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| Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon, pastor of the Sarang Jeil Church, walks into the Seoul Central District Court for a trial hearing, in this Feb. 24, file photo. Korea Times file |
Presbyterian church leaders meet to discuss Rev. Jun to decide on his fate
By Park Ji-won
Presbyterian church leaders met on Monday to vote on the fate of outspoken pastor Jun Kwang-hoon.
Their gathering came amid controversy surrounding Rev. Jun for his active political involvement and mobilizing protestors for street rallies to put pressure on President Moon Jae-in to step down.
The Presbyterian Church of Korea held its 105th general meeting in an online and in-person format where 35 church leaders were to vote on whether to start an investigation into Jun over "heresy" allegations. Another church organization, the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church in Korea, also held a session, the same day, at which the leaders of 37 churches were to discuss whether Jun was an "advocate of a heresy" or not. The organizations are the members of the progressive National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) and the conservative United Christian Churches of Korea (UCCK), respectively. The Kosin Presbyterian Church in Korea will also hold an online meeting today to discuss the matter.
The issue about Rev. Jun is one of the issues the leaders of both church organizations discussed that day.
However, due to time limits, they failed to completely handle the related issue. The Presbyterian Church of Korea discussed the issue of heresy allegations Jun, but will decide on a response at next month's board meeting; while the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church opted to submit a report stating that Jun and his Christian Council of Korea (CCK) are advocates of heresy, but failed to put the matter to a vote. It is largely expected that the assembly will investigation the matter further.
There have been numerous allegations against Jun since he took became the head of the CCK, one of the major Protestant church organizations in Korea, in February 2019. Also, the debate over his alleged "heresy" has been the main issue in religious groups after Jun delisted a church from a list of "heretic churches" last year.
He has been accused of mobilizing his congregants to participate in anti-government rallies in central Seoul since last year, defying measures to halt the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and urging them to vote for conservative political parties, thus violating the Election Law. Several religious groups, including a consultation body of eight Christian divisions, have accused Jun of blasphemy and consider him a cult leader for his past remarks. He once said, "I am holding the throne of God… God, you stop there. God, you won't be safe if you don't heed me."
But some say Jun has come under attack as the result of political retaliation based on his open criticisms of the Moon government.
The church pastor, who publicly endorsed the opposition party ahead of the April 15 National Assembly elections, was arrested in February for electioneering prior to the start of the official period, a violation of the Election Law. Under the current law, religious leaders, among other organizational heads, are not allowed to show their support publicly toward parties or politicians before elections because doing so could affect the election results.
The church organizations meetings to discuss Jun has caused a stir as some people claim standards to judge whether certain religious leaders are in contravention of the Church's codes ― or what the church deems "heresy" ― are unclear.
The Catholic Church has a clear definition of heresy in its Canon Law. Canon 751 states, "Heresy is the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith." However, Protestant churches do not possess a united definition.
Roughly, their definition is "the act of teaching religious beliefs and doctrines in opposition of the existing Christian doctrines. To be specific, denying the traditional definition of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, the Bible, church and salvation or distorting their meaning."
In February, the Counter Pseudo-Religion Committee ― made up of the eight Christian divisions ― criticized Jun in a statement for being "anti-Bible, anti-religion and anti-theology," while urging believers not to join his congregation. Some churches have already concluded that he is an advocate of heresy. However, some other conservative churches back Jun's activities and criticize the moves to designate him a cult leader.
It is largely expected that it will take some time for the churches to declare him a heretic due to their differences. But even if the decisions are unfavorable to Jun, this doesn't disqualify his church from being one of the main churches in Korea.
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| The Sarang Jeil Church in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, is seen in this Aug. 18, file photo. Korea Times file |
