Christian Ethics Movement of Korea Grants “2013 Good Church Award”
2013-12-12 11:13
In mid-December 1987, a new, small church was opened on the second floor of a Chinese restaurant located in a neighborhood of Bucheon, Kyeonggi Province. This was the start of Bucheon Chamdoen ('True') Church (Rev. Jang Chang-jin). One of its former pastors, Park Chang-ha (67, pastor of Kimpo Chamdoen Church), encouraged that from the start, each newly appointed assistant pastor was given one to three years to get accustomed to practical ministry, and then was strongly urged to go out and start a new church ministry. When a newly established church was in financial trouble, the mother church would provide 100% support of its rental costs and its pastor’s salary. During the past 26 years, Chamdoen Church has planted or started 51 new churches. Following the goal of one new church every six months, “Chamdoen Churches” are now scattered all around the country, from Wonju in Kangwon Province to Pohang and Kumi in North Kyeongsang Province, to Jeongeup in North Cheolla Province.
The social welfare committee of the Christian Ethics Movement of Korea (CEMK) selected Chamdoen Church as the first organizationto receive its newly established '2013 Good Church Award' in the Korean mission sector.
At the awards ceremony on December 9, held at Gocheok Church (Rev. Cho Jae-ho) in Gocheok-dong, Elder Kim Sang-gi (Sokcho Mancheon Church) was presented with the Good Church Award in the individual mission sector. From 1980 up to the present, Elder Kim, the manager of a glasses shop, has given a total of more than 307,700,000 won in scholarships to 838 students in elementary, middle school, high school, and university, all coming from families that were financially unable to support their education. Further, Elder Kim has carried out an active evangelical movement in his church over the last 15 years, and has received successive awards for this work.
Three churches were chosen as the organizations to receive the 11th “Church Together With Local Community” award: Seoul Shimin Church (Rev. Kwon Oh-heon), Osu Church (Rev. Kwon Jong-ho) in Imshil, North Cheolla Province, and All Nations Church (Rev. Kim Chan-ho) in Hanam, Kyeonggi Province. Seoul Shimin Church has for more than 20 years operated a Sunday School for differently abled persons. The Sunday School, started with two developmentally handicapped elementary school students, now has nearly 80 students. During the past 10 years, elderly believers of Osu Church?which has a 100-year history of active welfare service work for old people in the rural areas?have collected and sold empty bottles and other cast-away articles, and donated their earnings of 200,000,000 won to the church’s welfare mission. All Nations Church has served multicultural families for the past 10 years, mainly through its “Korean language classroom.”
The CEMK social welfare committee reported that a 10-member screening committee had worked for three months examining documents, conducting inspection visits, etc., going through a four-stage screening process to decide on the awards.
Social welfare committee chair Ra Chang-ho announced, “In 2014, we plan to add the categories of ‘education’ and ‘practice of Christian ethics’ to the “Good Church Awards.” He explained, “By praising and encouraging more model churches and believers, we are working to expand the good influence of the Korean churches.”
Reporter Jaechan Park (jeep@kmib.co.kr), Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
