In the afternoon of Reformation Sunday, some 2.1 million Christians gathered for a joint worship service to “unite for repentance, revival and restoration of holiness in our society.”
According to organizers, an estimated 1.1 million joined onsite despite the bad weather with one other 1 million joining online (although police estimated a lower figure for the in-person gathering). The unprecedented joint worship service brought together Korean churches across denominations as they affirmed traditional marriage and family and prayed for his or her nation.
The initial trigger for the event was an anti-discrimination law that Korean Christian leaders fear will pave the approach to gay marriage and ultimately open the country as much as trans ideology that may harm families and restrict the freedoms of churches to live out their faith. They point to Western countries, corresponding to the UK and Canada, as warning signs of what could be to come back unless believers rise up presently.
“Through this worship service that we provide today in spirit and truth, I hope that families and churches will live and that the Korean church and the world church will experience a recent revival,” the Rev. Jung-Hyun Oh, senior pastor of Sarang Church, told attendants, in keeping with reporting by Christian Daily Korea.
Three sermons preached throughout the afternoon highlighted the importance of the Church not remaining silent, so that they could safeguard families and kids, with one pastor praying to God, “Please accept our repentance and protect our families.”
The event also featured speakers from the UK and Germany who urged Koreans Christians to not follow the identical path as what they’ve seen in their very own countries and as a substitute be a beacon for churches around the globe and shine the sunshine of God’s truth.
“Who would have thought that Britain would forget God? But it has,” said Andrea Williams, a lawyer from Wilberforce Academy within the UK. “They have removed Jesus Christ from public life. People do not know who Jesus is. They have legislated the precise to kill the unborn, gay marriage. Street preachers are jailed, and those that give out Bibles or pray at work are punished. While all this has happened, the churches of Britain have been asleep.”
Christian Daily International has previously reported on instances, corresponding to a UK Christian found guilty for praying near abortion clinic earlier this month, or the illegal arrest and jailing of a street preacher.
As an expression of their unity and commitment, churches that participated within the event issued a joint declaration “to renew the Republic of Korea.”
The statement highlights the crisis of values and expresses repentance over the churches’ failure to meet their role so far. Among others, the declaration then affirms the protection of the family, everyone’s right to “freedom of faith, speech, thought, and expression,” and the church’s role as salt and light-weight in society. It concludes by calling on the federal government, the Constitutional Court, the National Assembly and the Ministry of Education to refrain from enacting laws allowing gay marriage or promoting homosexuality and gender ideology through textbooks in schools.The declaration’s full text in Korean is accessible here.
As the event got here to a conclusion, the organizing committee said, “Those gathered pledged to meet the church’s social role and reaffirmed their solidarity as a faith community. This service will remain as a crucial moment for the Korean church to reflect on its social responsibility and the essence of religion, and as a milestone that implies the direction and role the Church should take.”
A day to boost awareness in society, unite the Korean Church
In an exclusive interview with Christian Daily International within the lead as much as the event, chair of the organizing committee, the Rev. Hyun-bo So, senior pastor of Segero Church in Busan, explained what motivated them to mobilize churches for the event.
“We don’t hate homosexuals. We are usually not attempting to tell them what to do and what to not do,” he emphasized on the time. “But if these laws regarding gay marriage get passed in Korea, then the Christian Church cannot rise up for what they consider in, and they can’t say the things that they wish to say.”
He pointed to Canada and other countries where stories had been coming out of minors being led to consider they’re trans and undergoing experimental, body deforming procedures with parents not allowed to be involved within the conversation.
“Sometimes it is the case that a 13-year-old will want to alter their sex, however the parents cannot say anything about it. The students will get the hormone shots through the college and the parents is not going to be involved in the method,” he said, adding that Korean churches are against excluding the parents from their kid’s lives and education.
He also laments how minors are young and naïve and may easily be misled concerning the risks and lifelong consequences of such treatments. He specifically points to a case “where a 13-year-old went through a sex change with the transition, and she or he thought that her breast would grow back.”
It is the prospect of facing such a future that led him to mobilize Korean churches to oppose a recent change within the laws related to gay couples in an effort to prevent the country from taking place this path.
Asked to elaborate on the legal developments, Rev. Son explained that “July 18th was an enormous day in Korea’s courts because they accepted that a gay couple can have medical health insurance advantages. From a world standpoint, after such a law is passed or after such an acceptance is seen within the courts, it normally took about two years or so until gay marriage was legalized.”
He said he saw the event as a likelihood for the Christian Church to boost awareness among the many wider society concerning the harm that the passing of those laws will bring to Korea. He said he’s convinced that greater than 90% of the people can be against young children at age 9 or 10 getting irreversible cross-sex hormones for a gender transition. But a serious issue is that “regular people have no idea the depths of what the law is looking for.”
He hoped the event would supply “a great likelihood for churches to come back together, pray together and have discussions together about methods to help homosexuals,” including those within the churches who struggle with same-sex attraction.
Pointing to the challenges throughout the Korean Church, Rev. Son also said, “I feel that this event can be a excellent time for everybody to come back together and unite.”
