Myung Sung Presbyterian Church is the largest

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 ...

church in the world. It is located in Myung-il-dong,

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 ...

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 ...

, with its Prayer Sanctuary in

Wonju Wonju () is the most populous city in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city is located approximately east of Seoul. Wonju was the site of three crucial battles during the Korean War. Geography Wonju sits at the southwestern corner of Gangw ...

. Myung Sung Presbyterian Church has over thirty

church plant Church planting is a term referring to the process (mostly in Protestant frameworks) that results in a new local Christian congregation being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, worship center or ...

s, including Myung Sung First Presbyterian Church, founded in 2004, and Myung Sung Second Presbyterian Church, founded in 2006. There are an additional ten "screen" (video) churches. The founder and current senior pastor of the church is Dr. Kim Sam Whan.

History

Myungsung literally means "Voice (''Sung'' in

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

) of Myungil-dong" (now

Myeongil-dong Myeongil-dong is a '' dong'', neighbourhood of Gangdong-gu in Seoul, South Korea. History The name of Myeongil was named after 'Myeongil-won' during Goryeo Dynasty in the 10th century. Myeongil-won was an accommodation facilities and duty stat ...

). The church was founded in 1980. Because there were many farms and orchards around the church, it had been renovated and developed into a huge housing complex by the mid 1980s. In 1989, Myungsung Presbyterian Church was rebuilt on its current site, with a scale of almost 8754 m². In 1990, the senior pastor, Dr. Kim Sam Whan ( 김삼환), from Myungsung Church visited the

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(now

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), and

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for worship missions, as the first among the Protestant pastors in

. In 2004, the church opened its affiliated hospital named MCM (Myungsung Christian Medical Center) in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, to serve untreated local people there. In 2012, a new main sanctuary was built beside the former building. The church mottos are "Lord Only" and "Seven Year as One Day".

Mission Department

As of 2006 the Myungsung Mission Department has been able to support 56 nations through 92 families and 172 missionaries. Myungsung Church also supports small churches, schools, hospitals, community centers, and future leaders.

References

External links

* http://www.msch.or.kr {{Korean Churches Gangdong District Presbyterian megachurches Christian organizations established in 1980 20th-century Presbyterian churches Presbyterian churches in Seoul