THE KUKMIN DAILY

Reform-minded pastor of a conservative denomination, church planting movement activist, mission expert, and pastor of the church to which the Afghanistan kidnap victims belonged ? all these phrases describe Rev. Park Eun-jo (61). Rev. Park is known by society as the “pastor of Saemmul Church,” which was directly related to the 2007 kidnapping incident, but in fact his main concern as a pastor is to establish healthy churches, including new ones.

Since he began his work at Yeongdong Church in 1982, continuing with Bundang Saemmul (Spring water) Church in 1998, and last year Eunhye (Grace) Saemmul Church, he has established 12 churches. His “healthy church” concept has taken root in Bundang Saemmul Church. Starting with a term-of-office system for pastor and elders, the church practices open financial management, operates a pastor-elder system based on the “family church” concept, and uses 30~50% of its funds for support of handicapped persons, relief work, mission and other such projects. Starting from his time at Yeongdong Church in Seoul, Park also has introduced an “equal remuneration system” for pastors and church workers.

Last November 29, at Pan-gyo Saemmul Church in Unjungdong, Seongnam City, Kyeonggi Province, Rev. Park showed the same passion as ever for the church planting movement. Now serving as head pastor of both the Pan-gyo and the Eunhye Saemmul Churches, he said that next year these two churches will be merged as Saemmul United Church. Recently, he said, the combined assembly of both churches decided to rename Saemmul United Church’s three Sunday worship services, calling them “Church 1,” “Church 1” and “Church 3”; and to make each church independent as its conditions permit. In this way, the plan goes beyond the usual practice of setting up local and campus churches, and is designed to make each church’s pastors and finances absolutely independent. Recently Rev. Park has published a book about his 30-year ministry, titled Even So, the Church Is Our Hope (Word of Life Publishers).

When a pastor has earned the trust of church members, and then departs to plant a new church, this can often be dangerous. There is concern that if many members follow the pastor, the church will be split. But Rev. Park has experienced no serious objections.

“I think the health of a church is related to its structure,” he said. “In Bundang Saemmul Church, it was not a case of the assistant pastor’s taking charge of the district; rather, it was the lay leaders of the family churches who served the members. Each leader took charge of no more than five families, and if the number of persons exceeded 12, a new group was formed.”

Up until April last year, when Rev. Park started Eunhye Saemmul Church, Bundang Saemmul Church had more than 300 groups. The small-group leaders, numbering more than 300, performed their role as the strong center of the church. So even during the Afghanistan kidnapping incident in 2007, the church was not shaken; and even when Rev. Park left to plant a new church, the situation remained stable.

“The health of a church comes before its size. Whether it is large or small, if it is healthy, it has the power to influence,” Park said. He has believed that a church with a congregation of 1,000 is more advantageous than one with 10,000 worshippers, for the purpose of ensuring community. But he does not suggest that large churches are useless, nor does he defend small churches. “If a large church can ensure good community through organization into districts or small groups, it can be as healthy as any other,” he said.

Rev. Park discovered the health and positive influence of the small church through his work to establish a Christian school. In March 2006 he opened Saemmul Elementary School, then in 2009 Saemmul Middle School, and last year Saemmul High School. This is the first time in Korea that a Christian school with a comprehensive curriculum for elementary through high school is being operated by a single church. Rev. Park’s goal is for believers to raise their children as disciples of Christ through Christian schools.

In his book, Park also brings up the Afghanistan kidnapping incident. In a question-and-answer format that includes the questions “Why did they go to Afghanistan?” and “Why did they go even though the government tried to stop them?” he provides explanations in response to five misunderstandings. In particular, to the criticism that came from everyone’s lips from the start of the incident, “They said don’t go, so why did they go?” he replies, “The church received no warning and no official document from the government, whatsoever.” He includes a news article from that time, which sought the possible source of the rumor. The article mentions that the head of the public information team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as well as the head of the MFAT department in charge of protecting Korean citizens abroad, stated, “It is not true (that there was) a warning document.” The book also shares stories of many Christians who helped Saemmul Church in various ways throughout the kidnapping incident.

Reporter Sangmok Shin (smshin@kmib.co.kr), Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)

박여라 기자 yap@kmib.co.kr