On Sunday, June 24, 2018, the Family Church of New York City held a Tribal Messiahship Blessing Ceremony for ten couples and nine singles. Pastor Tanya’s objective for hosting this Blessing Ceremony was to provide to local tribal messiahs an opportunity and venue to bless their couples and contribute to the national goal of Blessing One Million Americans in Marriage.
The singles group comprised of divorced individuals, widowed individuals, as well as unmarried adults who have accepted to pledge their purity to Heavenly Parent until they receive their ideal spouse. Some of the Blessing recipients were the products of the tireless outreach effort implemented by Rev. Edner and Rev. Juanita Pierre-Louis in Harlem, some were invited by Joy Theriot, some by Patricio and Monica of the Latino Ministry, one couple was invited by Adiel and Midori Chavez, and one by Allyson Hagood.
Besides the couples that received the Blessing, there were about 20 guests who came as observers or as supporters of those who were receiving the Blessing. Some of these guests were invited by our brothers and sisters while some were invited by those who were receiving the Blessing. Besides guests, there were also brothers and sisters. The room was full to capacity with around 120 people altogether.
The event started with a dance performance by Andri and Renata (guests), followed by three songs from Rev. Desmond Green. One of the couples who received the Blessing, Mr. and Mrs. Miller, also performed. First, the wife sang two songs by herself, and then, a few minutes later, she returned to the stage to sing one song with her husband. There was one more dance performance by Andri and Renata, followed by a dance performance by Yurika Ono (a guest). The performance portion of the event concluded with a Holy Song (Grace of the Holy Garden) led by Rev. Green and his wife Mrs. Green, followed by the dance by a Peruvian Dance group led by our sister Auria.
The ceremony portion of the event started with a very powerful prayer from our brother Manuel Valentin. After the prayer, there was a short lecture given by Bishop Jesse Edwards titled “What Went Wrong?”, followed by another short lecture by Rev. Edner Pierre-Louis titled “God’s Ideal of Family.”
The Blessing Ceremony started with the entrance of the officiators, Bishop Jesse Edwards and Pastor Tanya Edwards, supported by five attending couples, Rev. and Mrs. Green, Jorg and Ayako Heller, Freddy and Tina Zelada, Manuel and Kumiko Valentin, and Haruhiko and Mimako Yukawa. The whole Blessing Ceremony followed the guideline provided in the Blessing One Million Americans in Marriage small handbook (the blue one).
At the end of the ceremony, there were two remarks: one presented by Rev. Juanita Pierre-Louis and the other by our sister Joy Theriot. These addresses were followed by cake cutting and three cheers of Mansei led by our Brother Manuel Valentin.
There was a group photo taken. After the group photo, couples that have just recently received the Blessing were asked to go to the Aqua Room for a quick education session on chastening ceremony. Among the couples that went, four did the Chastening Ceremony.
We encourage all the Tribal Messiahs to follow up with their tribal members and continue to educate them so that they can complete the five steps of the change of their blood lineage.
The whole program started at 10:00 AM and ended around 1:30 PM. We finished early because the Social Hall was double booked for the day.
Everybody who came was very happy and really inspired. We thank God and True Parents for giving us the opportunity to make a radical difference in people’s lineages.
