According to Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a total of 78,000 people registered on their short-term Bible study course that was conducted online only from January to July of this year at their Zion Christian Mission Center, which is the free Bible teaching institute of Shincheonji Church of Jesus. A further 20,000 people are currently registered for online study. This year alone, nearly 100,000 people will have studied the Bible online.

Moreover, from the 14th to the 21st of last month, a total of 36,000 people participated in the 12 tribes' online seminars that included the opening seminar by Chairman Man-hee Lee.

Shincheonji Church of Jesus announced that it would shut down all its churches throughout the country (Korea) with immediate effect, and transition all its faith-based activities online, following a confirmed case of COVID-19 in its branch church in Daegu in February last year.

When Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which was actively engaged in seminars and graduation ceremonies every year, became officially inactive for over a year following the pandemic outbreak, some spectators commented that it was going through a crisis.

An official from Shincheonji Church of Jesus said, “Since February last year, we estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic might be prolonged, so we transitioned entirely to online activity. Things are stable.”

Closing down all its churches in order to block the chain of infection was an unavoidable measure, as there were confirmed cases of COVID-19 within its churches. However, it was not an easy decision for a religious organisation to shut down all its churches nationwide and transition all its activity online. It took a lot of time and effort to convert a system that manages the data of 200,000 members and tens of thousands of students to an online platform.

Making the transition from face-to-face meetings, church membership management system, various Bible education programmes and lectures delivered at the Zion Christian Mission Center to an online platform, was not simply about changing the platform. It was the routine of meeting in-person and the delivery of the teaching method that had to change. Time was needed to adapt to the non-face-to-face environment, with various trial and error in the process.

Accordingly, lecturers developed a new study method suitable for online lectures, exchanged know-how with one another, and developed their own teaching style. Now that these non-face-to-face activities have been established as the norm today, the number of new people registering to study is steadily increasing.

A precedent of a message-led sermon, rather than a church experience centred on human interaction, has been set and become religion's main focus in a transitional era of non-face-to-face contact. It has served Shincheonji Church of Jesus well.

Unlike the established Church, which is sensitive to social and political issues and has to reach consensus on the content and delivery of a sermon, Shincheonji Church of Jesus offers a worship experience centred on a study of the Bible and evidence of its fulfilment being testified. This has contributed to the growing interest in its education.

An official from Shincheonji Church of Jesus said, “The true meaning of the Word is being delivered to our congregation and to the general public through online platforms. We do not rely on secondary techniques when delivering sermons - such as on speech, gestures, or topic selection - but strictly teach that Biblical prophecies have been fulfilled according to the questioning (5W1H) principle."

The fact that more than 3,000 people recently applied to Shincheonji Church of Jesus' follow-up Bible study course, following the sermon delivered by Chairman Man-hee Lee, demonstrates the power of Shincheonji Church of Jesus' online worship and teaching.