Wuhan Journal of Cultic Studies
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Volume 3: Issue 1, 2026
ARTICLE Religious Organization Ecology and Schism in the Contemporary Unification Church Steven Foertsch Nebraska Wesleyan University & Heewon Yang Baylor University Abstract Emergent religious groups (frequently referred to as new religious movements) are constantly changing over time, and it is often difficult for academics to follow the many shifts of the tide. One such major change currently underway is a bitter schism within the Unification movement, which has received consistent scholarly attention in the past. Up until this point, though, there has been little academic work focusing exclusively on the ongoing split, and the various organizational reasons as to why it has occurred. Through historical content, qualitative interview, and participant observation analysis of the contemporary Unification movement, we rectify this omission. Findings such as niche mechanics suggest that religious organization ecology is a relevant theory to understand schism in religious organizations and could help reintroduce structure and comparison to cultural studies of religion. Keywords: Unification Church, Unificationism, Unification Movement, World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, Family Peace Association, Sanctuary Church, Global Peace Foundation, Schism, Religious Economies, Organizational Ecology, Religious Organization Ecology. | ||