Korea Campus Crusade for Christ

Overview

Korea Campus Crusade for Christ is an interdenominational mission organization that proclaims the gospel on university campuses and nurtures students in the faith. "Interdenominational" describes an organization that does not belong to any particular denomination and in which members of various denominations participate together. It is commonly known by its English abbreviation, CCC, or as Korea CCC. Campus Crusade for Christ was founded in the United States in 1951 by Bill Bright, and Korea CCC is known as the first branch that organization established overseas. It was founded by the Rev. Kim Joon-gon. According to reports from the early 2020s, its president is the Rev. Park Sung-min. Its headquarters is reported to be in Buam-dong, Jongno District, Seoul.

Founding and History

Kim Joon-gon was born in 1925 in Sinan, South Jeolla Province. As a child, he first heard the gospel from the evangelist Moon Joon-kyung. In 1948 he graduated in the first class of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and in 1951 he was ordained by the South Jeolla Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Korea. He then served as chaplain and principal of Soongil Middle and High School in Gwangju.

In 1957, while studying at Fuller Theological Seminary in the United States, he met Bill Bright, who urged him to take up the work of CCC. After returning to Korea, he founded Korea Campus Crusade for Christ on November 2, 1958. Its work began in Gwangju. By 1960, campus evangelism was reportedly under way in earnest at universities in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, and Jeonju. Kim Joon-gon died on September 29, 2009, at the age of 86.

Major Activities

• Campus ministry: The organization states its purpose as evangelism, nurture, training, and sending—that is, evangelizing university students, building up their faith through discipleship training, and then sending them out to the mission field. In the English-speaking world, this work is also known as the "Soon Movement."
• Large-scale gatherings: The organization has held events including Explo '74 in 1974, the World Evangelization Crusade in 1980, and the World Mission Conference in 1995.
• Overseas ministry: With branches at home and abroad, including in countries across Asia and the Americas, the organization has devoted itself to world missions.

Kim Joon-gon also launched a number of movements beyond CCC. Among the activities credited to him are founding the National Prayer Breakfast (1966), the Movement to Christianize the Entire Armed Forces (1969), the Holy City Movement in Chuncheon (1972), and the Korea Association of Creation Research (1980). The Holy City Movement seeks to transform an entire city through the gospel.

Organization

Korea CCC is not an umbrella body whose members are denominations. Rather, it is a mission organization in which university students and graduates from various denominations participate as individuals. Internationally, it is connected to the campus ministry movement founded by Bill Bright.

Assessment

At an academic symposium in 2021, church historian Professor Lee Eun-sun credited Kim Joon-gon with making a major contribution, through CCC, to campus evangelization (the evangelization of universities), national evangelization, and world evangelization. Lee also argued that during the 1970s, when the national evangelization movement was flourishing, Kim stood at its center alongside the Rev. Han Kyung-chik and led the growth of the Korean church.