[Top 10 Religious Issues of 2022] Protestantism struggles with 'swamp of low growth', Changes in Religious Landscape Accelerate
[Cheonji Ilbo = Correspondents Hye-ji Lim and Min-hee Kim] Although the spread of the coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has subsided, the religious world is still struggling in a 'swamp of low growth' under the influence of 'COVID-19'. Face-to-face religious events, which had been drastically reduced, resumed and the path to full in-person worship was opened, but the scattered believers still show no sign of returning. This phenomenon was bad news for the main religious groups in South Korea, who had been suffering from a decline in membership for several years. The general consensus in the religious world is that even large religious groups are now at a point where they have to worry about their future existence. In the crisis of the religious world, there are growing voices calling for the urgent adaptation and change towards a new form of faith centred on online meetings.
1. Rapid growth of '106,186 people'
Following last year, Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, again achieved 'rapid growth' this year (2022), receiving the spotlight from the religious community. The highest number of graduates in history, '106,186', was revealed at a graduation ceremony held at Daegu Stadium on November 20th, taking the religious community by surprise. While the religious world is on the path of decline amid the COVID-19 crisis, everyone is paying attention to the reason why Shincheonji Church of Jesus is showing remarkable growth despite being rejected as a heresy by mainstream denominations and bearing the heavy burden of evangelism. Above all, during the pandemic, Shincheonji Church of Jesus' online introductory and intermediate Bible education videos, including the Book of Revelation (advanced), which were released to the world through YouTube, exceeded 20 million views, and were recognised as a breakthrough not only by church members but also by pastors domestically and abroad. They are gaining popularity. The unprecedented phenomenon of the signing of an MOU for Shincheonji's revealed theology by a great number of churches and pastors, who want to teach the revealed word to their congregations, has continued. This trend is expected to continue next year (2023) as well.
2. Denominations in decline again in 2022
Protestantism in South Korea has also fallen this year (2022). There is analysis that the decline in Protestantism that lasted several years is now accelerating after the pandemic. According to the statistics announced at the regular special general meeting of each denomination, the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK), one of the largest denominations in Korea, had 2,358,914 members this year, a decrease of 34,005 from the previous year (2021). The number of PCK members was 2,292,745, down by 90,000 from the previous year. The situation is the same for the small and medium-sized denominations: Methodist Church (1.246 million → 1.203 million) 'Goshin' Korea Theological Seminary (401,000 → 388,000), Presbyterian Church (215,000 → 208,000), and Holiness Church (399,000 → 390,000). In the religious world, there is a growing sense of crisis that if the number of members continues to decrease, the survival of megachurches in the future will be in peril. Internally, in order to overcome this crisis, it is necessary to restore the spirituality of pastors and the essence of faith.
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