On the 18th August, the Shincheonji Church Press Conference was held at the Shincheonji Peace Training Centre in Cheongpyeong, Gyeonggi province, South Korea. About 180 people, including 100 pastors and media personnel, filled the venue for the meeting with Shincheonji Chairman ManHee Lee. The meeting was prepared as a 'platform for dialogue'. On that day, pastors and journalists were invited to engage in discussion about the direction of the Korean Church.

In particular, the 'Lay Sermon', which Shincheonji Church of Jesus recently introduced to its Wednesday worship service, was unveiled for the first time and drew attention.

Standing on the podium was, surprisingly, an 11-year-old child. Pastors' eyes widened at the sight of Child A preaching with coherency and fluency, pointing out Bible verses accurately. What kind of pastor would have imagined such a thing as a child preaching? At the end of the sermon, the pastors applauded. One pastor remarked, “It was a place where I felt religious ranking did not exist.”

Child A said, “I decided on a topic and text and practised the sermon for four days” and confessed, “It was my first time preaching in front of so many pastors and reporters, so I was nervous.”

According to Shincheonji Church of Jesus, from the 19th of July to the 9th August, 312 congregation members from the 78 churches of Shincheonji nationwide preached at the Wednesday worship services. What is noteworthy is that none of them went to a seminary or had any preaching experience. Among them, primary, middle and secondary school students accounted for 49.8% (155 people), and the youngest preacher was an 8-year-old in the 3rd grade (Year 4) of primary school.

Shincheonji Church of Jesus Chairman ManHee Lee's theory is that anyone who understands the words of the Bible can preach without exception, from children to the elderly. Chairman Lee has emphasised the importance of the Word, saying, “Anyone who is sealed by the Word can lecture anywhere.”

Regarding this, the host of the event said, “This is the difference between Shincheonji Church of Jesus and the established churches. There is a certain perception of the word to the extent that gives complete clarity and understanding.”

The Sunday School lecturer who guided Child A also said, “What was surprising while watching Child A was that each time he gave a speech, the child himself passed over the material prepared and preached according to the flow of the content in his own words. It was never conducted with the exact prepared content throughout, and it was surprising to see the child change what he understood about the Bible into his own words.”

What is the reason for the 'confidence' of Shincheonji Church of Jesus in revealing the sermons by lay people?

Shincheonji Church of Jesus' Chairman ManHee Lee introduces himself at every event as 'a farmer who has never studied theology nor been ordained a pastor' and says, 'Heaven has revealed the answer to the Book of Revelation to me, who does not know anything, so I am just passing it on.'

The book of Revelation, the last book of prophecy in the Bible, has been fulfilled and the true meaning and fulfilled realities are being testified for anyone to come and check for themselves. Those who have heard and confirmed the actual revealed word confess with their mouths that the words of Shincheonji Church of Jesus are on a different level to those of the established churches.

This revealed word, which Shincheonji is confident about, is expected to be a way to restore the Korean church, which is shrinking and declining day by day, to the mainstream.

The fatal problem of the church that many Korean church members point out is the absence of the word, and Shincheonji makes this very point and presents 'Bible-based discussion' as an alternative to shared growth.