Presbytery Meeting and Worship at HaeIn

It has been a busy week.  On Thursday the bi-annual meeting of Incheon Presbytery began.  The meeting runs for three days.  We were there only for a short time.  It took HyeRan and I about 3 hours to get there by public transport and then three hours to get back to meet the kids after school.  We only had time to be formally introduced at the meeting and to share lunch together.  But in that time we met many friendly faces among whom were some of those who came to Riverbend Presbytery last June.

This is a picture of Rev. Bae immediately after his installation as president of the presbytery for the coming year.  He gave a short speach in his usual soft and gentle voice about wanting especially to focus on youth and children's ministry in the coming year.

 This is a picture of HyeRan with the father of JiSang, one of the university students on the visit to Riverbend, (middle) and another presbyter who knows HyeRan from way back.(right)

 Rev. Park KyeongSeo, the new president of presbytery (right) with a church elder. (middle)  Note the black suits and ties.  Presbytery is a different animal in South Korea!  This is not just because of the formality.  Presbytery is one of three courts in the PROK and has direct responsibility for many things Riverbend Presbytery doesn't.  Ordination of ministers is one example.

 Rev. Kim YeongSeon from HaeIn Church.  She is the corresponding secretary of Incheon Presbytery this year as she was for last year.

 In the middle is a dear friend of HyeRan's who is the new recording secretary for the presbytery and one of the people we will definitely meet during our visit in October.

 Elder Seo, who came to Riverbend and impressed everyone with his energy and positivity.

 Rev. Kim YeongSeop is the incoming corresponding secretary for presbytery and a friend of mine from the days when I was an exchange student at HanShin University.

 Lunch break.

  Cherry blossoms!

 Another friend and member of presbytery.

What HyeRan and I took away from the meeting is that people are beginning to prepare for our arrival.  One of the issues they are most concerned about is sleeping arrangements.  I tried to assure them by saying we had spend a lot of time thinking about this too and in the end decided to go with home-stay even though we were unsure that our guests would be comfortable in Canadian homes because it was the best way to meet people.  I also said that we would be prepared for something different than we are used to in Canada.

On Sunday the Kim-Cragg family when to HaeIn Church, Kim YeongSeon's congregation.  The church is socially very active and is running a number of programs for seniors and unemployed people.  They also have partnership programs with rural congregations in Korea where they will visit and trade things between the communities.  I did not ask what they usually send but after the service we were treated to so very tasty cookies and rice cakes that had been prepared in rural churches.

   My sermon focused on partnership.  I talked about the on going need to work together with one another in the face of disasters like the SaeWol Ferry sinking because helping one another was the only way to keeps God's covenant alive in this new age.

HyeRan gave the closing benediction after which we when outside for a few pictures with the congregation.  The bush with the yellow ribbons hanging on it is a symbol of the congregations commitment to justice in the case of the SaeWol Ferry.  The anniversary of its sinking is this Thursday, April 16.

The Congregation is very much looking forward to seeing us.  They are a warm and friendly group with a lot to share and to teach.

SaeWol Solidarity in Holy Week

The Kim-Cragg's Holy Week was particularly meaningful this year. We embarked on a pilgrimage with other Christians representing Anglican, Salvation Army, Pentacostal, Presbyterian, Methodist and other demoninations in Korea. The pilgrimmage was to mark the SaeWol Ferry disaster in which 303 lives were lost (200 of them highschool students) and to do so in the context of the betrayal and death of Jesus. This act of solidarity was at once deeply spiritual and profoundly political as there is great resistance in the country against a full disclosure of what happened. Indeed the ferry is still at the bottom of the sea and 9 bodies have yet to be recovered, an unimaginable situation in a country with so much wealth and technical know how. The families of the lost continue to grieve and receive little comfort.

 HyeRan read scripture at the Good Friday service on the warf stretching out into the sea where the SaeWol went down.  The service was lead by an officer of the Salvation Army.  We wrote notes to the families of the bereaved.  The depth of the tragedy, a tragedy that otherwise seemed to be incomprehensible, was lovingly cradled within the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and somehow that helped me both to connect to Jesus and find hope for the present situation.

 This was our pilgrimage walk to the warf.  10kms in the rain!  We wore vests with the things we are asking of the government: 1.That the 9 last bodies by recovered as soon as possible.  2. That the ship be raised from the bottom. 3. That an inquiry be held so that we can know the truth about what happened.  On the front was written words for the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Luke that read: "You are witnesses to these things."

Some of you may recongize Rev. Bae YeongHo who visited Saskatoon with the Incheon delegation.

Easter worship was at HyangNin Church this Easter. HyangNin is in Seoul, not Incheon but I am hoping that we will visit it none-the-less.  The reason is that it is the only "Affirming" congregation that I know of in Korea.  Of course they don't use that term but they are very active in supporting and affirming the LGBT community.   I hope that Riverbend Presbytery can form a meaningful and mutually encouraging relationship with them to further the Kindom of God.

HyangNin maybe the only church to incorporate traditional Korean forms of music and art in its service. It is so beautiful I don't know why others do not! Apart from the aesthetics of the service, the minister delivered a very moving service focusing on the SaeWol disaster and reflecting on his experiences at Riverside Church in NewYord at the time when people were protesting the VIetnam War. He mentioned other events in Korean modern history of struggle against injustice. I was very moved and grateful that my limited Korean language afforded me enough to be able to understand what was being said. The church was so full that people were standing and the pieces of rice cake that were served for communion had to be divided again so that there would be enough for everyone.

It was another sacred moment for me. Following the service we were warmly greeted by many who were glad to meet folks from the UCC. One who was particularly happy to see us was the artist-wife of a minister who will soon be serving in Watrous, SK!  Of all places!!!

Hi Incheon trekkers,
How is your Korea language coming?  Here are a few tests for you.  See if you can figure out the English meaning hidden behind the Korean letteres:

아이 러브 유 :)
하브 아 구드 데이.
유 아르 마이 버디.
웰컴 투 코리아.

Here are a couple of Korean phrases to practice:

안녕하세요?
안녕히 계세요.
안녕히 가세요.
잘 먹겠습니다.
잘 먹었습니다.

Happy Korean practicing!

A Tale of Two Churches

The Kim-Craggs worshiped at a very special church in Seoul today.  The founder of the congregation was a member of the PROK and had a special vision for his congregation.  That vision is partly captured by the stunning architecture of the building.  It is made to evoke the feeling of the catacombs in Rome.  The minister who is soon to retire, Park JongHwa, was once moderator of the WCC.  He has very down to earth and approachable style.  He eats with his congregation after worship and is known to get his hands dirty in different service projects the church gets involved with.  (The approach contrasts with that of other ministers who have meals served to them in their offices and drive around in chauffeured black limousines.)  We drove by an example of this other kind of church just north of Seoul on Saturday.
These two examples, I think, serve to show how dynamic and how various the church is in Korea.  There is a lot of good and a lot of bad.  But the energy and passion for it as a whole is a real shock for someone from Canada who is used to thinking of the church as a waning and listless organization.

It's amazing how quickly the time seems to be passing.  In only 7 months we will be heading as a group to South Korea.

The Exchange group has met twice already.  We have been spending some time getting to know each other and have been learning about South Korea.  At our first meeting in February, David Kim-Cragg shared with us some history about Korea and a little bit about his experience.

In early March, we were honored to have Sun Lee and Rev Eun Kyu Ji join us.  They shared with us a seaweed snack and green tea, and told us what we needed to know about South Korea before we travel.  I have included the slide show that Sun Lee gave us.  Her notes are under the little icon on the top left corner of each slide.



Cathy And Bob (aka Baldy and me)

Visit to SeonMin Church

March 8 the Kim-Craggs visited SeonMin Church, the church of Soe GwangOk who stayed with Linnet when she came to Saskatoon.  We were very warmly welcomed.  An elderly but enthusiastic congregation of around 100 gathered for the 11 o'clock service.  I was given the honour of preaching.  I used the occasion to lay some groundwork for the visit. Here are some of the history I shared:

In 1893 William John McKenzie came to Korea with the blessing of (but no financial support from) his presbytery in Nova Scotia.  There he met Elder Seo who had just fished translating the Bible into Korean in Manchuria and bringing it, sans missionaries, to Korea.  This is where the partnership between our two churches starts.  By 1930 there were as many as 75 missionaries from Canada in Korea, many of them doctors and educators rather than preachers. (a different emphasis from our American and Australian counterparts some would say.)  With the second world war all missionaries were sent home.  Some had barely returned when the Korean war broke out forcing them to leave again.  The missionary presence was ended.  When it started again it was part of a new chapter in the partnership.
With independence from Japan and the division of the peninsula a new era began for the church and for its missionary partners.  The PROK was formed when one of the teachers at HanShin University affirmed the use of critical reason for understanding the Bible.  He was through out of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) and was forced to start an new denomination the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK).  One of his close friends was a Canadian missionary from the UCC.  The UCC supported the theology of the PROK and decided to support the new denomination rather than the bigger PCUSA supported PCK.  The Canadian support was also unique because, again unlike other overseas churches, it decided to hand over all its property to the new church, acknowledging to total ownership and authority of Korean Christians for their own church.  The PROK was particularly concerned with social and political issues.
When South Korea suffered a military coup and came under an authoritarian regime many of its ministers resisted.  Their efforts landed many in prison for many years.  Many were tortured by the Korean CIA. Many were harassed and threatened.  In all this UCC missionaries were witnesses and at times collaborators, attending demonstrations and getting information out to churches and newspapers in other places.  Among these was Willa Kernan, a member of Third Ave United Church and resident at Oliver Lodge.
In the years since this effort the presence of missionaries has dwindled to one: Catherine Christie from Saskatchewan Conference.  Once again the Korean-Canadian church partnership is changing.  I feel that the exchange trip that we are embarking on is part of a new chapter in that partnership.

I'm ashamed to say I forgot to take any pictures from our visit to SeonMin Church.  This was the only shot I could find on the web.  It is of the front of the sanctuary.

Hi Incheon-Riverbend trekkers,
The Kim-Cragg family is now in South Korea.  We arrived in time for the Lunar New Year which we shared with HyeRan's family.  We spent our first Sunday in SamIl Church, a church of Icheon Presbytery that HyeRan belonged to before moving to Canada.  People received us warmly and had heard of our plans to visit in October.
We now have moved into an apartment in a little village called ToeChonMyun.  Noah and Hannah are going to school and have been working hard to get a grip on the language.
Next week I am preaching at the church of Soe KwanOk, the woman who billeted with Linnet last June.  I look forward to seeing KwanOk and her husband.  I hope to lay a bit of ground work for our visit in October.
I include here some pictures of our time so far in Korea...

 HyeRan at pagoda housing the book and pen of a great scholar.

 The house of a famous family.  Mother and son appear on the 50000 and 5000 won bills respectively.

An ancient engraving of Buddha from the Unified Shilla period.  (History buffs will want to do some reading about this history.  It is facinating.)

 Engravings of nobles from the later Goryo dynasty, the dynasty from which Korea gets its English name.  (Korean's call their country HanGuk 한국.  Use your HanGeul 한글 chart to verify the sounds.)

 The son mentioned earlier, Gwon Yul 권율. We visited on March 1, a national holiday commemorating the independence movement that manifested itself on March 1, 1919.  At the time Korea was under Japanese rule.  As part of the movement the flag that is now South Korean's national flag was designed and displayed for the first time.  You can see it in the background.)

 Sa Im Dang 사임당, the mother of Kwon Yul.  She was a scholar, poet and artist or remarkable skill.

The following is a Buddhist worship service by the sea.  After prayers are chanted eels were released back into the sea as a symbol of Buddha's freeing grace.

Language Lesson: March 1 Meeting

안녕하세요 "annyeonghaseoyo" - Hello.
반갑습니다 "bangapseupnida" - Nice to meet you.
좀 까가주세요 "jom kkakajuseyo" - Give me a discount, please.
비싸요 "bissayo" - It's expensive.
김치 "kimchi" - kimchi
밥 "bap/pap" - rice
인천 "Incheon" - Incheon