BOB ABERNETHY: And now our Cover Story: the Unification Church. Last weekend, more than 40,000 people attended a mass marriage ceremony in Washington, sponsored by the church founded by Reverend Sun Myung Moon. It was the third such ceremony in the 1990s. Paul Miller takes a look at the controversial church and its future in the United States.PAUL MILLER: At Blessing '97, most of the 2,500 couples whose marriages were arranged by Reverend Moon came from other countries, a sign of how small the U.S. church has become. It's much smaller, some say, than its official membership of 50,000.
ROBERT PARRY (Editor, IF Magazine): In talking to a number of people who have been in fairly significant positions in the church, who are now out, they were saying that the numbers are down to about 3,000.MILLER: It's not the first stumble for Moon and his attempts to make America a lynchpin of his organization. After almost 40 years of trying, it's still mostly non-Americans, such as this Canadian, who believed Moon is the Messiah.
DIMITRI TARDIA: I think everyone has misunderstood -- every religious theater that has come has been misunderstood in some way, and I think that it's just a matter of time.MILLER: Some sociologists say the church's time has passed -- that as with 19th-century religious communes, its initial burst of activity has been followed by stagnation.
Dr. J. GORDON MELTON (Institute of the Study of American Religion): In America, the ideas of the church have not found a large audience. Reverend Moon has attracted a lot of attention, but at the same time, at least in terms of American expectations, has not appeared to be very Messianic.
Unidentified Woman: I'm protesting the Moon mind control.
Dr. TYLER HENDRICKS (President, Unification Church of America): It is an expansion, it's a maturation, but it's also a realization of the original intention which Reverend Moon had. He didn't come to create a sect or his own church. He comes representing God's blessing, which is meant for all of mankind.
