Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – Brief Introduction to the Ministries of Overseas Chinese Christian Church in South Korea
August 2009
It does not matter what kind of nationality you belong to, or in which land you live, we can all see God’s mighty hand working everywhere. He moves and chooses different people for the purpose of spreading his gospel and establishing his Church.
As early as in the Qing Dynasty, some Chinese had already moved to South Korea from mainland China as new immigrants. Some came for business, others came to stay. Many went through great hardship and left behind pitiful stories on this foreign land within these hundred years.
In 1912, Overseas Chinese Christian Church in Seoul was established with the help of a U.S. missionary’s wife, Mrs. C. S. Derming, by a Chinese man named Daoxing Che, who came from Shandong province. During the past ninety-seven years, the church has gone through Japanese rule, turmoil of the liberation time, the Korean War, and post-war flurries and reconstruction. The Body of Christ has experienced crises and tests, chaos caused by wars, an influx of immigrants, and a great shortage of pastoral care. However, during these difficult times, the ministry of the gospel has not stopped; instead, it has successfully prospered. One church has expanded into many churches throughout South Korea, giving the overseas Chinese in all large cities the opportunity to hear the gospel.
Historical Review
The history of the Seoul church can be divided into five periods, each with a unique background. God raised up different ministers with different backgrounds to take care of his church. Moreover, church membership and ministries in these periods were also slightly different.
Characteristics of Church Ministry in the Five Periods
| Time Period | Years | Background of the Age | Minister Background | Church Ministry | Ministry’s Scope | Ministry’s Focus |
| First Period | 1912-1950 | Japanese rule and the liberation | Chinese ministers, with foreign missionaries | Ground-breaking and development | From Seoul as the center expanding into other cities | Overseas Chinese in Korea |
| Second Period | 1950-1965 | Korean war and post-war reconstruction | Lay leaders, with American and Korean missionaries | Development amid turmoil | From Seoul as the center expanding into more cities | Overseas Chinese in Korea |
| Third Period | 1965-1978 | Development | Chinese ministers from Taiwan, with American and Korean missionaries | Development in stability | Seoul as the center to set up preaching stations | Overseas Chinese in Korea |
| Fourth Period | 1978-1990 | Growth and stability | Chinese ministers born in Korea | Development in stability | Seoul as the center to support outlying churches | Overseas Chinese in Korea and Koreans |
| Fifth Period | 1990-2012 | Mission and diversified ministries | Local-born Chinese with Korean Christians | Diversification and worldwide mission | Supporting and training | Overseas Chinese in Korea and Koreans |
From the graph above, we can see the church in different periods under ministers with different backgrounds. It moved from ground-breaking to expansion to being established, and from self-support, self-government, and self-propagation to world mission. Seoul Church, the mother church of Overseas Chinese Christian Church in South Korea, is a church which has grown up in difficult, rugged, and changing environments.
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Chuanming Liu is senior pastor of the Overseas Chinese Christian Church in Seoul, South Korea. |