Lee Chang-woo (pastor)

Life

Lee was born in 1931. He was more widely known as "Lee Samuel," after his English name, Samuel Lee. Around 1961 he graduated from a Presbyterian seminary. UBF sources and press reports differ on which school he attended, variously naming Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary (Jangsin), and Chongshin. After completing seminary, he worked with university students at Daein Church in Gwangju.

In the spring of 1961, Sarah Barry, a missionary, opened a Christian student center in a former billiard hall in the Daein-dong neighborhood of Gwangju. Barry had come to Korea in 1955, sent by the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States. There Lee, together with Barry and Jeon Yo-han, then a student, led Bible study for university students. UBF regards September 1, 1961, as its founding date. In later recollections, Barry wrote that UBF was not created by the two of them but was a movement that began among the students themselves.

During the 1960s UBF spread to Daejeon, Daegu, Jeonju, Seoul, and other cities. After a conflict in 1976 with members who demanded reform of the organization, Lee moved to Chicago in 1977 and established UBF's world mission headquarters there. He continued to lead UBF until his death in January 2002.

Ministry and Accomplishments

• He taught university students through inductive Bible study, in which participants examine the biblical text directly and ask and answer questions of one another. According to Barry's recollections, group study was central in Gwangju, while individual study was central in Seoul.
• From 1968 to 1977 he wrote Daily Bread, a devotional guide covering the entire Bible. Members wrote down their reflections on the day's passage along with their prayer requests and shared them at meetings.
• Under his leadership UBF sent missionaries to many countries, beginning in 1969 with lay missionaries sent to West Germany.
• He preferred to be called "Shepherd," and the word is inscribed on his gravestone. He named Ephesians 2:10 as the central verse of his life.

Influence on the Korean Church

Most university student mission organizations active in Korea came from abroad, but UBF is regarded as having originated in Korea. Although it was cofounded by an American missionary, it was neither authorized nor sponsored by the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States, and for this reason it is sometimes called an "indigenous" mission organization. The prayer goal he proclaimed, "Bible Korea, World Mission," remains UBF's motto today. UBF presents as a distinctive feature of the organization its approach in which local students, after studying the Bible, go abroad as self-supporting missionaries who earn their own living.

Assessment

UBF honors him as a leader who built a worldwide movement through a steadfast sense of purpose.

He has also been criticized. In 1976, members calling for reform wrote an open letter demanding that he stop the use of excessive violence in training and illegal practices such as the misappropriation of funds, and that he resign as head of the organization. The conflict was not resolved, and those demanding reform left to form the Evangelical Student Fellowship (ESF). When UBF became prominent on university campuses in the 1970s, tensions arose with established churches and mission organizations, and accusations of heresy were reportedly raised in the process.

In its official materials, UBF notes that former members have characterized his leadership style as excessively directive. It also acknowledges that some practices from that period left deep spiritual and emotional wounds. UBF has stated that Lee himself acknowledged that he was not perfect.