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Benefits of Korean churches

                          By Lee In-young

Because of the Coronavirus epidemic, the Korean people and economy are greatly suffering. The hardest hit are members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, who make up half of the 800-plus infected in South Korea.

Many Korean people are angry at the Shincheonji church, and some are demanding that all religious organizations close their worship services.

For public safety, I understand if Shincheonji and other churches temporarily close large gatherings. But it would be a shame if religious meetings were banned permanently. Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, and other religions bring so much joy and benefit to Korean society.

One of my most joyous memories was an American-style, international party at a (Protestant) Christian church. on November 24 (Sunday) 2019, students from Seoul-based universities were invited to international Thanksgiving worship and party at Ocean City Church. Curious, I attended with other students from the class of Hanyang Professor Joseph Yi.

At the Thanksgiving Party, I was amazed to see hundreds of people of all races and nationalities. We ate real turkey and ham from the US military base in Yongsan. For Americans and Canadians, it was a glad reminder of home. For everybody else, it was a new cultural experience. I met foreign English teachers; a Korean pastor who did humanitarian work in North Korea; and a genuinely nice, foreign woman (age 40s) who explained the various thanksgiving foods and traditions to me. I never ate turkey before, but it turned out to be quite delicious. (My new foreign friend said that I ate a lot!)

The number of foreigners coming to Korea, short-term or long-term, is increasing every year. The Thanksgiving Party was a good opportunity to think about how foreigners of different religions and nationalities could communicate with each other and become part of Korean society. Foreigners help Koreans to better understand the world, as we share our culture with global society, from Pansori to ‘Parasite’.

Sadly, because of the coronavirus, Ocean City Church has temporarily stopped its public activities and meetings. I hope that as our nation recovers from the epidemic, our churches can quickly recover and open their doors, once again, to persons of all nations and backgrounds.

 

Lee In-young is a doctoral student (Korean literature) at Hanyang University and has recently published a book of poetry (Blog.daum.net/leedoll8).