INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN KOREA

Church planting has always been a passion for us since the very beginning. Over the years, we have been involved in about ten church plants. We currently support two church plants in Korea. We focus on Christian (Restoration Movement) churches planted in rural areas and in need of help. If you are reading this and know of any struggling Christian church plants in Korea (especially due to the Covid era), please let us know as we would love to help!

The following is an excerpt from a paper on our founder Yoon Kwon Chae, and how he began planting churches:

The first church that Chae started was in a notorious slum area of Seoul, called Towon-dong. Chae recalls, “This area was the terminal of the deserted and forgotten people…people who had no other place to go…I felt that this was the place to start a church.”[1] Most of the residents in this area were refugees and victims of the war. He held worship in a shack-like tent. He evangelized by walking around the neighborhood passing out flyers and evangelical leaflets. He preached out in the streets, sometimes with a drum around his neck to attract attention.[2]

As it is with any new church plant, there were some difficulties initially. People who were interested in hearing the Gospel were few and far between. Chae humorously recalls, “There was a time when I had to preach to one audience…my wife. And I do not need to tell you that it’s very difficult to preach to your wife.”[3] Nonetheless, slowly but surely, the church grew one member at a time. Soon, there were about ten members in his church. To each new member, Chae invested fully in their lives. He not only preached the Gospel to them, but acted as their advocate. He helped some get family members out of prison. At times, he provided financial help or provided food. Now and then, he picked up and raised homeless children off the streets, which eventually evolved into his orphanage work.

He writes, “I tell you it is so exciting to be a minister of a small church in the slum. Anything could happen any minute and it always does. There are always someone who kill themselves, or run away from home, or put in jail or go crazy or kill someone. You can’t afford to quit praying even just for a second.”[4] As exhausting as it was sometimes for Chae to minister to this area, the people’s dire circumstances inspired him to keep going. He was also encouraged by the fact that the people responded to the Gospel, to the principles of the Restoration Movement, and to his preaching, as his church grew.

In 1964, Chae started his second church in the heart of Seoul, right next to Seoul Railroad Station called Todong. Due to its central location, it was named Central Christian Church, and its members consisted primarily of businessmen, college students, teachers, and pastors. This constituency thrilled Chae, as it was a completely different context than that of Towon-dong, and he believed “the Word of God must be preached to the intellectuals as well as to the poor.”[5] Some of the members enrolled at his seminary and became his students. Eventually, Central Christian Church moved to Hyochangdong, into the original facilities of Korea Christian Seminary, and has been located there ever since.

In 1976, Chae started his third church called Kaehwa Christian Church. This church was located on the brand new campus of Geon Home. As such, it ministered not only to the neighboring villages, but to the orphanage staff and children themselves. On Sunday and Wednesday nights, Chae held separate chapel services just for the children of Geon Home. On Sunday mornings, both Geon Home staff and children and neighbors from around town gathered together to hold worship. This network between the church and the orphanage was crucial in surrounding the children in a Christian environment.

In 1979, Chae started his fourth church called Daebang Christian Church. For a number of years, this church ministered effectively to its area, but eventually declined in numbers during the 1990’s. Eventually, it merged with Central Christian Church, as the locations of the two churches were fairly close together, and the congregations were a good fit together as well.

Overall, Chae has led or been involved in the planting of about ten churches in South Korea. He continues to support other pastors who are planting churches not only in South Korea, but throughout the rest of Asia, and the United States as well. In contrast to the megachurch trend in South Korea in this period, none of these Restoration Movement churches have grown to a particularly large size. Yet, they have been sustained effectively over the years, and continue to be consistent in their membership and ministries today. 

• [1] Yoon Kwon Chae, My Dear American Friends IV (Seoul: Korea Gospel Mission, 1988), iv.

• [2] Yoon Kwon Chae, Personal Interview, September 22, 2014.

• [3] “Korean Missionary Highlights Faith Promise Emphasis,” Canton Christian, April 5, 1991, 1.

• [4] Chae, Love is Immortal, 14.

• [5] Chae, Love is Immortal, 19.