[Editorial] Presbyterian Church of Korea allows Myungsung church to be handed down from father to son

The Myungsung Church in the Myeongil neighborhood of Seoul

Decision allows mega-churches to adopt same dynastic practices as S. Korean corporations

The Presbyterian Church of Korea (TongHap) made a decision on Sept. 26 effectively granting permission to pass down Myungsung Presbyterian Church from father to son. Rev. Kim Ha-na, son of Myungsung founder Rev. Kim Sam-hwan, will now be able to take over as Myungsung’s head pastor as of 2021. This decision basically gave the green light for churches – institutions whose ostensible purpose is to deliver souls – to adopt the same kind of dynastic practices as corporations. This is absolutely deplorable.

The decision is an even bigger issue because of its extralegal nature and disregard for the denomination’s own constitution. The issue of Myungsung Presbyterian Church’s succession first arose in 2017 when Kim Ha-na took over the ministry following his father’s retirement in December 2015. This drew harsh criticism from in and around the religious community. After two years of controversy, the denomination’s adjudication bureau made a decision early last month declaring the father-to-son passage of Myungsung Presbyterian Church null and void, citing provisions in the constitution barring hereditary transmission of the ministry. The latest decision by the denomination recognized that ruling, but also gave permission for Kim Ha-na to take over as head pastor in 2021 – basically overruling its own constitution. In making the decision, it also adopted another stating that no one was allowed to object to it on grounds of church or state law. It’s a move that is certain to be denounced for casting aside the law and common sense in order to guarantee the Myungsung succession.

Rev. Kim Sam-hwan. (Myungsung Presbyterian Church website)

The only conclusion that can be drawn about the denomination’s unreasonable decision is that it was bowing to the might of Myungsung Presbyterian Church. With a congregation numbering some 100,000 registered members, it is the biggest single church affiliated with PCK-TongHap. Myungsung leaked the possibility that it might withdraw from the denomination if its succession plan was not approved. In the end, PCK-TongHap buckled before the money and power of that megachurch and risked societal condemnation with its extralegal decision.

PCK-TongHap’s decision is all the more worrying because of the carte blanche it could end up granting for dynastic succession practices at churches. A 2013–2017 study by the ground Solidarity to Oppose Hereditary Succession of Churches showed such passages of power between generations taking place at 143 churches nationwide. At a time when these practices are so widespread as to make a mockery of denomination constitutions, this decision paves the way for abuses in the religious community to spread without any kind of control mechanism. We can only worry what further steps backward lie in store for South Korea’s churches. We hope the religious community realizes that when the churches that are meant to serve as the salt and light for society become tainted by worldly avarice, this will only deepen distrust of them and distance them from their followers.

A document drafted by the Presbyterian Church of Korea granting permission for the Myungsung Presbyterian Church to be handed down from father to son. (provided by the Presbyterian Church of Korea)

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