On the 30th of this month, Saemoonan Church (Rev. Lee Su-young) will hold a worship service giving thanks for the commencement of construction of its new sanctuary, to be built on the present church site on Saemoonan-ro in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Saemoonan Church was established in 1887 by missionary Horace G. Underwood as the first Presbyterian church in Korea; its present building was constructed in 1972; and 35 years later, in 2007, the Session (church board) made the decision to rebuild it.
The new sanctuary will have 13 floors above ground, 5 floors underground, and a total space of 29,352.83 square meters (about 8,962 pyeong), sufficient to accommodate 5,000 some persons. The target date for completion is December 2017 (See artist’s conception).
At the outset, there had been discussion about possibly preserving the present building in its pristine woods setting, but it was unclear whether this would gain approval from Seoul City, and the existing building had deteriorated, so it was decided to remove it and rebuild. Different from the bricks used to build the old church, those covering the new sanctuary will be gold-colored with surfaces that reflect the light.
The church is being careful not to arouse criticisms of “extravagance.” Elder Lee Deok-shil, who chairs the church’s construction committee, said, “We have actually reduced the scope of construction from the original plan of eight years ago, and will include in the building only what is absolutely needed.”
Reporter Lee Yongsang (sotong203@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Click here for the original article in Korean
Saemoonan Church to Hold Worship Service for Start of New Building Construction
2015-08-26 09:47
