"because of the tender mercy of our God by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven; to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace”  (Lk. 1:78-79)

Today our history faces an unprecedented and harsh hardship. Blinded by greed, the president and the ruling forces are shaking the identity of Korea, a country built with the sacrifices of the democratic martyrs; the former have also severely violated the democratic republic's constitution. We repent of the history of the Korean church which has distorted the gospel by parasitically living off the powers of the unjust.

Furthermore, we request the repentance of those church leaders who have been affiliated with the Park Geunhye administration’s formation and despotism. We confess our heavy sin of not being able to live up to the Lord’s teachings to become “the salt and light of the world,” and thus in order to overcome this crisis we proclaim as following

• President Park must immediately resign

  It has been fully proven that president Park lacks the skills and attributes needed to govern a country. If the president has a little of what we call conscience and responsibility, we demand that she does not play any political pranks and instead resign in accordance to the people’s request

• The National Assembly must immediately impeach the president and the Constitutional Court should confirm this without delay.

  As more than two million people’s candle-lights show, the will of the people is clear and determined. The national assembly is responsible for not only being unable to prevent the past monopoly of state affairs but also for participating in it. It is a basic responsibility of the assembly, as the representation of national will, to impeach the president who has infringed upon our democracy and constitution. Also, the Constitutional Court must respect the people’s will and accept the impeachment without delay.

• The current crisis will serve as an opportunity for history to transform itself into the sovereignty of the people.

  The current crisis cannot be resolved simply with a political stopgap measure. To truly overcome such, we must get rid of the long standing social and political evils of the past and transform our society into one that upholds the values of justice, peace and life. Only then will the period of the sovereignty of the people come, for which the country longs. With a faithful conscience, we will become a small candle flame and lighten the world so that this declaration may come true.

Lord! Give us faith and courage.

December 8, 2016

Participants of the Emergency Prayer Gathering