The Presbyterian Church of Korea | |
---|---|
Classification | Protestant |
Orientation | Calvinist |
Polity | Presbyterian |
Region | Korea |
Founder | Seo Sang-ryun |
Origin | 1884 when a church was founded in Hwanghae province. |
Separations | Gosin (1952), Gijang (1953), Tonghap and Hapdong (1959) |
Presbyterian Church of Korea | |
Hangul | 대한예수교장로회 |
---|---|
Hanja | 大韓예수敎長老會 |
Revised Romanization | Daehan yesugyo jangnohoe |
McCune–Reischauer | Taehan yesugyo changnohoe |
The Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK), also abbreviated as Yejang (Korean: 예장), is a Protestant denomination based in South Korea that follows Calvinist theology and the Westminster Confession of Faith. Since the 1950s, the denomination has separated into various branches of the same name. As of 2019, 286 branches in South Korea, many of which have separated from the PCK, use the title 'Presbyterian Church of Korea'.[1]
History
[edit]Early Missionaries
[edit]Christianity is believed to have first arrived in Korea in 1865 when pastor Robert Jermain Thomas was captured and martyred during the General Sherman incident.[2] Full-blown missions were able to take place twenty years later when Horace Newton Allen of the Northern Presbyterian Church was admitted into the royal court of Joseon as a doctor. In 1885, Horace Grant Underwood and John W. Heron arrived and established the Korean mission church for the Northern Presbyterian Church. The Korean edition of the Bible was first translated by John Ross during the 1870s. It was first printed and published by the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Scottish Bible Society in 1886.[3]
In 1889, Canadian missionary James Scarth Gale and Australian Joseph Henry Davies arrived in Korea. American missionary Samuel Austin Moffett arrived the following year. In 1891, female teachers such as Isabella Menzies, Jean Perry and Mary Fawcett arrived from Australia. Dr. James MacKenzie arrived in 1893, and in 1898, Dr. Robert Grierson, pastor W. R. Foote, and Duncan MacRae of the Presbyterian Church in Canada arrived to serve as missionaries.[4]
Dr. McKenzie died after a year and a half while working in evangelism and medical care in Sorae Church, Hwanghae Province. His efforts led to the organization of the Korean mission church of the Presbyterian Church in Canada in Wonsan. In the Southern Presbyterian Church, pastors William D. Reynolds and Lewis B. Tate arrived in 1892 and organized the Korean mission church for the Southern Presbyterian Church in Jeolla Province.[4]
In 1889, the Northern Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church of Victoria created The United Council of Presbyterian Missions (Korean: 장로교선교연합공의회), with John W. Heron as chairman, to settle issues over the unification of churches. In 1893, the council became the Council of Missions Holding the Presbyterian Form of Government (Korean: 장로교선교공의회). The two councils consisted only of foreign missionaries.[4]
First Korean Churches
[edit]The first Korean Presbyterian church was founded by Seo Sang-ryun in Hwanghae province in 1884.[5] Shortly thereafter, several foreign Presbyterian missionaries arrived on the peninsula, including Horace Allen, Horace G. Underwood, and Henry Davies.
Like other Christian groups, the Korean Presbyterians such as Gil Seon-ju were closely involved in the peaceful March 1st Movement for Korean independence in 1919.[6]
By 1937, the Presbyterian churches were largely independent of financial support from the United States.[7] Presbyterianism in Korea was reconstructed after World War II in 1947. The church adopted the name the Reformed Church in Korea.[citation needed]
In the 1950s, the church suffered tensions because of issues of theology, ecumenism, and worship. The first of these occurred in 1952, over issues related to shinto shrine worship, resulted in the formation of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin). In the second in 1953, the "Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea" separated from the PCK. In the third schism in 1959, the Presbyterian Church of Korea broke into two equal sections: the Presbyterian Church of Korea (TongHap) and The Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong).
General assembly
[edit]General assembly |
Date | Host | General Secretary | Note | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1907 | Samuel Austin Moffet | Dongnohoe | |||||
2 | 1908 | James Scarth Gale | ||||||
3 | 1909 | Horace Grant Underwood | ||||||
4 | 1910 | James Scarth Gale | ||||||
5 | 1911 | W. D. Reynolds | ||||||
1 | September 1–4, 1912 | Pyongyang Theological Seminary | Horace Grant Underwood | General assembly era | ||||
2 | September 7–11, 1913 | Soandong Church, Seoul | G. Engel | |||||
3 | September 6–9, 1914 | Namsanhyeon Church, Chaeryong | Eugene Bell | |||||
4 | September 4–18, 1915 | Seomunbak Church, Jeonju | Kim Pil-su | |||||
5 | September 2–6, 1916 | Pyongyang Theological Seminary | Yang Jeon-baek | |||||
6 | September 1–6, 1917 | Seungdong Church, Seoul | Han Seok-jin | |||||
7 | August 31–September 5, 1918 | Sincheonbuk Church, Sinchon | Kim Seon-du | |||||
8 | October 4–9, 1919 | Pyongyang Theological Seminary | Samuel Austin Moffet | |||||
9 | October 2–7, 1920 | Andong Church, Seoul | Kim Ik-du | |||||
10 | September 10–15, 1921 | Jangdaehyeon Church, Pyongyang | Lee Ki-pung | |||||
11 | September 10–15, 1922 | Seungdong Church, Seoul | Kim Seong-taek | |||||
12 | September 8–13, 1923 | Sinuiju Church | Ham Tae-yeong | |||||
13 | September 13–18, 1924 | Sinchangni Church, Hamhung | Lee Ja-ik | |||||
14 | September 12–18, 1925 | Seomunbak Church, Pyongyang | Im Taek-gwon | |||||
15 | September 11–17, 1926 | Seomunbak Church, Pyongyang | Kim Seok-chan | |||||
16 | September 9–15, 1927 | Gwangseok Church, Wonsan | Kim Yeong-hun | |||||
17 | September 7–13, 1928 | Sinjeong Church, Daegu | Yeom Bong-nam | |||||
18 | September 6–12, 1929 | Saemunan Church, Seoul | Cha Jae-myeong | |||||
19 | September 12–18, 1930 | Seomunbak Church, Pyongyang | Hong Jong-pil | |||||
20 | September 11–17, 1931 | Geumgangsan Church | Jang Gyu-myeong | |||||
21 | September 9–16, 1932 | Changdong Church, Pyongyang | Namgung Hyeok | |||||
22 | September 8–15, 1933 | Seoncheonnam Church, Sonchon | Jang Heung-beom | |||||
23 | September 7–14, 1934 | Seomunbak Church, Pyongyang | Lee In-sik | |||||
24 | September 6–13, 1935 | Seomunbak Church, Pyongyang | Jeong In-gwa | |||||
25 | September 11–19, 1936 | Yangnim Church, Gwangju | Lee Seung-gil | |||||
26 | September 10–16, 1937 | Daegu Jeil Church, Daegu | Lee Mun-ju | |||||
27 | September 9–15, 1938 | Seomunbak Church, Pyongyang | Hong Taek-gi | |||||
28 | September 8–15, 1939 | Sineuiju Jei Church, Sinuiju | Yun Ha-yeong | |||||
29 | September 6–13, 1940 | Changdong Church, Pyongyang | Kwak Jin-geun | |||||
30 | November 21–26, 1941 | Changdong Church, Pyongyang | Choi Ji-hwa | |||||
31 | October 16–20, 1942 | Seomunbak Church, Pyongyang | Kim Eung-sun | 1943–45: Discontinued due to World War II | ||||
32 | June 11–14, 1946 | Seungdong Church, Seoul | Bae Eun-hui | South Korea era | ||||
33 | April 18–22, 1947 | Daegu Jeil Church, Daegu | Lee Ja-ik | |||||
34 | April 20–23, 1948 | Saemunan Church, Seoul | Lee Ja-ik | |||||
35 | April 19–23, 1949 | Saemunan Church, Seoul | Choi Jae-hwa | |||||
36 | April 21–25, 1950 | Daegu Jeil Church, Daegu | ||||||
36 | May 25–29, 1951 | Jungang Church, Busan | Kwon Yeon-ho | |||||
37 | April 29–May 2, 1952 | Seomun Church, Daegu | Kim Jae-seok | |||||
38 | April 24–28, 1953 | Seomun Church, Daegu | Myeong Sin-hong | |||||
39 | April 23–27, 1954 | Jungang Church, Andong | Lee Won-yeong | |||||
40 | April 22–26, 1955 | Yeongnak Church, Seoul | Han Gyeong-jik | |||||
41 | September 20–25, 1956 | Saemunan Church, Seoul | Lee Dae-yeong | |||||
42 | September 19–24, 1957 | Jungang Church, Busan | Jeon Pil-sun | |||||
43 | September 25–October 1, 1958 | Yeongnak Church, Seoul | No Jin-hyeon | |||||
44 | September 24–29, 1959 | Jungang Church, Daejeon | Schism |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ 최승현 (January 2, 2019). "전국 교단 총 374개, '대한예수교장로회'만 286개". Newsnjoy.
- ^ 김만형 (1934-09-07). "宣敎五十週年맛는 長老會懷舊錄". The Chosun Ilbo.
- ^ 정인과 (1934-06-28). "朝鮮長老敎會의今昔 可驚할五十年發達史 (中)". The Dong-A Ilbo.
- ^ a b c 김만형 (1934-09-08). "宣敎五十週年맛는 長老會懷舊錄 (二)". The Chosun Ilbo.
- ^ "The Presbyterian Church of Korea : History". Pck.or.kr. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ Lee, Timothy S. (2000). "A Political Factor in the Rise of Protestantism in Korea: Protestantism and the 1919 March First Movement". Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture. 69 (1): 116–142. doi:10.2307/3170582. JSTOR 3170582.
- ^ Kenneth Scott Latourette, Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: Vol. 5: The Twentieth century outside Europe (1962) pp 414-5
Further reading
[edit]- Clark, Donald N. Christianity in Modern Korea (University Press of America, 1986)
- Grayson, James H. Korea—A Religious History (Routledge Curzon, 2002)
- Kang, Wi Jo. Christ and Caesar in Modern Korea: A History of Christianity and Politics ( State University of New York Press, 1997)
- Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: Vol. 5: The Twentieth century outside Europe (1962) pp 412–23
- Lee, Timothy S. "A Political Factor in the Rise of Protestantism in Korea: Protestantism and the 1919 March First Movement," Church History 2000. 69#1 pp 116–42. in JSTOR
- Mullins, Mark, and Richard Fox Young, eds. Perspectives on Christianity in Korea and Japan: The Gospel and Culture in East Asia (Edwin Mellen, 1995)
- Park, Chung-shin. Protestantism and Politics in Korea (U. of Washington Press, 2003)
- Harry Andrew Rhodes (1934). History of the Korea mission: Presbyterian church U. S. A., 1884-1934. Chosen mission Presbyterian church U. S. A.
- Koon Sik Shim (2008). Rev. Sang-Dong Han, The Founder of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Koshin): A Biography. The Hermit Kingdom Press. ISBN 978-1-59689-073-2.