On September 7 at Jonggyo Church in Seoul, people from all over the world gathered for a “Service of Thanks Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Korean Upper Room” (photo), and a shared stories of Upper Room history. Rev. Park Jong-hwa, who chairs the board of the Christian Literature Society of Korea, delivered the sermon, titled “The Upper Room Miracle” and based on chapter 2, verses 1~4 of the book of Acts. “The Upper Room has put into writing and published form the spoken and confessed Word of God,” he said. “The history of The Upper Room, a founder of ecumenism, comes down to us in a long line from Mark’s upper room of 2,000 years ago, to The Upper Room of San Antonio, USA in 1930s, and here to The Upper Room of Seoul.”
Those participating in the worship service were translators and editors of The Upper Room from 15 countries including the Philippines, Thailand, India and Pakistan. Rev. Jeong Im-hyeon of the United Methodist Church, USA, who is the current Asian Upper Room representative, explained, “The Upper Room is a recording not of theological words but of confession: ‘I experience God like this in my life’… Our work consists of puzzling over how to organize and translate each short, 350-character confession so as to convey it in the language of living faith.”
The Upper Room first came out in Korea in 1938, when Rev. Yang Ju-sam of Jonggyo Church, who was also head bishop of the Kidokgyo Joseon Gamrihoi (former official name of the Korean Methodist Church), worked together with Rev. Im Yeong-bin to translate and publish the Korean edition. During the Japanese colonial occupation of Korea, The Upper Room was closed down by the Japanese police for its inclusion of such phrases as “the King of peace,” but was reopened in March 1950 by missionary Charles Sauer. During and after the Korean War it went through several suspensions and revivals; and since 1962 the Christian Literature Society of Korea has issued the Korean Upper Room. The Korea Christian Lay Movement puts out a dual language edition in Korean and English, as well as a Korean-English-Japanese edition.
Presently The Upper Room is translated into 33 languages, and 3 million copies are released every other month in 100 some countries. Because it is shared in families and small-group gatherings, it is estimated that over 8 million persons use it for meditation and prayer.
Reporter Narae Kim (narae@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Photo by senior reporter Kang Min Seok
Full Story in Korean:
영성의 길잡이 ‘다락방’ 여든 맞다: 한국어판 80주년 기념예배
