History of the Anglican Church in Korea

Background

Anglicanism is the collective name for the churches that follow the tradition of the Church of England, which separated from the Roman Catholic Church during the sixteenth-century English Reformation. The Korean name of the church, Seonggonghoe, is formed from the characters for "holy" and "catholic" in the creedal confession of "one, holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic Church." Preparations for the mission to Korea began on November 1, 1889, when Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, consecrated the priest Charles John Corfe at Westminster, England, as bishop of the Diocese of Korea. In Korea, Corfe was known by the Korean name Go Yo-han.

Development

Beginning of the Mission (1890s)

Bishop Corfe and his fellow missionaries arrived at Chemulpo (present-day Incheon) on September 29, 1890. The Anglican Church of Korea commemorates this date as its founding day. In September 1891 the first Anglican church was built in Naedong, Incheon, and in October of the same year St. Luke's Hospital opened. The medical missionary Eli Barr Landis cared for patients regardless of whether they were believers and also studied Korean folklore and religion. In Seoul a church was established in Jeong-dong; it is the origin of today's Seoul Anglican Cathedral.

Education, Medicine, Welfare, and Inculturation

The Anglican Church founded the Sinmyeong School to provide modern education. It also opened hospitals in Incheon, Yeoju, and Jincheon, and orphanages in Suwon and Anjung. From the earliest days of the mission it pursued inculturation, seeking to become a church rooted in Korean culture, and its missionaries were active in Korean studies. At the same time, the language barrier, illness and accidents among the missionaries, and restrictions under Japanese colonial rule long prevented the church from growing significantly.

The First Korean Bishop and the Division of Dioceses (1965–1974)

Until 1965 the Anglican Church in Korea operated as the Diocese of Korea under the Church of England. On May 27, 1965, Bishop Paul Lee Cheon-hwan was installed as bishop of the newly created Diocese of Seoul, becoming the first Korean bishop in the history of the Anglican Church in Korea. In 1974 the Diocese of Busan was separated from the Diocese of Daejeon, yielding three dioceses: Seoul, Daejeon, and Busan. This satisfied the requirements for establishing an independent province (a self-governing unit comprising several dioceses).

Centennial of the Mission and Provincial Independence (1990–1993)

On September 29, 1990, the Anglican Church of Korea celebrated the centennial of its mission under the theme "Jesus Christ, the Life of the Nation." In 1993 it passed out of the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury and became an independent province of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Its first primate was Bishop Kim Sung-soo.

Results and Influence

Within Anglicanism, the Anglican Church of Korea follows the High Church tradition, which places strong emphasis on liturgy. As a result, much of its Korean terminology, including the words for "priest" and "church building," is the same as that used by the Catholic Church. In its external relations, it belongs to the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches in Korea and participates in the ecumenical movement. From the late 1980s it carried out social mission centered on the House of Sharing, a ministry to the urban poor. Seoul Anglican Cathedral is known as a significant site associated with the June Democratic Struggle of 1987. Today the three dioceses form a single province, and one of the three diocesan bishops serves as primate.

Assessment

The aspects of Korean Anglican history most often emphasized are its efforts at inculturation from the earliest period and its ministries in education, medicine, and welfare. The Anglican Church is described as combining the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church with features of Protestantism, which gives it a distinctive place within Korean Protestantism. Its membership, however, is relatively small compared with that of large denominations such as the Presbyterian and Methodist churches; it was at one time described as having about 100 churches nationwide and approximately 50,000 members. Among the reasons the church failed to grow under Japanese colonial rule, Anglican sources themselves note that the British missionaries were relatively passive toward the Korean independence movement.