THE KUKMIN DAILY

The PCK (Presbyterian Church of Korea - Tonghap) Solidarity Movement Against Church Hereditary Succession (PCK Solidarity), formed with the goal of cancelling Myungsung Church’s father-son pastorate transfer, announced on October 10 that it has arranged the particulars of last month’s PCK Tonghap General Assembly resolutions on Myungsung Church, into four areas. “We have rejected the previous general assembly’s constitutional interpretation, which gave rise to dispute over ‘retired’ pastors, and have reconfirmed the will of our denomination to ban the transfer of the head pastor’s post,” PCK Solidarity said. Further, “Due to the delegates’ rejection of the constitutional amendment bill drafted by the General Assembly (GA) constitutional revision committee, the ban on hereditary succession has likewise been confirmed, regardless of ‘retiring’ or ‘retired’ references in current denominational law.”

PCK Solidarity said that by replacing all the members of the trials department, the General Assembly has recognized the erroneousness of its previous judgment, and has prepared the way for the 103rd Assembly’s new trials department to review the case. The Assembly also cleared a path toward the normalization of Southeast Seoul Presbytery, by rejecting the GA regulations department’s interpretation that it was appropriate to dismiss or excommunicate presbytery members who refused to recognize Kim Ha-na (as the hereditary successor at Myungsung Church).

“The church’s self-cleansing capacity has been demonstrated through the General Assembly’s resolutions on Myungsung Church…It’s a scene worth remembering in Korean church history,” a PCK Solidarity source commented. “What is left is the normalization of Southeast Seoul Presbytery on the 30th of this month…We should move toward reconciliation, starting with the proper appointment of Rev. Kim Su-won as moderator, which was blocked by the Myungsung Church faction at last fall’s presbytery meeting.” PCK Solidarity collected 11,507 signatures from clergy and members of the general public in an online-offline campaign to overturn Myungsung’s hereditary succession action, and handed them over to the General Assembly.

Meanwhile, following a special “PD Notebook” report on MBC-TV titled “Myungsung Church’s 80,000,000,000 Secret,” Myungsung Church announced that it may respond with legal action.

*Photo: The scene at PCK Tonghap’s 103rd General Assembly, as it adopted a resolution to review an earlier judgment accepting hereditary succession at Myungsung Church, and to replace all members of the assembly’s trials department.

Reporter Woo Sungkyu (mainport@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Photo provided by PCK Tonghap

Original Article in Korean:
“명성교회 문제, 30일 서울동남노회 정상화에 달렸다”: 명성교회 “비자금 의혹 보도 ‘PD수첩’에 법적 대응 검토”

Related Article:
PCK Tonghap Clergy Rally For Retraction of Hereditary Succession at Myungsung Church