Chilgol Church () is one of the two

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

churches in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

and is located on Kwangbok Street, Kwangbok in

Chilgol Chilgol () is a suburb of Pyongyang in the Mangyongdae District. Chilgol is known as the place where Kang Pan-sok, the mother of Kim Il-sung, North Korea's first leader, was born in 1892 and spent her childhood. The area features many buildings a ...

in west

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

. It is dedicated to

Kang Pan-sok Kang Pan-sŏk ( ko, 강반석; 21 April 1892 – 31 July 1932) was the mother of North Korean leader Kim Il-sung. Biography She came from the village of Chilgol and raised Kim on a small farm in Mangyongdae, both near Pyongyang. She ac ...

, who was a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

deaconess and the mother of

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

History

The church was founded in 1899. It was attended by

, the mother of

who sometimes accompanied her there. According to North Korea, the church was destroyed in June 1950 in the beginning of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

by an American bombing and Kim Il-sung ordered the church to be rebuilt on the spot where the original one associated with his mother had stood. The church was rebuilt in its original style in 1989, and placed under the authority of the Korean Christian Federation. There is a museum devoted to Kang near the church.

Worship

The church welcomes believers on official visits, foreign travelers to Pyongyang, diplomats, and members of international organizations. Morale, patriotism and national unity are celebrated there and prayers are addressed to the reunification of the country. The congregation is about 150 persons. North Korean defectors from outside Pyongyang have reported that they were not aware of the existence of the church. The church is under

lay leader A lay leader is a member of the laity in any congregation who has been chosen as a leader either by their peers or the leadership of the congregation. In most denominations, lay leadership is not an ordained clerical office, and the lay leader's re ...

ship. Protestant pastors are present in the church, but it is not known if they are resident or visiting pastors. The church is characterized as

, but a denomination is not specified.

Politics

South Korean missionaries consider the church to be an instrument of state propaganda. South Korean pastor Han Sang-ryeol visited the church on 28 June 2010. His travel to North Korea was not authorized by the government of his home country and he was sentenced to five years in prison upon his return to South Korea.

References

Works cited

External links