Rev. Kang Jeong-shik has made more than 300 crosses out of junk: broken chairs, twigs fallen from trees onto the street - whatever he can find. He said in an interview with Kukmin Daily on January 27, “Not just I, but our church members make crosses, too. They are not created of nice wood, nor are they high-level art (laughs), but for sure, each is one of a kind.”
Rev. Kang explained, “These crosses resemble the way we became useful thanks to Jesus. Junk items have become something very useful through our hands. That is the reason I insist on making crosses out of junk. The joy is much greater when we find something spiritual in what we previously considered useless. Making a cross also gives us the opportunity to think about our own cross we should carry in this world. It will be great if more Korean churches join in making crosses.”
About a year after he was commissioned to Bongdeok Church in 2011, Rev. Kang read "Loving Cross" (2011), a book by Rev. Song Byeong-gu, the first person featured in Kukmin Daily’s “Cross-Loving People” series (2014.7.7, page 29). Each September since 2012, Bondeok Church has held a cross exhibition. Starting with 70 some crosses the first year, the number exhibited last year reached 220.
Since reading photographer Gwon San’s story in the Kukmin Daily series (see HERE), Rev. Kang also has been taking photographs of crosses that he finds around him. He plans to display his photos at this year’s church exhibition.
*This is an excerpt from the article linked below.
Reporter Park Ji Hun (lucidfall@kmib.co.kr) from Changwon, with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Photo by intern reporter Heo Ran from Changwon
Click here for the original article in Korean
[Cross-Loving People] ⑧ Rev. Kang Jeong-shik of Changwon Bongdeok Church
2015-02-03 13:23
