The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea or the KiJang Presbyterian Church is an ecumenically-minded

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 ...

denomination in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

History

The Presbyterian Church in Korea was established in 1902. In 1912 the first General Assembly was held. Australian, American,

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

minister came in increasing number to Korea. During the Japanese occupation the church faced several hardships. The Pyungyang Seminary was forced to close its dors in 1938. Some leaders went into exile. One year later Chosun Seminary was opened in the south, this become the nucleus of KiJang. In contrast with the Pyungyang Seminary the Chosun Seminary adopted a progressive theological line. In 1946 the Presbyterian Church of Korea adopted the Chosun Seminary. The President of the Seminary Dr. Kim Jae-Joon published an essay that caused a violent debate between conservatives and progressive theological positions. Dr. Park Hyung-Ryong decided to leave the seminary he was followed by 51 students in 1947. The Assembly also recognised this new Seminary. Now there were two competing seminaries under the authority of the General assembly. The Assembly urged to unite these 2 seminaries. Later it became obvious to the Assembly that the theological position of Chosun Seminary could not be tolerated. In 1953 the church faced theological hardships, because of theology, methods and biblical study taught in the Chosun Theological Seminary. The conservative and fundamentalist fraction of the church rejected this teachings. The Presbyterians divided in 1953 to the Presbyterian Church in Korea and the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea. The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea was the first denomination ordain women into the ministry in 1956, women allowed to be elders, and in 1974 the denomination had women pastors. In 1998 a woman became the vice-moderator.

Statistics

In 2004 there were 326,000 members and 801 congregations with 631 ordained ministers in 10 Presbyteries. It had 335,000 members in almost 1,000 congregations and 830 pastors in 2006.

Theology

Member of the

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

. It affirms the

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" ...

, the

Westminster Larger Catechism The Westminster Larger Catechism, along with the Westminster Shorter Catechism, is a central catechism of Calvinists in the English tradition throughout the world. History In 1643 when the Long Parliament of England called the Westminster As ...

and

Westminster Shorter Catechism The Westminster Shorter Catechism is a catechism written in 1646 and 1647 by the Westminster Assembly, a synod of English and Scottish theologians and laymen intended to bring the Church of England into greater conformity with the Church of Sco ...

. Sister Church relations established with : *

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

United Protestant Church of France The United Protestant Church of France (french: Église protestante unie de France) is the main and largest Protestant church in France, created in 2013 through the unification of the Reformed Church of France and the Evangelical Lutheran Church o ...

* Swiss Reformed Church *

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

References

External links

*Official websit
한국기독교장로회총회
{{Authority control Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches Presbyterian denominations in South Korea Christian organizations established in 1953