Hereditary Pastoral Succession

The Issue

The question is whether it is legitimate for a senior pastor's child or son-in-law to succeed the pastor upon retirement. Because the Korean term seseup ("hereditary succession") itself carries a critical connotation, supporters of the practice prefer more neutral terms such as "succession" or "continuation."

Arguments Against

• The church belongs to Christ, not to the pastor's family.
• When the finances and influence of a megachurch pass down within a single family, the church becomes privatized.
• Even if the call process observes the proper formalities, members find it difficult to exercise free judgment while under the predecessor's influence.
• The practice erodes public trust and thereby hinders evangelism.

Arguments in Defense

• If the members have chosen a successor through procedures established by denominational law, such as a vote of the congregational meeting, anyone may become the successor. Disqualifying someone simply for being the pastor's child is itself a form of discrimination.
• The Old Testament priesthood passed from generation to generation.
• When someone who understands the predecessor's philosophy of ministry takes over, the church remains stable.
• Cases in which a child succeeds a parent in a small rural or fishing-village church should not be judged by the same standard.

The Situation in Korea

Beginning in the late 1990s, a series of large churches in Seoul installed the senior pastor's child as successor, and the practice became a matter of public controversy. In 2012 the Korean Methodist Church added a provision to its Doctrine and Discipline prohibiting a parent and child from serving consecutively as senior pastor of the same church. The Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap) likewise resolved at its 2013 General Assembly to add a similar prohibition to its constitution. The 2017 succession of the senior pastor at Myungsung Church was contested for several years before the Tonghap General Assembly and its judicial commission over the interpretation and application of this provision.

Methods of circumventing these rules have also drawn controversy. Critics have pointed to "stepping-stone succession," in which the successor serves at another church before returning; the splitting or merging of churches; and "cross succession," in which pastors arrange for each other's children to be called. Many denominations have no such prohibition.