Hundreds Gather at Church Hosting Blessing Ceremony Featuring AR-15s

Associated PressPublished: February 28, 2018

NEWFOUNDLAND, PA - FEBRUARY 28: Couples hold AR-15 rifles and other guns during a ceremony at the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary on February 28, 2018 in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania. The controversial church, which is led by the son of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, believes the AR-15 symbolizes the "rod of iron" in the biblical book of Revelation, and it has encouraged couples to bring the weapons to a "commitment ceremony" or "Perfection Stage Book of Life Registration Blessing". Officials in the rural area in the Pocono Mountains have reportedly told elementary school parents that their children will be relocated on Wednesday to accommodate the AR-15 ceremony. The semiautomatic rifles are similar to the weapon used in a Florida high school shooting on February 14. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NEWFOUNDLAND, Pa. (AP) — Hundreds of worshippers are gathered inside a Pennsylvania-based church at a blessing ceremony for couples featuring their AR-15 rifles.

World Peace and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland believes the AR-15 symbolizes the "rod of iron" in the biblical book of Revelation, and encouraged couples to bring the weapons to the commitment ceremony Wednesday morning. The AR-15 is the gun used in the Florida high school massacre.

About 50 weapons, secured by orange zip-ties, have been checked in so far by the crown-wearing worshippers.

Getty Images

A church leader is telling those gathered that the ceremony is a blessing of couples, "not a blessing of inanimate objects." He called the AR-15s and crowns "religious accoutrements."

Outside the church are two sign-waving protesters. One sign says "shame" and the other calls the group an "armed cult."

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