Manmin Central Church

Overview

Manmin Central Church is a church founded by Lee Jae-rock in 1982 in Guro-dong, Guro District, Seoul. Press reports also refer to it as "Manmin Central Holiness Church." Lee was originally a minister of the Jesus Korea Sungkyul Church. In 1990, however, that denomination judged him heretical, deposed him (stripping him of his ministerial credentials), and expelled him. In 1991 he founded his own denomination, the United Holiness Church of Jesus Christ, and he is also reported to have operated the United Holiness Theological Seminary. During his 2018 criminal trial, prosecutors estimated the church's membership at 130,000.

Principal Claims and Teachings

The church promotes a "Fivefold Gospel" emphasizing regeneration, sanctification, divine healing (healing through faith), resurrection, and the Second Coming. The name is the same as that of a teaching traditionally emphasized by the Holiness churches. Critics object to teachings that exalt Lee personally and the church building as uniquely special.

• A study report of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap) found serious heretical elements in Lee's doctrine of God. As an example, it cited a 1998 sermon claiming that biblical figures from two thousand years earlier had appeared at Manmin Central Church.
• Christian media reported that Lee preached to the effect that, because he possessed pure blood, he would escape even death.
• Excessive mysticism and an emphasis on divine healing also drew criticism, as did members' claims that light shone from photographs of Lee and that the workings of evil spirits retreated before them.

Judgments by Major Korean Denominations and Ecumenical Bodies

• Jesus Korea Sungkyul Church: At its 69th General Assembly on May 1, 1990, it declared Lee a heretic under the denomination's constitution and deposed him.
• Christian Council of Korea: Declared the church heretical on April 30, 1999.
• Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap): Conducted an investigation in response to a 1997 request from its Gyeongnam Presbytery and declared the church heretical at its 84th General Assembly in 1999.
• Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapshin): Declared the church heretical at its 85th General Assembly in 2000.

The Group's Position and Rebuttal

In his writings, Lee claimed that the adjudication committee of the Jesus Korea Sungkyul Church's General Assembly had condemned him as a heretic by attributing to him statements he had never made. He also argued that the procedure was unfair, asserting that only about 90 of some 300 delegates remained when the vote to depose him was taken. Since being declared heretical, the church has continued its activities through its own denomination and seminary, which promote the Fivefold Gospel.

Public Controversy

In 2018, an investigation began after female members came forward with allegations of abuse, and Lee was arrested and indicted. The trial court sentenced him to 15 years in prison. The appellate court additionally convicted him on one count of which the trial court had acquitted him and increased the sentence to 16 years. The Supreme Court of Korea upheld this sentence on August 9, 2019. The courts found that he had raped or sexually assaulted nine female members more than 40 times. They determined that the victims had believed him to be a divine being since childhood and that he had exploited their inability to resist under the weight of his religious authority. Even before the Supreme Court, Lee maintained that the victims had deliberately conspired to slander him.

After Lee was imprisoned, his third daughter, Lee Soo-jin, became acting senior pastor. The church is reported to have subsequently experienced internal division and the departure of many members. Its former sanctuary facilities are reported to have been sold. Lee is reported to have died in prison in December 2023.

Some Christian media outlets have compared the church to the Christian Gospel Mission, citing the leader's claim to special revelation and his imprisonment for sex crimes against female members.