Bishop Joseph Guadalupe Artiaga, of the Spiritual Light Community Church, blessed with his wife, December 23, 1996, ascended to spirit world on November 24, 1999. Funeral services were held with his wife, family and congregation in the True Vine Temple of Christ in Detroit, MI, December 3, 1999 and was attended by approximately thirty members of the local Unification community. Rev. Art and Roxanne Roselle was invited to speak and offer a Seung Hwa prayer, and additional prayers were offered by our members including Rev. Myung Ho Moon, national messiah of Suriname. Our Japanese sister's choir made a musical offering. All of his brothers, also bishops in the Spiritual Light Community, and all of his children had received the Blessing of True Parents prior to his death. He was a founding board member of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification in Detroit, MI.
Born June 14, 1930, Bishop Artiaga was called to the ministry at the age of 26 years old and became president of the NAACP in Pennsylvania. His ministry took him to many states and nations, but most of his ministry centered on Detroit, where he had been raised, where he was ordained Bishop of the Spiritual Light Community in Detroit and was instrumental in the founding of several local churches of the Spiritual Light Community in the Detroit metro area. He had served in the US Army and the US Air Force, from which he had received honorary discharges. His name is honored and engraved in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. He is survived by nine children and twenty-two grandchildren.
The following testimony was added to all the programs for the ceremony:
"Joseph G. Artiaga served as an active board member of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification of Michigan, a worldwide organziation founded by the Reverend and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon. Joseph's travels took him to Chicago, Washington, D.C., Japan and Korea to study the teachings of True Family Values by Reverend Moon. These ideals and principles were incorporated into numerous sermons, bible studies and speaking engagements. Joseph G. Artiaga is a leader of love and will be dearly missed by those promoting world peace through ideal families."
On the reverse side was printed the Holy Song, "Oh, My Little Lambs" which was sung by all attending.