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History of Methodism in Korea
[History]The history of Methodism in Korea began in 1884, when the American Methodist missionary Robert Maclay received permission from King Gojong to begin mission work. The church then went through the union of its northern and southern Methodist branches, trials under Japanese colonial rule, and division and reunification after liberation before becoming today's Korean Methodist Church.
Centennial of Protestant Missions in Korea
[History]The centennial of Protestant missions in Korea was a series of commemorative projects and events held in 1984 to mark one hundred years of Protestant mission work in Korea. It took Horace Allen's arrival in 1884 as its starting point. Numerous denominations and organizations took part. The central event was the Korean Christian Centennial Mission Convention, held that August at Yeouido Plaza in Seoul.
Deacon
[Church Offices]A deacon holds a church office devoted to service, ministry, and the practical affairs of the congregation. In Korean Protestant churches, the office is divided into ordained deacons and acting deacons appointed annually, and its status and role vary by denomination.
Elder
[Church Offices]An elder is a church officer elected from among the members to care for and govern the church together with the pastor. In Presbyterian churches the term refers to the ruling elders who make up the session; the status and role of the office vary by denomination.
Barnabas
[People]Barnabas was an early church leader who appears in the Acts of the Apostles. Originally named Joseph, he was a Levite from Cyprus. The apostles gave him the name Barnabas, meaning "son of consolation," and he accompanied Paul on the first missionary journey.
1 Corinthians 2:2
[Bible Verses]A verse in which Paul recalls that, when he first preached the gospel to the church at Corinth, he determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified. It is frequently cited in discussions of the heart of the gospel and the center of preaching.
Ephesians 4:13–16
[Bible Verses]A passage describing the church growing in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God toward the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ and, as a body with Christ as its head, building itself up in love. It is frequently cited in discussions of spiritual maturity and the growth of the church community.
Irenaeus
[People]Irenaeus was a Church Father who served as bishop of Lyon in Gaul in the late second century. In *Against Heresies* he refuted Gnosticism and emphasized the four Gospels and the rule of faith, profoundly influencing the formation of orthodox theology in the early church.
Manaen
[People]Manaen is an early church figure named in Acts 13:1 as one of the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch. He is described as one "which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch," that is, as Herod's foster brother or childhood companion.
Apostolic Fathers
[History]The Apostolic Fathers are the church leaders who were active close to the time of the apostles, from the late first century to the mid-second century. The term also refers to the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament that they left behind.
Gospel of the Hebrews
[History]The Gospel of the Hebrews is a New Testament apocryphal gospel said to have been read among Christians of Jewish origin around the second century. No copy survives, and the work is known only from a few passages quoted by the Church Fathers.
Baptismal Instruction
[Christian Life]Baptismal instruction is a church's program for teaching those seeking baptism the basic content of the faith and the meaning of baptism. The procedure that follows instruction, in which candidates are questioned and their faith is confirmed, is commonly called the "baptismal examination."
Missionary
[Church Offices]A missionary is a person whom a church or mission organization sends to another region or culture to proclaim the gospel and to carry out work such as church planting, education, medical care, and relief.
Laity
[Church Offices]The laity are the ordinary members of a church, as distinct from clergy such as pastors and evangelists. In Korean Protestant churches, officers such as elders, kwonsa, and deacons are usually counted among the laity as well.
Lent
[Feasts & Seasons]Lent is a season of the church year lasting forty days before Easter, excluding Sundays, during which Christians meditate on the sufferings of Jesus Christ and prepare for Easter through repentance and self-denial.
Short-Term Missions
[Christian Life]Short-term missions are trips in which church members travel to domestic or overseas mission fields, for periods ranging from a few days to several weeks and in longer cases one to two years, to assist local churches and to engage in evangelism and service. In Korean churches the practice is also widely known as a "vision trip."
Online Communion
[Controversies]Online Communion is the question of whether church members taking part in an online worship service may prepare the bread and cup in their own homes and partake of the Lord's Supper. The question came to be widely debated in 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions limited in-person worship.
Paul
[People]Paul was an apostle of the early church. A Jewish Pharisee who had persecuted the church, he was converted and devoted himself to mission among the Gentiles. Thirteen letters bearing his name are included in the New Testament.
Pastoral Honorarium
[Organization & Polity]A pastoral honorarium is money that a church pays regularly to its ministers, such as the senior pastor, associate pastors, and evangelists, to support their living. It is often referred to simply as an "honorarium."
Council of Chalcedon
[History]The Council of Chalcedon was a church council convened in 451 by the Eastern Roman emperor Marcian. It adopted the Chalcedonian Definition, which confesses that Jesus Christ has two natures, divine and human, in one person.