Prayer Retreat Center (Kidowon)

Definition and Meaning

The Korean term kidowon (祈禱院) means "house of prayer." It refers to a facility designed to let people step away from daily life for a time and devote themselves to prayer and fasting. Such centers are usually located in the mountains or in quiet suburban areas and typically include a meeting hall, individual prayer rooms, lodging, and a dining hall. Some are operated by local congregations, presbyteries, or denominations, while others are founded by individuals. Because English has no exact equivalent, the term is commonly rendered as "prayer mountain."

Biblical and Historical Background

The culture of prayer retreat centers draws its justification from biblical examples of withdrawing to solitary places to pray. The Gospels record that Jesus went out early in the morning to a solitary place to pray (Mark 1:35) and that he went up into a mountain and continued all night in prayer (Luke 6:12). Also frequently cited are Moses's forty days on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:18) and Elijah's journey to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8).

In Korea, the custom of sangido, or "mountain prayer"—going up into the mountains to pray—took root early. Through the revival movements of the early twentieth century, this custom became a distinctive feature of Korean Protestantism, alongside early-morning prayer meetings and simultaneous audible prayer (tongseong gido). Prayer retreat centers are understood to have multiplied most rapidly after the Korean War, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, when revival meetings and divine healing gatherings flourished.

Practice in the Korean Church

At a prayer retreat center, scheduled services are held several times a day. Between services, participants pray in individual prayer rooms or on the mountainside. Typical practices include fasting prayer, in which participants abstain from food for a set period, and vowed prayer (jakjeong gido), in which participants commit in advance to pray for a fixed period. Churches also use these centers as venues for retreats for their young adult groups or church officers.

Denominations differ in their approach to prayer retreat centers.

• Full Gospel churches: In keeping with the Pentecostal tradition, they emphasize fasting prayer and experiences of the Holy Spirit and have actively operated prayer retreat centers. A well-known example is the Osanri Choi Ja-sil Memorial Fasting Prayer Mountain in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, operated by Yoido Full Gospel Church.
• Presbyterian, Methodist, and Holiness churches: Local congregations or presbyteries often maintain prayer retreat centers and use them as places for prayer and retreats.
• Anglican and other churches: The retreat (a gathering for meditation away from daily life) or forms closer to the monastic tradition are more familiar than the prayer retreat center.

The practice has also drawn criticism. Some theologians and pastors have voiced concern that prayer retreat meetings may lean too heavily on experience or personal prophecy, or may create a separate spiritual authority outside the local church. In addition, reports of incidents at some centers in which sick people were forcibly kept on the premises, assaulted, or confined have made the issue a social problem. In recent years, a growing number of such facilities have adopted names such as suyanggwan (retreat house) or "spirituality center."