Today we packed an overnight bag and headed across Seoul to spend the weekend with the Kangnam congregation of the PROK. This church is gigantic, seriously, what we would consider a mega church in mainline protestant Christianity. We arrived and one of the pastor's met us at the metro stop. There are 9 pastors on staff and we counted at least seven worship services on Sunday. We had a tour of the church which has a parking garage, a huge worship space, several chapels, a broadcasting center, a cafeteria, a coffee shop, numerous choir and orchestra rooms, faith formation class rooms and administrative offices, they even have a small two bedroom apartment in the church which is where we are staying for the night. Delightfully, we were there for VBS and got to see the littlest children having a pool party on the roof of the church, complete with a kiddie pool filled with fish for the kids to grab.
Three of the pastors (the pastor for administration, the pastor for the English language Sunday school, and the pastor for evangelism) took us to a nearby Korean market. The church used to be located on a property adjacent to the market so many church members work at the market. We stopped one by one at different stands owned by church members, at each one one of us would offer a blessing to the stand/church member and then the member would offer us something to eat or drink. We were stuffed by the end of the afternoon! We were able to visit a small factory that made bags, a grain shops, a pharmacy, a vegetable stand and a food stand.
After our market tour it was a relief to be back in the air conditioning in the church. Temperatures are in the 90's (F) with extreme humidity. We had a brief visit with the senior pastor and then left to have dinner with him and his family. We had a traditional Korean meal with rice and numerous side dishes. After dinner we visited a nearby monument commemorating 2,300 Koreans (including farmers, monks and women) defeating a Japanese invasion of 30,000 troops in the 1500's. The best thing were the stellar views of Seoul and the Han River stretching out for miles and miles from the vista.
July 10th 2016
Today was full of church services. We woke up and went to the 9am children's English language church service (we were excused from attending the 7am Korean service). The English service is run by a pastor from the United Church of Canada here with his wife who is a PROK pastor in Korea. The service was full of energy and lots of laughter. It was homecoming Sunday (similar to our Rally Day) so the youth made cakes to celebrate.
After worship we went with the senior pastor to greet the new member's class. This being Homecoming day there was a church-wide effort to get lapsed members to return, there were at least 60 that we were informed of in attendance today. Evangelism is something the Korean churches take very seriously, much more seriously than the mainline churches I know in the United States. This particular congregation has a six week sermon series each year on the importance of growing the church and then sets a goal. Their goal for this year was 600 visitors, 40% of which will become new members. In the bulletin there is a monthly update of the various groups in the church (everyone belongs to a small group) and the chart listed the contribution total of each group, the hours of service they have done in the community and the number of people each group has invited to attend church. This is a very different sense of membership accountability, which is something we've noticed throughout our trip. Being a member of the church is a commitment, one that is taken seriously, there's a sense that the church is doing important work for God and for the community and that every member is expected to actively participate in the congregation's mission and ministry.
After meeting with the new members, we had lunch with the church, which is always a full meal. Then we attended the first half of the adult visioning service at 2pm, about half way we were whisked away to the second half of the young adult contemporary service. When that worship service ended we hopped on the church bus with members of the congregation to drive into downtown Seoul for a service of public witness.
The downtown service was a prayer service on the street in front of a construction company's headquarters. Members and pastors from a variety of PROK churches were present. Apparently, a contractor bought a large track of land. There was a PROK church on the land (as well as apartment builds etc). The church and the contractor were in negotiations on how to move forward with the property. In the meanwhile the construction company came in a bulldozed the church will everything in it- communion ware, liturgical items, historical artifacts, church records- everything, the whole church was razed. The church property had only been 10 years old. The vigil was asking for accountability and justice from the construction company for their actions. The rapid rate of development in Korea, although it has brought a high standard of living to many Koreans, seems to have little regard for the lowest sectors of society.
After the vigil Jonathan and I were on our own for dinner and found a great sushi place that served the food on a conveyor belt, you paid you bill depending on the color of the plates you selected (each color is worth a different dollar value for the meal).
In the evening we read news from the U.S. and were very interested in the U.S. announcement of sanctions against the North Korean leader, the announcement of the U.S. and South Korea's agreement on the THAAD missiles and of the tragic Black Live Matter and police violence in cities throughout the United States.
Gracious God, we give you thanks for those who work daily for a living. We pray for safety of all of those who work and for fair and just compensation. We give thanks for churches who continue to spread the Good News of the Gospel and we strive to have the confidence to continue to tell that same Good News to others. We lament injustice done in the name of progress and for the violence in the streets. God please help us to walk in your ways, to honor one another, and to demonstrate the love of Christ in all we do. Amen.
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