kim wrote: After the meeting Rev. Ewald asked to see us in his office. There he knelt and asked us to place our hands on his head and bless him. He felt that we were much richer in spirit than himself. 39 Although Rev. Ewald later drew the ire of the church hierarchy his witness was inspiring to the fledgling community. Ecumenism. Along with the charismatic revival, another important development among Bay Area churches in the early 1960s was the ecumenical movement. It was particularly strong in Berkeley where in 1962 four Protestant seminaries (Baptist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Presbyterian) incorporated the Graduate Theological Union as a common instrument for their doctoral programs. At the same time, churches surrounding the University of California were working together and formed the University Church Council as an outreach to the campus. Gordon Ross, a former seminarian at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and active participant on the University Church Council, had many contacts among ecumenically minded churches. Although none of his contacts accepted the Principles, the hostility with which many of them rejected the new message only affirmed his appreciation of its potency. Telling of an encounter with one minister on the University Church Council, he wrote: In the course of conversation, he called me neurotic, psychotic, a termite in the Christian Church and told me to stay away from Presbyterians. I told him that I had a job to do, that I had to follow my conscience, and he walked away . . . my heart was broken at this reception, not for my sake, but for his. 40 Pauline Phillips, who often accompanied Gordon, was less conciliatory: The Church is our worst enemy. Ministers and teachers do not want to lose their hold over the people. They are very jealous-natured people. 41 Korean visitors The most important Korean visitor scheduled to visit the San Francisco Bay Area community was Rev. Moon, who planned to come to America in the spring of 1961. Miss Kim obtained a visa, and the group purchased a camper for travels following his expected arrival in late May. However, these plans were jarred by the Korean military coup of May 16, 1961 and subsequent prohibitions on foreign travel. Waiting hopefully into the late summer, the group finally received word that Rev. Moon had decided not to come. While this news was disappointing, the community still had significant contacts with two Korean visitors, one of whom was a force behind the military junta which had prevented Rev. Moon's travel. Jong Pil Kim. Chairman of the newly emerged Supreme Council for National Reconstruction (SCNR) in Korea, Jong Pil Kim journeyed to the United States in November, 1961, for talks with American leaders and a meeting with President John Kennedy. After the talks, he spent two days in San Francisco before returning to Korea. During his stay in the Bay Area, Miss Kim received a call from a Colonel Han, a church member and one of Jong Pil Kim's aides and interpreters. He had arranged for Miss Kim and five American members not only to attend a reception but also to have an audience with the chairman. At the reception, members met another aide who had recently joined the church, and in the private audience Miss Kim spoke of her work in America. In addition, each American member gave a brief testimony of their experiences with the church. While the meeting was relatively routine, its significance was enormous for a community which was struggling with obscurity and rejection. Bo Hi Pak. Military Attache at the Korean Embassy in Washington and later Rev. Moon's chief public translator in America, Colonel Bo Hi Pak first visited the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife en route to his post in Washington. A dedicated member since being led to the movement in 1957 by Miss Kim, Col. Pak began missionary activities in Washington, D.C. within the context of his diplomatic career much in the same way as Miss Kim had done as a student. He spoke widely in churches, established a Bible study group, and by early 1963, had set up a karate institute with his cousin, Jhoon Rhee. 42 Col. Pak was also helpful in securing a loan to finance the third edition of the Principle book. However, in March, 1963, Miss Kim received disturbing news that Col. Pak had incorporated a separate association in Arlington, Virginia. On embassy business to the Bay Area in August of that year, the situation was not ameliorated by Col. Pak's proposal to write "another book on the Principle." 43 Although Miss Kim, herself, later relocated in Washington, D.C., it was clear in 1963 that if not factionalized, there was at least competition within missionary ranks. Civil authorities Apart from visa problems and the process of incorporation, the Bay Area community of 1960 to 1963 had surprisingly little contact with civil authorities. This was especially remarkable in that the community was highly committed, communal and conversion-orientated. The only real exception to this situation was a continuing struggle with the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection in May and June, 1962. In January of that year, the group signed a contract to purchase a large, three story building at 1309 Masonic Avenue, San Francisco. The group was tired of throwing away their money each month on rent, and as the building had three separate flats, it was conceived of as a place for Rev. Moon and possible training site for future missionaries. The group came up with the necessary $2000 down payment and in March, 1962, moved in. The community engaged in an extensive renovation effort for the next two months. Walls were steamed in preparation for painting, floors were sanded, and the accumulated grime of decades removed. By May, the building was in shape, and Galen Pumphrey worked for several days to make a large, four-by-five foot signboard which read: THE DIVINE PRINCIPLE CENTER Hung from the second floor window, the sign was large enough for both pedestrians and traffic to see. The local building inspector also noticed it, and two days later issued a warning that to open a public assembly hall fire equipment needed to be installed, fire exits marked, etc.-improvements which would cost $3,000-$4,000. On consulting their lawyer and the ACLU, members found that this was true, and on the following day, the inspector demanded that the sign be taken down and all meetings stopped. This precipitated a serious dilemma for the center that was solved only by the rental of a tiny storefront church at 290 Valencia Street, an area crowded with bars, garages and slum tenements. Their 'church in exile' continued the confrontation with the Department of Inspection for the remainder of May and most of June, 1962. Still living at the center, the group was informed on June 4, 1962 that the plumbing was inadequate. Having fixed that, they then were required to change the wiring and install fire escapes. The group sensed that someone was instigating these inspections. Indignant, Miss Kim wrote a letter to the Superintendent of the Bureau of Building Inspection: I confronted him with the unfairness of making our house the target of numerous inspections when there were such flagrant, unnoticed violations elsewhere. We had renovated the entire house so that it was transformed. Why now should there be a siege of inspections when the house had been untouched for years? I informed him that we knew who had directed the Department so exclusively to us. . . Two days later the inspector came and expressed his apologies . . . we removed the sign from the Valencia street church and resumed meetings at the center on Masonic. However, we didn't put the sign board up again. 45 Academics Given the limitations of text and membership, the movement's contact with Bay Area academics was necessarily limited, although not without import. The role of Dr. Hopkins, President of Williams College in Berkeley, in offering Miss Kim the opportunity to speak at his school already has been noted. Although the response of seminary professors was negligible, a number of individuals from the larger academic community contributed to group's development. Swami Amar Jyoti. A Hindu leader who came to America and spoke in various cities to generate interest in his ashram and future international school in India, Swami Amar Jyoti spent four days at the Unification center while visiting the Bay Area in September 1961. Miss Kim, who had been Professor of Comparative Religions at Ehwa University in Korea, was most interested. During his stay, the Swami lectured on self realization, demonstrated Yoga techniques, and spoke about India while members taught him the Principle. Although neither side converted, they remained friends and Swami Amar Jyoti's future letters were recorded in the group's newsletters. Guest speakers. Experts in various subjects or disciplines were often invited to the center to speak. This practice was especially pronounced during the summer of 1962 after purchasing the Masonic Avenue house and resolving the conflict with the Department of Inspection. Guests included the superintendent of a large mental hospital, a customs collector, a sociologist, a surgeon, a political analyst from the International Institute, a psychiatrist, and an ex-Rosicrucianist. Most of these guests were Ph.D.'s. Although none converted, their presence and talks helped lend stature to the community. John Lofland. A Ph.D. student in sociology at the University of California at Berkeley, John Lofland met Doris Walder at a UFO convention and after several preliminary contacts, decided to do his doctoral dissertation on the group. Having obtained permission from Miss Kim to move in, Lofland played a decisive, if puzzling and finally troublesome role in the community's development. As a participant observer from March, 1962, until January, 1963, when he was asked to leave, Lofland represented the movement's first encounter with a 'disinterested' academic investigator. The misunderstandings that accrued in this encounter were heated and difficult. Miss Kim asserted, I rather naively thought that he would write a neutral history of our movement. But I saw more and more that he was not genuine and that his view was distorted. His sarcasm became more and more open and his derogatory conception of our work became more obvious. I told him finally, to move out and not come to our meetings. 46 For his own part, John Lofland later wrote in the methodological appendix to his thesis: It seems, in fact, that for eleven months I had unwittingly and systematically mislead the DP's with the standard participant observer's open, permissive, sympathetic stance. While I was trying to appear noncommittal, although very interested, the DP's were reading this as existential concern. Lee [i.e., Miss Kim] now decided I was unlikely to convert, and so there was no longer any justification for my presence. 47 Whichever interpretation was accurate, there was little question, as Lofland later noted, that "the presence of one who is not quite a member inherently involves some difficulties for all the parties." 48 "The World Savers: A Field Study of Cult Processes," Lofland's 588-page dissertation, was submitted to and approved by the University of California at Berkeley's department of sociology in June, 1964. In 1966, the thesis was published in abridged form by Prentice-Hall, as Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith. Lofland went on to teach at the University of Michigan; Sonoma State College, California; and the University of California at Davis. Despite the use of pseudonyms in both of his studies (i.e., Bay City = San Francisco; Miss Lee = Miss Kim; Northwest Town = Eugene), neither the dissertation nor the published work were appreciated or acknowledged by the group. Miss Kim wrote, "By ignoring it completely, we showed our disapproval and could not be held responsible for the content." 49 On the other hand, Lofland's work, especially his theory of conversion, was well received in sociological circles. 50 Spreading the Word Beyond survival, Miss Kim's group's purpose in coming to the Bay Area was to spread the message of Divine Principle, to win those who responded, and to send these fellow laborers off to new mission fields. The practicalities of visas, incorporation papers, improvement of the text, and community development were all secondary to the primary task of evangelization. Nonetheless, because the message was new, because the community was inexperienced, and because potential converts were less plentiful than in the late 1960s, spreading the message was difficult. John Lofland described the "DP's proselytization activities" in terms of "two temporally sequential phases": 1. Strategies of access. In what ways and under what conditions can missionaries gain access to and the attention of non-believers for the purpose of conversion? 2. Promotion of conversion. After gaining access, what are the ways in which missionaries can attempt to promote prospects into accepting a world view? 51 Within each of these phases, Lofland lists several other categories. Classed under "strategies of access" were "embodied (face-to-face) and disembodied (mediated) communications." Classed under "conversion- promotion tactics" were "the briefing session" and "the study group." 52 Although Lofland's research was limited to eleven months between February, 1962, and January, 1963, his analysis is useful in understanding not only sociological processes of Miss Kim's group but also its historical development. Strategies of access Having come to the cosmopolitan Bay Area, Miss Kim's group quickly sought to reach the populace with their message. Lofland noted: Now assembled in Bay City (i.e. San Francisco), DP's saw themselves as a saved remnant with a new world before them waiting to be conquered. Hope of imminent success was strong. 53 The group, however, found that it was one thing to have the message and quite another thing to spread it. During years 1960-63, they experimented with numerous strategies to reach the larger population. Their "disembodied" attempts can be grouped into two divisions: first, public lecture series; and second, handbills, ads, personals, articles, and letters. Almost without exception, these attempts were failures. The first effort of the group to move the city came in early January, 1961, shortly after their arrival in San Francisco. Galen persuaded Miss Kim to rent a hall and offered to lecture the Principle. With great anticipation, the group rented the Lions Club Hall for a series of four Mondays and placed an ad in the classified section of the San Francisco Chronicle: A NEW MESSAGE The results were not gratifying. Miss Kim noted, "Despite our preparation and hope, only one man showed up. The lecture Galen had planned was instead an informal chat. We canceled the hall." 54 The next public talk attempted by the group was Miss Kim's March, 1961, speech at Williams College's School of Metaphysical Inquiry. Given wide notice in the school's March flyer, fifty-two people attended. As a result, it was arranged for Miss Kim to teach a regular class, and the school's April flyer announced her lectures. Unfortunately, this effort repeated the pattern of the Lions Club. John Lofland reported: Those interested had . . . apparently heard enough the first time. Not a single person appeared for Lee's [i.e., Kim's] first class, and the rest of them were canceled. 55 By September, 1961, the group was ready to try again with a public lecture series, although this time utilizing a different medium. As Miss Kim put it, We were impatient with the slow expansion of our movement and were looking for ways to make our message known more quickly. We decided to look into radio broadcasting. 56 After finding the prices or requirements of most stations prohibitive, several members had an interview with Pastor Jim, who had a program on KSAN, a local religious station with a largely black audience. At eighteen dollars for fifteen minutes each Sunday morning from 9:15-9:30, the group contracted to do a series of taped broadcasts for eight Sundays. Miss Kim wrote eleven talks covering all twelve chapters of the Principle, Doris did the reading, and George Norton taped them. Running from late September to the first Sunday in November, 1961, "The Age of Restoration" radio broadcasts were disappointing. John Lofland noted: The total result was two phone calls, one from a bedridden elderly lady . . . and another from Negro minister. Neither appeared at the DP center. 57 Making the most of their 'exile' to Brother Bob Guajao's storefront church during their dispute with the Building Inspector, the group decided on yet another public lecture series, this time a "Bible Week" to begin Tuesday, June 12, 1962. They had some months before obtained a permit to operate a sound truck, and beginning June 8th, George Norton rode the streets of San Francisco with a repeating thirty-second tape of Doris' voice: Ladies and gentlemen, we are proclaiming God's new revelation, the Divine Principle. This message gives the answer to the worldwide turmoil and what will happen in the earth in the next few years. We have entered, since 1960, the Golden Age. Come and listen at 290 Valencia nightly at 7:30.58 Again, the results were less than spectacular. According to Lofland, On opening night, Tuesday the 12th, twelve DP's and sundry hangers-on appeared at the storefront church. They far outnumbered the audience: an emaciated working-class male who left after an hour; a fortyish Filipino male who sat reading a newspaper; a sixtyish working-class female who walked out within twenty minutes; and three small boys, aged nine or ten, who were ushered out because of loud play. 59 Besides public lecture series, Miss Kim's group experimented with other mass-oriented appeals, all with limited success. Before and after the Lions Club episode, the group printed handbills and distributed them door-to-door and at Union Square in downtown San Francisco. While the handbills did contain basic information such as a Post Office box number for purchasing books and a phone number to call for further study, John Lofland's comments are instructive: Unlike most handbills, this one was long and complex. It was typed single-spaced, filling the entire sheet with almost fifty lines of text. Unlike the usual handbill style of frequent capitalization, not a single word was in capitals and no part stood out. It was hardly designed to catch even a fleeting interest. It was rather the sort of document one had to study; it embodied a meticulous, academic approach to the problem of access and interest development. 60 Along with handbills, the group tried conventional ads in the Saturday religion section of the newspaper, again with limited success. More promising, at least initially, were the 'personals'. The first of these, Patty Pumphrey's, appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, June 24, 1962: "For the key to perfection, call MA 1-6609." Unlike the conventional ads, this one brought a heavy response. Lofland noted, "People may not have been interested in new revelations, but they were at least intrigued by perfection." Unfortunately, not all callers were serious: By the end of the week the ad had more nuisance than access value. There was much phone ringing and much baiting and hanging up. 61 In September, the group tried again, placing three personals, one per week, in the Sunday Chronicle: WHY the rapid increase of suicide today? MA 1-6609 WHY the vast amount of mental illness in San Francisco? MA 1-6609 WHO can stop moral decay? MA 1-6609 Again, the results were distracting: The phone began ringing twenty to thirty times a day. About half offered nothing but the click of a phone hanging up when answered. By the third week, only four calls had produced people who appeared at the center. None . . . came more than once. 62 Prior to the use of ads, Miss Kim wrote another article. This one, rather than theological like the one she had written in Oregon, was journalistic. Entitled, "Four Thousand Koreans Are Proclaiming the Advent of the Great New Age," it was sent to Fate and to Chime magazines, two New Age publications. However, as Miss Kim noted, "We had no response from the article." 63 The last attempt at what John Lofland termed "disembodied" communication was a massive letter writing campaign undertaken at the University of California campus at Berkeley. Peter Koch, a thirty-four year old German student who had joined the movement, was concerned to reach other foreign students. Spending much of September and October, 1962, going through some 25,000 cards in the student file locating foreign students by copying off the name, address, religion (if any), and nationality of "anyone not from the U.S.," Peter sent hand signed letters to over 1,900 students. The result, as he noted, was "not very impressive." 64 Out of 150 who responded by phone, thirty-six came to hear the message. Only one joined: Edwin Ang, a Chinese student from Indonesia working on his doctorate in economics. Summarizing these efforts, John Lofland concluded: One fact about these strategies is inescapable: they consistently failed to produce the results desired by the DP's. These efforts were not only failures by external criteria (no matter how low one's expectations), but, more important, they were perceived by the DP's as truly abortive. The failures became a source of threat to faith and hope that had to be managed. 65 Basically, management took two forms. First, was the realization by the community that they lacked an adequate foundation for certain of the programs they had envisioned. Hence, time was spent improving the text, incorporating the group, obtaining a training center, maintenance and preparatory functions -- until the kairos was right. The second response to the failure of mass-proselytization attempts was an affirmation by the community that "personal contact was the most effective way to initiate access and gain interest." 66 Personal witness. The personalized, or what John Lofland termed the "embodied" approach led the community to witness through their jobs, in churches, and in public settings. While this proved more successful than mass communication efforts, there were still many failures, especially when the community undertook programmatic efforts to gain converts. The first of these was a decision in August, 1961, to initiate door-to-door witnessing. Miss Kim noted: For this purpose we had printed ID cards to be carried by members which showed their status as evangelists of HSA-UWC. We had been eager to begin this but waited until our incorporation was settled. 67 Door-to-door canvassing was combined later in the month with door-to-door sales. Al Taylor, a salesman who had moved into the center, convinced everyone that to reach the residential areas and to master the technique of door-to-door witnessing, sales training was a must. Doris, Pauline, and Patty subsequently quit their jobs and along with Douglas Burns, a friend of George Norton's who had moved down from Oregon, went to Watkins Products to train as salesmen. Shortly afterwards, they began making appointments. The strategy, however, was short-lived. As Lofland noted, Within two weeks it was painfully evident that far from making a pitch after completing a sale, they were having trouble getting into homes in the first place. The group's finances began to falter without the contributions of the three women. They struggled along into September when Lee (i.e., Kim) halted the venture. 68 Akin to the efforts of house-to-house witnessing were Miss Kim's efforts at minister visitation the following spring. Accompanied by two or more members, Miss Kim visited mainline churches virtually every day from March to May, 1962. The purpose was to offer each minister the group's latest handbill, "The New Age Has Arrived." According to John Lofland, "Most ministers did not seem to get beyond the first few lines . . . and the DP's were quickly ushered out the door." 69 Miss Kim also noted the lack of positive response: I . . . visited a Unitarian minister who said that he had no time to examine our message and didn't believe in apocalyptic literature. A Methodist minister told me that it would be wasting time to talk like this, because his church had its own belief . . . I had a stormy meeting with the minister of Calvary Presbyterian Church. He said that the New Testament is the final revelation and that because the goal of Christianity is different from that of other religions, unification is a wrong idea. 70 Still impatient with the slow expansion of the movement, Doris and Pauline began street preaching at Union Square in central San Francisco. Carrying a banner with the words "Christ is on Earth," 71 the two appeared daily between five and six o'clock along with the Salvation Army, a prophet with a sandwich board announcing the end of the world, and others. Lofland, again, noted the results: They found themselves quite unable to snare an audience from the flood of pedestrians, who seemed more interested in getting home than in hearing about the last days. The prophet with the sandwich board was the only person to listen to them and he had a distracting habit of walking back and forth in front of them yelling that they were anti-Christs. The situation was further complicated by another set of millennarians who sometimes got to the island before the DP's and preempted its use. 72 No less than Miss Kim in Oregon, the community in the Bay Area, though feeling great responsibility, was helpless in many ways. Every systematic attempt of their own to spread the message and expand the movement had ended in failure. It was clear that the Bay Area was not going to convert en masse to the Principle, and in this context, the group's expectations began to be modified. Rather than all-at-once hopes, members saw that they would have to win people one by one into the New Age. This modification of expectation was also reflected in a modification of proselytization techniques: as members found it more effective and realistic to meet people, at least initially, less on an ideological than on a personal or human level. This, in one sense, required a greater amount of sensitivity to the realities of a given situation. When such sensitivity was lacking, this approach resulted in charges of deception. 73 In any case, given the historical circumstances, this approach became prevalent. Conversion-promotion techniques As Lofland noted, strategies of access merely secured interested persons or prospects. This was only the "rudimentary first step," after which "the DP's . . . could get on with the real work of promoting conversion." Contrasting the group's recruitment practices with more sophisticated church bodies, Lofland maintained, While the DP's engaged in considerable promotion activity, their procedures were not systematized. Promotion was in many respects haphazard and dependent upon the inclination of adherents at any given moment. This variableness is most acutely indicated by the DP's extremely limited vocabulary for referring to differential prospect alignments. . . . Thus almost all prospects were lumped together as either "interested people," "new people," "students," "material," or sometimes even "prospects." Likewise, discernable promotion vehicles and tactics often lacked designative terms. The enterprise was conducted in the style of a group of amateurs haltingly but seriously playing the game of winning souls. 74 Despite underdeveloped and variable approaches to the question of recruitment, Lofland noted that the "DP's" utilized "two concrete promotion vehicles . . . the 'briefing session'. . . (and) the 'study group' or meeting." The "briefing session." What Lofland termed the briefing session consisted of an introductory presentation of the Principle to an interested guest or guests. In February, 1961, the group made a tape recording of the lecture which not only standardized the presentation but also made for a degree of flexibility. As Miss Kim noted, Because we had taped the lectures, we invited people to come whenever they could. Often they would come during the day-even in the morning. Sometimes we had three tapes of different chapters playing in separate rooms. 75 At the same time, there were problems with the taped lectures. The chief of these was length. Lofland wrote: Lee [i.e., Kim], anxious to make certain that the initial picture given was an adequate one, abbreviated the DP book only slightly, and when recorded . . . it ran four and a half hours. Elmer [i.e., George Norton] set up a tape recorder in the scene room, where visiting prospects were taken and left alone to listen. Not surprisingly, DP's found that few people would sit four and a half hours listening to a tape recording. They tended to walk out without a word after an hour or so or to excuse themselves, claiming the press of other business. Sometimes the tape would finish and the DP's entered the room only to find the prospect sound asleep. Eventually the recording was split into two segments of about two hours each, and an attempt was made to have people come to separate sittings. This of course posed the problem of getting anyone to return. 76 According to John Lofland, "The four and a half hour format endured for eight months before it was at last agreed that it was too long." At that point, it was reduced to two and a half hours, and six months later, to an hour and twenty minutes. Six minutes more were shortly to be pared off. Finally, in November, 1963, Miss Kim reduced the tape to thirty-four minutes. Again, the motivating factor behind this progression was the reality of their situation. Just as in witnessing, the group found that even an interested person could not digest the Principle at one sitting. At the same time, they saw that doctrine alone was not enough to inspire conversion, but that affective bonds were required. Shortening the tape and adopting the practice of sitting in the room during the session to answer questions or clarify points were attempts to deal with these problems. The "study group." Once a guest had expressed interest in the Principle, that person was invited to participate in the study group. There, the attempt was made to integrate affective bonds with an understanding of the Principle. Guests shared in song, prayer, and fellowship as well as in the serial reading of the Principle. Still, there were problems. John Lofland noted: The study group was designed to lead a set of persons from the beginning to the end of the DP book. The ideal pace was to study one chapter a meeting, two meetings a week for six weeks. This projected course was rarely realized. Only a handful of people attended that often or that long. The course was frequently started for new people, who would then drop out; new people would come, and the book would be started over; they would drop out, and so forth. 77 The opposite problem was with those who persisted interminably in study groups without casting their lot with the community. Again, as Lofland noted, What a person should do with his life in view of the DP was so obvious, they thought, that it need not even be spoken. Therefore, when confronted with prospects who had all the information and were still disinclined to give themselves over, DP's were at a loss as to what to do next . . .DP's were likewise at a loss in dealing with verbal converts. Those people knew the situation and apparently believed in it, but inexplicably held back. 78 Despite the limitations in recruitment practices the group slowly began to grow. During the eighteen months that the community lived together in San Francisco (first at Cole Street and then at Masonic Avenue), at least eleven new people moved into the "center." 79 While most of these were temporary occupants, several had become bona-fide residents by the time the community radically altered the direction of its mission. Bay Area and Beyond The group radically altered its center life in July, 1962 by dispersing to various cities throughout the Bay Area. Miss Kim reflected on that decision in her memoirs: We decided to open up mission territory in the suburbs and communities around San Francisco. We had been wanting to expand our work. All of us wanted to go out to new cities and thus spread the message widely . . . Now we had purchased a house and several members lived at the Masonic center. We could maintain it and carry on our work, spiritually as well as financially. As soon as the remodeling work was finished, I called a meeting. They were eager to go out. 80 Not surprisingly, Miss Kim's recollection was at variance with John Lofland's report of the event: On July 3, Lee [i.e., Kim] assembled converts for a family meeting, at which time she laid it on the line. She was getting tired of working with people who did not work more swiftly. She threatened to leave and start work someplace else with a new group, because she was getting tired of "looking at the same old faces" and wanted to see new people. A choice was set: converts had to go out and start new works in neighboring towns, or else she was leaving. More than that, it was time that converts proved themselves by going out and working alone. 81 Undoubtedly, both reflections were true. The group had wanted to expand the mission and, at the same time, was frustrated with the lack of progress. Regardless of the motivation, the decision was made. Doris left for San Jose on July 6th. Pauline departed for Berkeley on the 10th. Patty went to Hayward on the 17th, and Galen left for Burlingame on the 20th. George Norton remained at San Francisco headquarters to assist Miss Kim. For the purposes of gaining membership, the dispersion through the Bay Area was a constructive step. In the second eighteen months that Miss Kim's group spent in the Bay Area, at least eighteen new members joined as well as numerous associates. The dispersion led also to the institution (or re-institution) of the monthly newsletter, Miss Kim's frequent circuit rides, and the weekend training session. The Newsletter The monthly newsletter which Miss Kim last typed and sent out from Eugene, Oregon, in November, 1960, was re-instituted in September, 1963. As she noted, Once again we needed a newsletter, since now we had opened outlying centers in San Jose, Berkeley, Burlingame, and Hayward. A newsletter would be helpful to keep everyone in touch with other members and their activities. I typed newsletter number three on the 9th. . . . We continued our monthly newsletter from then on. 82 Entitled New Age Frontiers, this monthly newsletter was the official periodical of Miss Kim's group until 1973. During these ten years, its format changed little. Miss Kim wrote: I edited letters which members sent and translated Korean and Japanese news from letters and magazines. I included articles based on the books I had read and put in what educational material I could find to broaden the members and to equip them to deal with the questions of their students. 83 As members pursued missionary activities in various locales, a significant portion of each newsletter was devoted to "letters from the field." In these letters, members shared reports of recent witnessing activities, testimonies of new converts, and general news. According to John Lofland, the letters were equally important as a medium for expressions of love and devotion: In some ways it (the newsletter) seemed to be a more effective underpinning of faith than simply living together. The newsletter gave permanent expression to devotional vocalizing, resolutions to work, and admonitions to persevere. DP's frequently re-read their accumulated issues and seemed to gain new inspiration each time. The oral is ephemeral, but the written can become sacred and a source of ever-renewed faith. 84 Not only did the newsletter connect Miss Kim's group but also, through her translations of letters from Korea and Japan, it solidified a connection to the international movement. Under "News from Korea," Miss Kim reported regularly on the 40-day Enlightenment movements during which a reported 6,000 volunteers evangelized the country villages of South Korea. Beginning in December, 1963, Miss Kim also began to report "News from the Japanese Family." During that month, several young leaders from Risshokoseikai, a large Buddhist sect, converted, summoned 150 district youth leaders to hear the Principles, and ordered 3,000 books. The following spring, she reported on the Japanese family's contact with Mr. Takahashi, head of the Kotonari Shinto sect and tutor to the Royal Family. 85 Besides relating to events within the Unification movement, the newsletter also connected members to Christian and non-Christian religious traditions. Synopses of Gospel commentaries were included in successive months, and Miss Kim also devoted a substantial amount of space to a comparative exposition of major world religions. In addition to explicitly educational materials, most newsletters began with one of Miss Kim's sermons. These usually combined millennial sentiments with tough-minded pragmatism. Typical titles were "Heaven Is the Kingdom of Use," "Let us Expand the Territory of Good," "How Does the New World Start?" and "Wisdom, Sober Judgment." 86 Circuit Rider The newsletter was not the only connecting point for members in the Bay Area following expansion. Another was Miss Kim herself. Dispersion to disparate locales in the Bay Area was a signal for her to begin the circuit rides that had characterized her mission work in Oregon. Unlike Oregon, however, Miss Kim this time had members at her stops and a driver, George Norton. As early as August 5, 1962, while visiting several guests of Doris in San Jose, she set up the basic pattern for these rides: leave San Francisco at 2:30 p.m., help prepare for the evening gathering, speak following the tape, and arrive back at San Francisco at 1:30 a.m. 87 Berkeley and San Jose were the most active centers, and Miss Kim met new members at each. By December, 1962, her trips were coordinated so that she visited San Jose on Tuesdays and Berkeley on Thursdays. Although activities were somewhat curtailed during that month by proofreading the third edition of the Principle text, by January, the Berkeley center contacted Emilia Rathbun, and Palo Alto became a regular stop also. An excerpt from Miss Kim's memoirs, dated March 1962, captures the flavor of her travels: Each of the women in Emilia's group held gatherings in their homes, and some invited me to come and teach. During the month I taught a group of three in San Mateo and nine women in San Carlos. I also traveled to Galen's house in Burlingame to teach. Gordon's mother and two friends had studied with Gordon. I went to Los Altos and studied with them. I went to Emilia's once again and, of course, to San Jose and Berkeley. Training Session Although Miss Kim's visits continued unabated into early spring, by May, 1963, they were replaced by a new development, the training session. Rather than have Miss Kim go out to the various centers, the centers began to bring guests to headquarters. This innovation first occurred the previous December when five people from San Jose came up for a short training session. A month later, Doris brought two more students up, but it wasn't until May that the first official training session was held. Miss Kim wrote: We held our first formal training session on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Members gathered from all centers to attend. Some arrived Friday night. On Saturday morning members took physical exercise together, cleaned the house, and began to practice lecturing. 88 Intended for members, it was almost by accident that the group found that the "training session" was a viable recruiting device for new people as well. Miss Kim noted: Ernie Stewart attended. He had responded to an ad. . . in the paper. . . . At the training session I lectured chapters one through six. Ernie was fascinated. We had two hours of testimony in the afternoon, and in the evening Joe Mason taught chapters seven through twelve. On Sunday everyone practiced lecturing. 89 The training session made both the briefing session and the study group obsolete as recruitment devices. With members learning how to lecture, the impersonal tape could be discarded, and by collapsing all twelve chapters of the Principle into one weekend session, the protracted study group was no longer necessary. Combining lectures with fellowship and testimonies, the training session was an intensely potent experience. Recognizing its potential, the group quickly held two more training sessions in May. They finally had found a viable recruitment device. Crisis Although prospects brightened for Bay Area expansion during the first six months of 1963, there were also several threatening developments. Miss Kim learned in March that Col. Bo Hi Pak had incorporated a separate association in Arlington, Virginia and had applied for a federal tax exemption ahead of her. Also in that month, she heard that John Lofland was continuing his investigation by contacting people whose names he had copied from the center guest book. In April, as noted, Miss Kim found out that her visa application had been lost for a year and, on inquiring, was given thirty days to reapply or leave the country. Then, though not exactly a threat, the community was at least depleted by the departure of five members in May and June to mission fields outside the Bay Area. Peter Koch and Ursula Schumann left for Germany. Douglas Burns, now a two-year member, left the San Francisco center for Fresno on the 8th, and on the 22nd, Doris Walder and Orah Schoon left San Jose to begin mission work in Los Angeles. As disruptive as any of these developments may have been, the major crisis of the period was a severe appendicitis attack suffered by Miss Kim. More critical than any deportation proceedings, Miss Kim recalled the June episode in her memoirs: On the 28th a pain began on my right side, and I threw up quite a lot. On the 29th I went to Oakland and taught a group. . . . The pain intensified. I arrived home about midnight and the pain became extremely severe. I slept only about two hours, and awoke. The pain was almost unbearable. In desperation I called George at work and had him paged at 4:00 a.m. He couldn't have known my state, and reasoned that there was little to be done at that hour since everyone was asleep. He said that he would come home at 7:30 and advised me to take some Pepto-Bismol to soothe my stomach. When George came back he tried to get doctors he knew, but none were available. Finally, Dr. Kim, a Korean physician, was recommended. He came at 11:00 and examined me. He said that it was appendicitis and that it was very late. He said there was no time to call an ambulance and that we must leave immediately. He drove us to the Presbyterian Medical Center where I was operated on from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. I awoke five hours later. It had been necessary to cleanse the intestine since my appendix had ruptured. He said that it was almost too late and that I must have had "heavenly luck" to have survived. 90 Success The group suffered a near tragedy in the appendicitis attack of Miss Kim. Yet, in many ways, her illness was the last storm of many the group had absorbed since transplanting themselves from Oregon to the Bay Area. Having come successfully out of this last one, Miss Kim and the group reaped abundantly in the next few months. Not only did Miss Kim win her long awaited immigrant's visa, but the group received favorable news in its quest for a Federal tax exemption. In addition, the community received the long awaited copies of the third edition of The Divine Principles. More importantly, the group reaped a full harvest of new converts. Pauline Phillips, who had moved to Sacramento, brought John and Sandi Pinkerton to the Principle. The Pinkertons, in turn, brought Paul and Christel Werner, a German couple who were living in Sacramento with their son Klaus. Galen Pumphrey, in Burlingame, witnessed to Jim Fleming, a former neighbor of his from Kansas, and his wife, Mary, both of whom were members of the Yokefellows Interdenominational Christian fellowship. Gordon Ross brought Lowell Martin, a junior executive from Oakland. Nor was the Bay Area the only locale for recruitment. Doris and Orah were winning new people in Los Angeles, including Teddy Verheyan who sent a large financial contribution of his entire savings. Joe Mason, a member from San Jose who had been drafted, brought Philip Burley, a fellow soldier at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. All of these people came together in November 1963 for "Children's Day," one of three holidays instituted by the movement. 91 The entire fruit of Miss Kim's and her group's three-year effort in the Bay Area assembled at Masonic Avenue for the November 16th celebration. Philip Burley, the soldier from Fort Sill, obtained a leave and flew in on the 13th. Three young men who had been studying the Principle in Los Angeles hitchhiked to San Jose and walked the rest of the way to San Francisco. Other Los Angeles members and students arrived on the 14th. Teddy Verheyan's roommate came from Los Angeles on a bicycle and arrived on the 15th. On that same day, members arrived from Fresno and Sacramento. At last, Masonic Avenue center was filled! Miss Kim described the celebration: Twenty-four people met at midnight on the 16th for special prayer and ceremony for Children's Day. For the day's celebration, fifty-one people gathered. It was such a joy to see carload after carload of people arriving. Some had been like isolated lights here and there. Now they were coming together, and it was like a bonfire. New members were introduced and gave their testimonies. Old members could meet again and share their many new experiences. It was like a happy family reunion, one that didn't center only in the past, but was actively planning the future. We heard local reports from Los Angeles, Sacramento, Berkeley, Fremont, Burlingame, Oakland, Fresno, San Jose, and Oklahoma. We ate turkey dinner together, gave personal testimonies, and saw Philip's slides of Korea. We closed after midnight. 92 The 1963 Children's Day celebration was long remembered by participants. Yet if it was a culmination of three years work in the Bay Area, it was also a turning point. Prior to the celebration, at the annual meeting of the Board for the election of officers, Miss Kim decided to resign from the presidency and recommended Gordon Ross who was elected. With a new president, new membership, and new books, everyone looked to a new future. That future, however, was different than any of them could have imagined. Within a short time, events occurred which completely altered the course of the Bay Area story. Notes 22. Kim, Memoirs, January 1961. 23. Ibid. 24. Ibid. 25. For a description of Williams College (under the pseudonym, Amhurst College), see Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 69. 26. Kim, Memoirs, July 1961. 27. Kim, Memoirs, July 1963. 28. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 139; Kim, Memoirs. July 1961 29. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 70. 30. Kim, Memoirs, January 1961. 31. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 71-72. 32. Kim, Memoirs, June 1961; Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 155-161. 33. Kim, Memoirs, September 1961. 34. Kim, Memoirs, January 1963. 35. Pauline Phillips, "News from Berkeley," New Age Frontiers, January 15 1963. 36. Young Oon Kim, "Suffering Is a Privilege," New Age Frontiers, October 10, 1963. 37. Kim, Memoirs, February 1962. 38. Ibid. 39. Ibid . 40. Gordon Ross, "News from Berkeley," New Age Frontiers, December 15, 1963. 41. Pauline Phillips, "News from Berkeley," New Age Frontiers, December 15, 1962. 42. Bo Hi Pak, "News from Arlington, Va.," New Age Frontiers, May 15, 1963. 43. Kim, Memoirs, March 1963. 44. See Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 76. 45. Kim, Memoirs, June 1962. 46. Kim, Memoirs, January 1963. 47. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 274. 48. John Lofland, "Reflection on my First Year with the Divine Principles," New Age Frontiers, January 15, 1963, 7. 49. Kim, Memoirs, June, 1963. 50. Doomsday Cult went through six printings from 1966-75 and was republished in an enlarged edition by Irvington in 1977. 51. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 8. 52. Ibid., 8-9. 53. Ibid., 248. According to Lofland, "In the mid-seventies, people began frequently to guess and assert that the `DPs' were the newly famous Moonies." Into the early eighties, Lofland acknowledged that his `secret' had become "absurdly obvious" and in 1983 he asked the president of the Unification Church in America to release him from the agreement of anonymity he had promised in 1962. Lofland states, "The president granted my request and agreed, further, that only the organization and its founder required reference by their actual names. All other participants would be identified only in terms of their movement positions." (see John Lofland, Protest, New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 1985, 120-21) 54. Kim, Memoirs, Dec. 1962 55. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 72. 56. Kim, Memoirs, September 1961 57. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 73. 58. Lofland, Ibid. 28 59. Ibid., 78-79. 60. Ibid., 69. 61. Ibid., 80. 62. Ibid., 84. 63. Kim, Memoirs, December 1961. 64. Peter Koch, "News from Berkeley," New Age Frontiers, December 5, 1972; Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 87. 65. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 89. 66. Ibid., 84. 67. Kim, Memoirs, August 1961. 68. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 117. 69. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 111 70. Kim, Memoirs, March and April 1962. 71. Ibid, May 1962. 72. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 117-118. 73. Lofland refers to this as "covert presentation." See Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 91-108. 74. Ibid., 120-121. 75. Kim, Memoirs, March 1961. 76. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 125. 77. Ibid., 129-130. 78. Ibid., 186. 79. Kim, Memoirs, January 1961-July 1962. 80. Ibid., July 1962. 81. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 253. 82. Kim, Memoirs, September 1962. 83. Ibid. 84. Lofland, Doomsday Cult, 234. 85. "News from Japan," New Age Frontiers, April 15, 1963. 86. New Age Frontiers, September 15 and December 15, 1962; April 15 and November 15 1963. 87. Kim, Memoirs, August 1962. 88. Kim, Ibid. May 1963. 89. Ibid, May 1963. 90. Ibid., June 1963. 91. The others were Parents' Day and World Day. The church's most important holiday, God's Day, began on January 1, 1968.
92. Kim, Memoirs, November 1963. |
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