Today I was invited to preach the 11:00 service at the Hyodong Church in downtown Seoul. I preached the same sermon on the transfiguration previously published in this blog. The Senior Pastor is incredibly supportive of woman in ministry, after worship he treated the group of us: myself, Rev. Min Heui Cheon, the female associate pastor from the church, Dr. Kahala Cannon, a female minister from Japan and Jonathan to coffee and sweets.
After a much needed Sunday afternoon nap, Jonathan and I went to explore Gangnam, the very high end neighborhood in Seoul sang about in Psy's popular K-Pop tune. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psy). The subway station and street were filled with young Koreans, tourists and shopping!
July 18th 2016
We needed to adjust our schedule slightly today and had to cancel a trip to visit a eco project of the PROK. We were however, able to take the train (South Korea has amazing public transportation, we cannot figure out why the U.S. does not invest in a high speed rail system) to meet with the Ecumenical Committee of the PROK. It was delightful to share lunch with roughly 17 members of the committee and to bring them greetings from Global Ministries on behalf of both the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Our presence at the lunch and meeting were a tangible connection for the ecumenical work that these pastors and lay members have been supporting through the work of the PROK. There is sincere hope that our partnership will continue and will be lived out at the grassroots level connecting congregations to one another and creating opportunities for exchanges with youth and young adults.
Today we packed up and left Seoul. We took the bullet train (we estimate that it travels at about 172 miles per hour- and has free wifi!) to Gyeongju. We were invited to be present at the annual PROK Elder's Meeting. This is a gathering of over 1,100 Elders from across the denomination. Less than 10% of Elders are woman so it is a very large gathering of men. We spent the afternoon in plenary sharing in the opening worship service, listening to an excellent ecumenical choir, and receiving introductions and reports from officers and church officials. I was asked to bring greetings from Global Ministries (United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ). It was quite an honor since I was the only woman to address the gathering. I gave my greetings and encouraged continued ecumenical partnerships. I said that throughout our trip we have been very impressed with the congregations we have encountered; their commitment to Christ, work towards reunification and significant impact each church makes in the communities in which they are located. Again, the power of partnership is being made manifest in these gatherings and it feels quite significant to have physical embodiment of our commitments to dialogue, education and support of one another, I am glad that Jonathan and I were able to be present at this event.
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