The Anglican Church of Korea (or Episcopal Church of Korea) is the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Founded in 1889, it has over 120 parish and mission churches with a total membership of roughly 65,000 people.

History

Birth of the Anglican Church of Korea

The birth of the Anglican Church of Korea can be traced back to November 1, 1889, when Bishop Charles John Corfe was ordained at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

and inaugurated as the first diocesan bishop of

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

(

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

). With his colleagues who had been invited to join the mission, he arrived in

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

Port on 29 September 1890. Nae-dong Anglican Church (성공회 내동성당) which is the first Anglican Church in Korea was established by him and

Eli Barr Landis Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...

(1865-1898) on Sep. 30, 1891 at Nae-dong,

Jung-gu, Incheon Jung District (Jung-gu, ko, 중구; 中區) is the historic central ward of the city of Incheon, South Korea, one of the eight wards into which Incheon is divided. Its name means "central" in Korean. It was founded in 1883 on the opening of the ...

. He initiated his work in the

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

area, including

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

and

Chungcheong Chungcheong (''Chungcheong-do''; ) was one of the eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Chungcheong was located in the southwest of Korea. The provincial capital was located at Gongju, which had been the capital of the kingdom o ...

provinces. He first opened a number of educational institutions, medical facilities and social work centers across the country, such as the Sinmyeong (Faith and Enlightenment) schools and the hospitals in the vicinities of Incheon,

Yeoju Yeoju () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Yeoju was a county but was raised to the status of a city in September 2013. Together with the neighboring city of Icheon, it is known as a major center of contemporary South Korean ceramics, ...

and

Jincheon Jincheon County (''Jincheon-gun'') is a county in Chungcheongbuk-do (North Chungcheong) Province, South Korea. Location Jincheon belongs to the middle of Chungcheongbuk-do. It borders several cities of its province but also meets Gyeonggi-do. The ...

as well as the orphanages in

Suwon Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a populati ...

and Anjung. The Anglican

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

also sought possible ways for the church to be integrated into

Korean culture The traditional culture of Korea is the shared cultural and historical heritage of Korea and southern Manchuria before the division of Korea in 1945. Manchuria refers to the ancient geographical and historical region in Northeast Asia, includ ...

. As a result of that effort, there are several Anglican Church buildings which were constructed in the traditional Korean architecture and which survive today such as those on

Ganghwa Island Ganghwa Island (Hangul ; Hanja ), also known by its native name Ganghwado, is a South Korean island in the estuary of the Han River. It is in the Yellow Sea, off Korea's west coast. The island is separated from Gimpo (on the South Korean mainla ...

. In addition, the early missionaries made pioneering contributions to

Korean studies Korean studies is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of Korea, which includes the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and diasporic Korean populations. Areas commonly included under this rubric include Ko ...

Early missionary work

Beginning in 1923 mission work was actively carried out in the northern part of the peninsula such as

Pyongan Pyeong-an Province (, ) was one of Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Pyeong'an was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Pyeongyang (now Pyongyang, North Korea). History Pyeong'an Province was formed in ...

and

Hwanghae Hwanghae Province (''Hwanghae-do'' ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon era. Hwanghae was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Haeju. The regional name for the province was Haeseo. History In 139 ...

Provinces. To train the local clergy St. Michael's Theological Institute, the former institution of the present Sungkonghoe University, was established in 1923, followed by the Society of the Holy Cross (convent) in 1925. Also, the cathedral Church of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Nicholas in downtown

was initially constructed in 1924 and is now well known for its unique

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

as it is the only one in this fashion in the orient, together with its mosaic murals.

Japanese colonial rule

Due to considerable difficulties with the language barrier, personal health problems, and other incidents, the mission work had little success throughout the later years, especially during the 36-year period of the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese colonial rule. This colonial rule caused significant obstacles to Church development in Korea, primarily because those missionaries appeared to have an indifferent attitude to the Korean independence movement at that time.

First native bishop

Despite such an unfavorable situation as illustrated, the first native Korean bishop, Cheon-hwan Lee, was ordained in 1965 after 20 years had lapsed since liberation from Japanese rule. Thus the original Korean mission diocese was formed into the two dioceses of Seoul and Daejeon, followed by the separate additional forming of the Diocese of Busan in 1974. In 1974, he received an honorary

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

from

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

. He died on 26 March 2010.

Recent expansion

Since the 1970s the Anglican Church has increasingly expanded through opening a number of new churches across country. St Peter's School was founded in 1975 to provide special needs children with effective special education as needed. St. Michael's Theological Seminary was also upgraded to be accredited by the government in 1982 and 10 years later it was again formally upgraded and expanded as a university to satisfies the peoples' great needs in the coming new era. The three dioceses continued steady growth in numbers of churches and social evangelization under the auspices of the second and third generations of Korean bishops. The Church has thus been active in constructing new church buildings, along with its continued efforts in opening the new additional churches since the mid-1980s. In this context the Board of Mission and Education has played a timely role in offering education and training programs. On occasion of its centennial anniversary on September 29, 1990, the Anglican Church of Korea reaffirmed its intent under the theme. "Jesus Christ, Life of the Nation", to continue proclaiming the message of life to the people and expediting the peaceful reunification of Korea as desired. The Provincial Constitution of the Anglican Church of Korea was declared on September 29, 1992, and the first Korean primate was inaugurated on April 16, 1993. Thus, the Church finally has become an independent national church.

Theology

The Anglican Church of Korea has clergy and members reflecting diverse views. The church ordains women as priests and has been doing so since 2001. Regarding issues of human sexuality, some clergy, congregations, and members of the denomination have been affirming and supportive of LGBT rights including by participating in Pride events. The Anglican Church in Korea is considered to be more open toward homosexuality and is openly discussing the matter. One cleric, representing the Anglican Church in a Korean Christian dialogue, presented a "let's see" approach regarding homosexuality.

Structure and leadership

The church was previously under the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury. To mark independence in 1993, the Archbishop of Canterbury handed his authority as

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

and

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

to the first Archbishop of Korea. The church now forms a single metropolitical province, consisting of three dioceses: Seoul, Busan, and Daejeon. The primacy rotates between the three; thus the current bishop of Seoul is also the Archbishop of Korea and Primate of the Church.

Archbishops of Korea

*19931995: Simon Kim Seong-su, Bishop of Seoul *1995: Paul Yun Hwan, Bishop of Daejeon(acting archbishop) *19951997: Benedict Kim Jae-heon, Bishop of Busan *19972000: Matthew Chung Chul-beom, Bishop of Seoul

Primate of Korea

*20002003: Paul Yun Hwan, Bishop of Daejeon *20032005: Matthew Chung Chul-beom, Bishop of Seoul *2005: Joseph Lee Dae-yong, Bishop of Busan *20052006: Andrew Shin Hyeon-sam, Bishop of Daejeon *20062009: Francis Park Kyeong-jo, Bishop of Seoul *2009: Solomon Yun Jong-mo, Bishop of Busan(acting Primate) *20092010: Solomon Yun Jong-mo, Bishop of Busan *20102017: Paul Kim Keun-sang, Bishop of Seoul *20172018:

Onesimus Park Dong-shin Onesimus ( grc-gre, Ὀνήσιμος, Onēsimos, meaning "useful"; died , according to Catholic tradition), also called Onesimus of Byzantium and The Holy Apostle Onesimus in the Eastern Orthodox Church, was probably a slave to Philemon of Col ...

, Bishop of Busan *20182020: Moses Yoo Nak-jun, Bishop of Daejeon *2020present: Peter Lee Kyeong-ho, Bishop of Seoul

Diocese of Seoul

The current Diocese of Seoul was founded as the Joseon (Korea) diocese, covering all the Korean peninsula, in 1889. It was split in 1965, to create Taejon diocese, at which point it became Seoul diocese. The current bishop is Peter Kyongho Lee, who has also been Primate since 2020.

Bishops in Korea

The Bishop in Korea was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

missionary appointment from 1889 to 1965 when the diocese was divided.

Bishops of Seoul

*1965-1985: Paul Lee Cheon-hwan (Paul Lee, first native bishop; consecrated shortly before 13 August 1965) *1985-1995:

Simon Kim Seong-su Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

*1995-2005: Matthew Chung Chul-beom *2005-2009: Francis Park Kyeong-jo *2009-2017: Paul Kim Keun-sang *2017–present: Peter Lee Kyeong-ho

Assistant bishops

*1926–1930: Hugh Embling, Assistant Bishop in Corea. (Hugh John Embling; 20 January 18861 June 1965) Deaconed Advent (19 December) 1909 and priested Advent (18 December) 1910, by

Arthur Winnington-Ingram Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram (26 January 1858 – 26 May 1946) was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939. Early life and career He was born in the rectory at Stanford-on-Teme, Worcestershire, the fourth son of Edward Winnington-Ingram (a Ch ...

(

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

) at St Paul's; consecrated

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, a ...

(29 September) 1926, by

Randall Davidson Randall Thomas Davidson, 1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth, (7 April 1848 – 25 May 1930) was an Anglican priest who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1903 to 1928. He was the longest-serving holder of the office since the English Reformation, Re ...

(

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

) at

. *1951–1963:

Arthur Chadwell The Anglican Church of Korea (or Episcopal Church of Korea) is the province of the Anglican Communion in North and South Korea. Founded in 1889, it has over 120 parish and mission churches with a total membership of roughly 65,000 people. Hist ...

, Assistant Bishop (Acting diocesan bishop, 1951–1953; deaconed 11 June 1922 and priested 27 May 1923 by

Cyril Garbett Cyril Forster Garbett (6 February 1875 – 31 December 1955) was an Anglican bishop and author. He was successively the Bishop of Southwark, the Bishop of Winchester and the Archbishop of York from 1942 to 1955. Early life Garbett was born in ...

(

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

) at

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

; consecrated 30 November 1951 by

Geoffrey Fisher Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Baron Fisher of Lambeth, (5 May 1887 – 15 September 1972) was an English Anglican priest, and 99th Archbishop of Canterbury, serving from 1945 to 1961. From a long line of parish priests, Fisher was educated at Marlb ...

(

) at

)

External links

Official website

Diocese of Daejeon

The Diocese of Daejeon is the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

in that part of

that includes North and South Chungcheong Provinces; North and South Cholla Provinces and South Kangwon. It was erected from the Joseon diocese in 1965 and split in 1974 to erect Busan diocese.

Bishops of Daejeon

*1965-1968: John Daly *1968-1974:

Richard Rutt Cecil Richard Rutt CBE (27 August 192527 July 2011) was an English Roman Catholic priest and a former Anglican bishop. Rutt spent almost 20 years of his life serving as an Anglican missionary in South Korea, a country for which he developed a d ...

(assistant bishop since 1966) *1974-1987: Mark Pae Du-hwan *1987-2003: Paul Yun Hwan (cons. 14 Oct 1987, by

Robert Runcie Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, (2 October 1921 – 11 July 2000) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991, having previously been Bishop of St Albans. He travelled the world widely t ...

( Cantuar.) at

Hannam University Hannam University (한남대학교) is a private Christian university in Daejeon, South Korea. It was founded in 1956. Transition In February 1959, Linton (W.A.) was inaugurated as the first president of Daejeon University. The university has ...

) *2003-2007:

Andrew Shin Hyeon-sam Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

*2007-2013: Michael Kwon Hee-yeon *2014-: Moses Yoo Nak-jun

External links

Official website

Diocese of Busan

Busan diocese was erected from the Diocese of Daejeon in 1974.

Bishops of Busan

*1974–1987: William Choi Chul-hee (cons. 1 June 1974 by Paul Lee (Seoul) at

Seoul Anglican Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin and St Nicholas (Korean: 대한성공회 서울주교좌대성당), Seoul Anglican Cathedral, or simply Seoul Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral in Seoul, South Korea. It is the mother church of both the ...

) *1987–1997: Benedict Kim Jae-heon *1994–2000: Joseph Lee Dae-yong *2000–2011: Solomon Yun Jong-mo *2012–:

External links

Official website

References

External links

Official church website, in English and KoreanOfficial church website, for English MissionHistorical documents related to Korean Anglicanism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anglican Church Of Korea

Anglicanism in South Korea Religious organizations established in 1889 Members of the World Council of Churches Anglican organizations established in the 19th century Protestant denominations established in the 19th century

History

Birth of the Anglican Church of Korea

Early missionary work

Japanese colonial rule

First native bishop

Recent expansion

Theology

Structure and leadership

Archbishops of Korea

Primate of Korea

Diocese of Seoul

Bishops in Korea

Bishops of Seoul

Assistant bishops

External links

Diocese of Daejeon

Bishops of Daejeon

External links

Diocese of Busan

Bishops of Busan

External links

Archives

See also

References

External links