Unification Church

Church founded in Korea 1954 by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. The number of members (often called ‘moonies’) is about 200,000 worldwide. The theology unites Christian and Taoist ideas and is based on Moon's book Divine Principle, which teaches that the original purpose of creation was to set up a perfect family, in a perfect relationship with God.

There are few other rituals, although there is a weekly pledge, which is a ceremony of rededication. Accusations that the church engages in a cultlike programming of members, together with its business, political, and journalistic activities, have given it a persistently controversial and unsavoury reputation.