Weekend wedding and exploration

July 2nd 2016

Today we were invited to the wedding of the PROK's General Secretary's son. The wedding took place on the PROK seminary campus. The PROK only has one seminary and all potential ministers are required to attend. This means that there are fairly uniform schools of thought and close relationships between PROK pastors. Many PROK minister also strive for educational experiences in the United States. The groom for example will be a student at Eden Theological Seminary in the fall! The wedding itself was a hybrid of Korean and westernized traditions. We were very thankful for the opportunity to attend.







After the wedding we visited the April 19th, 1960 memorial which is dedicated to the student uprising of 1960, a reaction to the then president Sigmund Rhee changing the constitution to get himself elected a third time, which obvious signs of voter fraud. The police reacted violently to the students, killing several and igniting larger protests across the country. Rhee eventually abdicated the presidency and moved to Hawaii where he continued to receive support from the United States.

Seoul traffic is incredible, the subway is so much more convenient than driving. After a bumper to bumper two hour trip across town, Jonathan and I had an opportunity to explore our neighborhood and it was the first time of the trip so far where we were on our own for dinner. We found a Chinese/Korean version of Korean BBQ and laughed at our struggles to communicate with the server, but it all worked out in the end.

July 3rd 2016
Today we went to one of the PROK churches in the heart of Seoul. This congregation has a legacy of political action and commitment to justice. The worship service was a hybrid of traditional Korean music and familiar church hymns. The pastor is currently away on sabbatical, there was a presentation by a youth member who had recently returned from a multi-country trip abroad and a sermon committed to government transparency by a female associate pastor. I had an opportunity to bring greetings from Global Ministries, the congregation was very receptive to our visit and was thankful for the UCC's and DOC's sign of solidarity by passing resolutions supporting reunification.

After church we were left on our own to explore the city. We visited a large Catholic Church where the first Korean priest was canonized. We walked through high end neighborhood and street markets. We finally mastered the very complex Korean subway and found our way to a large folk market that had a whole section dedicated to antiques. The end of the day we returned to the neighborhood where we are staying and found a Chinese/Korean version of Shabu Shabu for dinner.