Celebrating Holy Days and Pledge Service

Pin it

We celebrate certain days every year that you won't find at other churches. These days are considered our Holy Days. They are Heavenly Parents' Day, True Parents' Day, True Children's Day, and True Day of All Things. Each of these days holds special meaning and significance for Unificationists, and they represent the days that would have been most important to God at the beginning of humanity if we had never fallen away from Him. 

Over the years, the way we have celebrated these special days has changed, but there are certain qualities that stay the same. 

One way is that we always gather for a internal celebration, called the Pledge Service. Pledge service is usually held in the morning. There is an offering table prepared beforehand. The offering table harks to the days of Old Testament offerings. Delicious fruits and snacks are prepared with a heart of offering and gratitude to God. These foods are later enjoyed at breakfast or later in the week. Offering tables are also very common in Korean tradition. Traditionally, a monetary offering representing a meaningful number (i.e. 4, 10, 400, 21, 210) is also given by attendees.

Pledge service begins with a half or full bow to our Heavenly Parent and True Parents. After that we all recite the Family Pledge in unison. There are eight points that we all affirm and pledge to work towards in our life as Unificationists.

    1. As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to seek our original homeland and establish the original ideal of creation, the Kingdom of God on Earth and in Heaven, by centering on true love.
    2. As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to represent and become central to Heaven and Earth by attending God and True Parents; we will perfect the dutiful way of filial piety in our family, patriotism in our nation, saints in the world, and divine sons and daughters in Heaven and Earth, by centering on true love.
    3. As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to perfect the Four Great Realms of Heart, the Three Great Kingships, and the Realm of the Royal Family, by centering on true love.
    4. As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to build the universal family encompassing Heaven and Earth, which is God's ideal of creation, and perfect the world of freedom, unity, and happiness, by centering on true love.
    5. As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to strive every day to advance the unification of the spirit world and the physical world as subject and object partners, by centering on true love.
    6. As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to embody God and True Parents; we will perfect a family which moves heavenly fortune and conveys Heaven's blessing to our community, by centering on true love.
    7. As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges to perfect a world based on the culture of heart, which is rooted in the original lineage, through living for the sake of others, by centering on true love.
    8. As the Owner of Cheon Il Guk, our family pledges, as we enter the Completed Testament Age, to achieve the ideal oneness of God and humankind in love through absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience, thereby perfecting the realm of liberation of the Kingdom of God on Earth and in Heaven, by centering on true love.

After the Family Pledge, the officiator will lead a prayer and a short message around the significance of the particular Holy Day and how it relates to our lives. The message is typically kept very short as there are many children in the audience. Once the message is finished, the children will come on stage to cut the cake, sing of version of "Happy Birthday" related to that day, and then take a group photo. Afterwards, we will all enjoy breakfast together. All in all, the pledge service takes around thirty to forty minutes.

Depending on the Holy Day, there will be some kind of special events planned. For example, we usually prepare a special day of activities, testimonies, games, talent show, dinner, for Heavenly Parents' Day. For True Day of All Things, there may be a hike or some other kind of outdoor outing.