Unification Church

Unification Church, officially the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, religious movement founded in 1954 by Korean writer and minister Sun Myung Moon. Moon is known as Reverend Moon to his followers, who are popularly called Moonies.

Moon began his ecclesiastical career as a Presbyterian minister, but he was expelled from the denomination in 1948 for his unorthodox teachings. He established the Unification Church in 1954 after fleeing from North Korea to South Korea. In his book The Divine Principle (1952), which he wrote after intensive study of the Bible, ancient Korean shamanism, and Chinese tai ji lore, Moon maintained that through the agency of a so-called Lord and Lady of the Second Advent—that is, Moon and his wife—a holy kingdom would be established on the earth. Moon taught that the precursor of this kingdom was Jesus Christ, whose crucifixion prevented him from establishing his own kingdom through marriage and procreation. According to Moon, the Lord and Lady of the Second Advent were to fulfill Christ's purpose and save the world from the satanic influence of Communism.

During the 1960s, Moon's business interests in Korea and Japan flourished, and the Unification Church attracted thousands of followers in Korea and elsewhere despite controversy over its aggressive recruiting techniques. The church moved its headquarters to New York City in the early 1970s. In the mid-1990s the church claimed a membership of more than 2 million, and its organization extended to about 150 countries.

The Unification Church is a highly disciplined organization. Its members are active in missionary and humanitarian work. A characteristic practice is the performing of mass wedding ceremonies for members. In 1982 Moon was sentenced to 18 months in prison for tax evasion.