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Gajung (House) Church Ministry As a Renewal Movement for Korean Protestant Church - Focusing on the Ministry of Seoul Baptist Church of Houston, Texas

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Gajung (House) Church Ministry As a Renewal Movement for Korean Protestant Church - Focusing on the Ministry of Seoul Baptist Church of Houston, Texas ABSTRACT Gajung (House) Church Ministry as a Renewal Movement for Korean Protestant Church - Focusing on the Ministry of Seoul Baptist Church of Houston, Texas After Protestant missionaries came to the Korean peninsula in 1884, the Christian faith began to spread among Koreans, and Korean Protestant churches started to grow. During the modernization and industrialization of Korean society beginning in the 1960s, Korean Protestantism even saw the emergence of mega-churches like Yoido Full Gospel Church, Kwanglim Methodist Church, and Myungsung Presbyterian Church. Many people from both inside and outside the churches, however, currently criticize Korean churches. Critics even derided Christians who during their mission trip to Afghanistan in 2007 were kidnapped and killed by the Taliban. This research focuses on how to renew Korean churches through Gajung (House) church ministry as a response to the current situation of Korean Protestant churches. Chapter one introduces the statement of the problem, research questions, the theoretical framework, and the research methodology of this case study of Seoul Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, USA, (SBCH) and three other local churches in Korea participating in the same Gajung church ministry. Chapter Two outlines Korean church history from the earliest contact with the Christian faith, even before the coming of the first official missionary, the efforts to spread the gospel, and the remarkable church growth and the efforts promoting discipleship. Finally, the chapter discuses the need for church renewal in Korean Protestant churches in terms of socio-phenomenological and theological concerns. Chapter Three outlines the basic philosophy of Gajung church ministry of SBCH. This ministry has, as core values, three axes (Sunday Corporate Worship, Gajung church meeting, and Life Bible Study) and four pillars (Saving souls and making disciples as raison d'être of the Church [Matt. 28:19-20], Discipleship Training with Demonstrations [Mark 3:14-15], Biblical Distribution of Church Ministry with lay people [Eph. 4:11-12], and Servant leadership [Mark 10:43-45]). As communities pursuing the recovery of the first century church’s faith community, Gajung church ministry seeks balance among the whole congregation, the Gajung church meeting, and Life Bible Study. For historical background and perspective comparisons between this ministry and early Methodism, Missional church, Organic church, Fresh Expression, and Cell church perspectives are provided. Chapters Four and Five provide analysis demonstrating that this Gajung church ministry, as a renewal movement, has strong signs of having the ten marks of the mediating model of Howard Snyder. The ministry shows 1) the rediscovery of the gospel in terms of relationship with God and other people, 2) the existence of Mokjang church as eccelsiola, 3) Mokjang as small group gathering, 4) Mokjang with a structural link with a local church (for instance, SBCH) and with denomination as an institutional church, 5) commitment to the unity and wholeness of the larger church by participating in various ministries of local churches and in providing seminars and conferences, 6) mission orientation for reaching VIPs (Very Important Person denoting the non-believers in this ministry) and spreading the ministry among other churches, 7) Mokjang as a distinct community of an extended family for mutual love and fellowship, 8) Mokjang as the field to practice care for each other, to reach non-believers, and to raise new leaders, 9) contacting others and the poor, and 10) emphasis on the Bible and the Spirit through Bible study, worship services, and prayers. Chapter Six explains how hospitality through Mokjang leaders and members open the hearts of the VIPs (non-believers). The three elements of Aristotelian ethos were confirmed in this ministry: through serving activities in Mokjang, VIPs experience love and sacrifice in those serving activities (virtue) that are needed in the particular situation (practical wisdom) for their spiritual and physical benefit (good will). In addition, by serving others, the members in this ministry experience their personal growth in faith through the desire to resemble Jesus in the ministry and in their character. Chapter Seven addresses the missiological implications for Korean Protestant churches, suggesting that 1) Gajung church ministry helps Korean churches to have a new understanding of evangelism in terms of kingdom growth instead of church growth, 2) Gajung church ministry gives a new paradigm for discipleship in Korean churches by recovering hospitality as the Christian habit through serving others, 3) Gajung church ministry gives a more developed picture of relationship among the churches in their network, 4) Gajung church ministry provides the possibility of being missional where they are, beyond the boundary of Gajung church, and 5) Gajung church ministry addresses the tendency of seeking material blessings in the Korean churches. DISSERTATION APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation, entitled Gajung (House) Church Ministry as a Renewal Movement for Korean Protestant Church - Focusing on the Ministry of Seoul Baptist Church of Houston, Texas Written by SinHyung Seo and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Has been read and approved by the undersigned members of the Faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary Dr. W. Jay Moon, Mentor Dr. Howard A. Snyder, Reader October, 2017 Gajung (House) Church Ministry as a Renewal Movement for Korean Protestant Church - Focusing on the Ministry of Seoul Baptist Church of Houston, Texas A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary Wilmore, Kentucky In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Committee: Dr. W. Jay Moon, Mentor Dr. Howard A. Snyder, Reader By SinHyung Seo October, 2017 Copyright 2017 SinHyung Seo All Rights Reserved Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 I. Personal Experience 1 ............................................................................................................ 1 II. Personal Experience 2 ........................................................................................................... 2 III. Statement of Problem .......................................................................................................... 5 IV. Research Questions .............................................................................................................. 6 V. Delimitations .......................................................................................................................... 6 VI. Definition of Key Terms ...................................................................................................... 7 VII. Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................... 11 VIII. Review of Relevant Literature ....................................................................................... 17 IX. Research Methodology ...................................................................................................... 32 X. Significance of the Research ............................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 2 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE KOREAN PROTESTANT CHURCH AND THE NEED FOR THE RENEWAL ................................................ 41 I. A Brief History of the Korean Protestant Church ............................................................ 41 1. Early contacts and efforts for Christian Faith .................................................................... 41 2. Opening of Korea and Early Mission ................................................................................ 44 3. Church Growth and discipleship training .......................................................................... 53 II. NEED for renewal ............................................................................................................... 62 1. Socio-phenomological Needs ............................................................................................ 62 2. Theological Needs ............................................................................................................. 67 CHAPTER 3 SBCH GAJUNG CHURCH MODEL AND OTHER HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY MODELS ................................................. 74 I. The Spirit of Gajung church model (Three Axes and Four Pillars) ................................ 74 1. Three Axes ......................................................................................................................... 74 i 2. Four Pillars ......................................................................................................................... 80 3. Additional Structures assisting Mokjang ministry ............................................................. 86 II. Comparison with early Methodism as a historical model ............................................... 87 1. Small
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