In Memory of Lynn Musgrave Criner

Seonghwa

Aug 14

Spouse: Lawrence David Criner
Children: Jacob
DOB: October 19, 1942
Blessing: July 1, 1982
Ascension: June 25, 2026
Seonghwa: August 15 at 10 am at the Founder’s Room of the Washington Times Building at 3600 New York Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20002
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/618147675

Lynn Musgrave Criner joined the Unification Church in New York City in 1974. Her Japanese spiritual mother, Kyoko Kuramoto, was witnessing there following True Father’s speech at Madison Square Garden on September 18.

Like many early members, Lynn was searching. She wanted clearer understanding, deeper truth, and a way to make sense of the world. When she heard the Divine Principle, she found the answers she had been looking for.

At that time, new guests often went to Barrytown, where Rev. Ken Sudo was leading Divine Principle workshops. Lynn attended those workshops and then joined the publication staff, helping to prepare materials for foreign missionaries to take with them to their mission countries.

In 1975, Lynn entered the first class of the Unification Theological Seminary and graduated in 1977. During those years, the seminary students invited guests to True Father’s programs at Yankee Stadium and the Washington Monument. Lynn also worked as an editor on Toward Our Third Century, a magazine researched and published by the first seminary class.

After seminary, Lynn fundraised on Long Island and later served as the State Leader of Idaho. Following her time in Idaho, she wrote advertising for the Il Hwa Ginseng Tea company.

Soon after, President David S. C. Kim asked Lynn to return to the seminary to help produce the New ERA books. New ERA, short for New Ecumenical Research Association, published the proceedings of interfaith theological conferences that brought together scholars interested in new religious movements. Lynn also helped produce one of Miss Young Oon Kim’s books.

Lynn was Blessed to Lawrence David Criner at Madison Square Garden in 1982 as part of the 2,075 Couples Blessing. She and Lawrence later worked together as editors at The World & I monthly magazine. During those years, they received the precious gift of an offering child. After a few years, Lynn stepped away from professional work and became a homeschooling mother. Her husband Lawrence ascended in 2018.

Lynn was not someone who sought the spotlight. Much of her offering was made quietly — through writing, editing, supporting providential projects, raising her son, and preserving stories that might otherwise have been forgotten.

She also left behind two books. One is The Stories of Rev. Ken Sudo, which contains stories Rev. Sudo included in his lectures, reproduced as he told them. The book is available on tparents.org. Her other book, In Praise of Goodness, God’s Dream, is Lynn’s own account of her life in the Unification Church, written with deep gratitude for the path Heaven opened before her.

In her book, Lynn wrote:

“I have led an unexpectedly good life, actually an amazing life, but the marvelous and fulfilling things I’ve experienced didn’t happen because I was adventurously taking chances. Throughout my early adult life, I was quietly searching for clearer understanding, for deeper, more comprehensive truth.

In those years, I lived with an almost unconscious sense that there was a higher, freer world out there somewhere. At the same time, like other people of my generation — or perhaps any generation — I wrestled with thorny questions: Why does evil persist unabated despite our best efforts to overcome it? Why does history move in unexpected and unpredictable ways? Why isn’t there more kindness in the world?

My parents were both college professors, and I felt well acquainted with the intellectual world around me. I wasn’t expecting to find a thinker who could help me in any significant way, but I did. I met a teacher who surprised me by shedding light on the larger questions about the human condition that generally remain unanswered. This teacher, who turned out, unexpectedly, to be the Lord of the Second Advent, was the doorway to the wonderful things that happened in my life…”

Those words say a great deal about Lynn. She was thoughtful, grateful, and sincere. She loved the truth she had found, and she gave her life to Heaven in the way she knew best — carefully, faithfully, and without fanfare.

Lynn’s love and legacy continue through her beloved son, Jacob, his wife, Yoko, and their family.

Many will also remember Lynn for her heart for the African nations, especially the nation of Togo, and her support of Holy Mother Han’s recent work in Africa. And for the African clergy and churches in the Washington, DC area, as well as her generous support of providential offerings for Ukraine and Pakistan.

We remember her with gratitude and appreciation. We honor her life, her faith, and her many offerings, and we pray that she may be received with love and peace in the eternal embrace of Heavenly Parent and True Parents.