THE KUKMIN DAILY

A ballerino turned pastor. After 20-plus years’ performing in toe shoes, he now composes hymns of Bible texts. This artistic star is Kim Gyeong-cheol (61, photo), music pastor at Gangnam Emmanuel Church in Seoul. Kim said on March 23, “I receive inspiration from God during dawn worship, and from the Biblical Word, for my compositions…Currently I’m writing a hymn of the Apostles’ Creed.” Since the latter half of the 1990s he has composed more than 1,000 hymns. Because they are created from Bible texts, he calls them “tefillin [sacred utensil box] hymns.”

How did a ballerino become a hymn-writing pastor? Rev. Kim’s story: “My paternal great-grandfather was one of the very first to believe in Jesus in his hometown of Naju, Jeollanam-do, more than 130 years ago. So I’m the fourth generation of my family to believe in God. I sang very well from early childhood, so my aunts and uncles used to praise me: ‘Our Gyeong-cheol sings better than Choi Hui-jun.’ At the time, Choi Hui-jun’s song ‘Hasuksaeng’ was popular.”

“When I competed in vocal music concours, I often won first prize. But in my 3rd year of middle school, I quit singing in order to prepare for university entrance exams. After many twists and turns, I followed the advice of my father’s friend, a physical education teacher, and entered Chosun University’s College of Physical Education. There, one day, I saw an older student from the ballet department practicing ballet moves. As I watched him, my soul took flight. It was so beautiful.” In May 1974, Kim began learning ballet.

Thanks to his past diligent practice of taekwondo, his body was both flexible and strong. “It was my first time to dance, but I seem to have had the basic spirit for it. As I continued singing sacred music in church, and exercising, I became more aware, noticing for example, ‘She missed a beat,’ or ‘His stretching movement is weak.’ The following year, he debuted on stage at the Seoul National Theater as the ballet partner of Park Geum-ja, his professor in the ballet department.

He danced with the Gwangju City Ballet Troupe till the end of the 90s, then wove a career on the international stage as a freelancer, taking star roles with such groups as “Ballet Blanc.” He received the ballet performance award at the Seoul International Ballet Festival, and held successive posts including as ballet department professor.

“One day while riding a motorcycle, I was involved in a traffic accident and sustained a serious head injury. They thought I was dying, but miraculously I survived. I continued my passionate leaping and soaring on stage till my retirement in 1997, and that was when I started composing. It was a changeover from expressing rhythms with my body, to expressing God with musical notes.”

He held musical conducting jobs at various places, including World Vision Church in Seoul; then in 2010 he was ordained as a pastor. Asked about his future plans, he said, “I’m giving all my God-given talents back to God. I want to compose ‘tefillin hymns’ of the Words from all 31,127 verses of the 66 books of the Bible.”

Reporter Kang Ju-hwa (rula@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Photo by intern reporter Heo Ran


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