Presbyterian Church of Korea

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Presbyterian Church of Korea
Presbyterian Church of Korea logo.gif
Logo of the Presbyterian Church of Korea.
Classification Protestant
Orientation Calvinist
Polity Presbyterian
Moderator Rev. Seong Gi Cho
Associations World Council of Churches,
World Alliance of Reformed Churches,
Council for World Mission,
Christian Conference of Asia,
National Council of Churches in Korea
Geographical areas Republic of Korea
Founder Suh Sang-Ryun
Origin 1884 when a church was founded in
Hwanghae province.
Separations In the 1950s, the PCK was cut off from any remaining believers in North Korea, and three schisms occurred. In the first of these, in 1952, the Gosin group split off. In the second in 1953, the "Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea" separated from the PCK. In the third, and thus far final, schism, the Hapdong faction separated in 1959.
Congregations 6,978 [1]
Members 2,395,323[1]
Ministers 10,950[1]
Official website http://www.pck.or.kr/
Presbyterian Church of Korea
Hangul 대한예수교장로회총회
Hanja 大韓예수敎長老會總會
Revised Romanization Daehan Yesugyo Jangrohoe Chonghoe
McCune–Reischauer Taehan Yesugyo Changnohoe Ch'onghoe

The Presbyterian Church of Korea or PCK is a mainline Protestant denomination based in South Korea and currently has the second largest membership of any Presbyterian denomination in the world.[citation needed] It is affiliated with its daughter denomination, the Korean Presbyterian Church in America (KPCA) in the United States, which has adopted the "Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad" as its new name in 2009. The church, while primarily made up of Korean-speakers, welcomes people of all nationalities.

The first Korean Presbyterian minister was Suh Sang-Ryun, who founded a church in Hwanghae province in 1884.[2] 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 were closely involved in the peaceful March first movement for Korean independence, in 1919.[citation needed]

By 1937, the Presbyterian churches were largely independent of financial from the United States.[3]

In the 1950s, the PCK was cut off from any remaining believers in North Korea, and three schisms occurred. In the first of these, in 1952, the Gosin group split off. In the second in 1953, the "Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea" separated from the PCK. In the third, and thus far final, schism, the Hapdong faction separated in 1959.

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See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c "World Council of Churches - Presbyterian Church of Korea". Retrieved 2009-12-18. 
  2. ^ "The Presbyterian Church of Korea". Retrieved 2008-04-16. 
  3. ^ 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. 

External links [edit]