The Blessing or mass wedding ceremony is the most important Unification ritual. The bride and groom are expected to marry, but can decide to opt out without disgrace. A special Three Day Ceremony is performed by the married couple some weeks after their wedding, before they engage in sexual activity. A Pledge Service is celebrated at 5 AM each Sunday, and on the first day of each month and on January 1. Day of All Things.
Dates are variable, and are set according to a lunar calendar.
During the early 1970's, at a time when the membership of the Unification Church was growing rapidly, it was attacked by the Counter-cult Movement . The latter criticized its alleged unethical recruitment and brainwashing methods. The most common was psychological violation of personal freedom and autonomy. Such articles were used by some to justify kidnapping Unification Church members and forcibly deprogramming them. One focus of the counter-cult groups were the Unification residential seminars, where people were first invited to learn about the Church.