Recent Work: Sanctuary Church, Rod of Iron Ministries Ceremony

They looked more like your grandparents than a militia. Lots of grey hair, wrinkles and midriff paunch. They came to participate in a blessing ceremony. To rededicate their wedding vows and reaffirm their devotion to the "first Father" the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. And they brought their "Rods of Iron" the AR 15 and similar assault weapons with them just as their pastor had implored them to do. 

This is the Sanctuary Church of Newfoundland PA also known as the Rod of Iron Ministries, a splinter offshoot of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. Hyun Jin Moon is the late Rev. Moon's youngest son. Hyung Jin is a Harvard Divinity school graduate and the leader of this break away sect of the Unification church. His followers refer to him as the "Second King." In a press release from the church he called on his followers to bring assault rifles to the ceremony. "Blessed couples are requested to bring the accouterments of the nation of Cheon II Guk crowns representing the sovereignty of Kings and Queens and a 'Rod of Iron' designated by the Second King as an AR 15 semiautomatic rifle or equivalents such as an AK semiautomatic rifle representing both the intent and ability to defend one's family, community and 'Nation of Gheon II Guk.' "  

Gheon II Guk is the church's name for "a sovereign kingdom of heaven on earth." A heaven on earth they believe must be defended. With assault weapons. 

So on the same day that student survivors were for the first time returning to Stoneman Douglas High School since the horrific mass shooting that occurred there two weeks earlier, church members were simultaneously filing into the Sanctuary Church with their "Rods of Iron" to be blessed.