Sorae Church or Solnae Church () was established Songcheon () in 1883. It is considered the first

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

church in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Establishment

Seo Sang-ryun (서상륜) with his younger brother Gyeong-jo (경조) went to

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

in 1878 to peddle red

ginseng Ginseng () is the root of plants in the genus ''Panax'', such as South China ginseng (''Panax notoginseng, P. notoginseng''), Korean ginseng (''Panax ginseng, P. ginseng''), and American ginseng (''American ginseng, P. quinquefol ...

, but he caught

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

Yingkou Yingkou ( zh, s=, t=, p=Yíngkǒu) is a coastal prefecture-level city of central southern Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, on the northeastern shore of Liaodong Bay. It is the third-smallest city in Liaoning with a total area of , a ...

and he was in trouble no longer to peddle. At this time, with the help of Ross and Mcintire, he was hospitalized and treated for his illness, which led him to become a Christian. In 1883, he attempted to enter Korea with a Korean translated Bible, but was imprisoned by the Chinese government and soon escaped. Seo Sang-ryun came to his hometown of

Uiju Ŭiju is a kun, or county, in North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The county has an area of 420 km2, and a population of 110,018 (2008 data). Name Ŭiju appears as Uiju in South Korea's Revised Romanization and as Yizhou in Chinese source ...

(의주) in Korea for a while. He settled in Songcheon, Jangyeon-gun (장연군), Hwanghae-do (황해도) with his younger brother. He evangelized villagers there and a few months later he got 18 believers. They had held rallies every Sunday in secret locations since May 16. In general, it is presumed that the beginning of Sorae Church was in a shabby thatched house built in a mountainous corner. On July 8, 1895, Sorae Church was built as 8 kans tile-roofed house, and in 1896, it was expanded to 16 kans and 32 pyeong.

Legacy

The extended Sorae Church was restored in 1988 at Chongshin University Yangji Campus.

References

{{coord missing, South Korea Churches in South Korea 1885 establishments