Ecumenical Youth Council in Korea 

Prologue

Many experts say that Christian Churches will facing crisis in the next 20 years. Some experts have made several statistic data and others have commented on the archaic model of incapable pastors, leaders, and corruption in the Church.As the age system in churches is changing from pyramid to an inverted pyramid model,we rarely see the young who are working hard in our churches.

Other futurists and experts, in their fields, analyze the church’s decline will be over the next 10 years or 20 years at the longest. The crisis of the Christian Church can be explained with many factors and reasons. The decrease of laity is the main reason for the crisis, even Mega churches can’t be sure how it will maintain their congregation in the next ten years. Heretofore, the decreasing of the laity has been made up with new-inflows or evangelism which was at the highest during the time, but today that is also difficult.

In the Korean community, churches are anachronistic, closed, exclusive, and detached.Korean churches don’t have any interest with its young members. We can see this through each church’s youth policy and budget where there is no support or plans for young people.Churches mainly focus on keeping their current system and not making visions for future generations. In church, there are few roles and positions for the young and they are left with blind faith and voluntary work. For some reasons, many young people move away from churches and ultimately become religious nomads. To light the future, churches have to reach out to young and bring them back. Above all, if Korean Christian church changes then it is possible to end the crises it eventually faces.

We should recall today that Martin Luther cried boldly toward religious authorities and Middle Age society 499 years ago. In 1517, with the 95 Theses of Martin Luther, the religious reform started. This was an innovation, not from the top religious leaders, but from the bottom and clarified corrupt religious authorities.

This diatribe was justified, which generated church renewal campaign and kindled up there form. In the reform, there is a returning to the Christians true spirit. Only faith, only grace and only the Holy Bible gives to us, who are created in the image of God, an equality of opportunity as well as a religious life in which we can face God in person. It’snot denied that the 95 Theses is the start of transition to Modern from Middle age and a good stepping stone for the history of human thought.

While human made many kinds of advances in the past 50 years, but in religion there were no significant changes over the past one hundred years. Since the Korean War,churches took a role in the movement for democracy, the Human Rights Campaign and 2 reunification movement. Today, especially, the Korean Protestant Church doesn’t try to have fundamental reflection and reform. The Korean churches of the 21st Century are denounced by the public for their undemocratic, premodern system. It is true that there is an increasingly loud call for self-examination from within and outside of the church.

In 2017 with the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, do the Korean churches deserve to start the religious reform? Do churches have to reform? If so, why? How?

The 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation is the right time to reflect the present and the past and to find out the possibilities for the future and the motive power of the Korean churches. We have been talking about the crisis, which is cause for our hesitation to try new challenges. Therefore, the churches are busy keeping the current system. This is the time to find out the possibilities the motive power.

What is the Protestant Reformation to the Korean churches? We can follow Martin Luther’s boldness and righteousness. We can remember the desperate reformation and 95 Theses. With them, we should think of what is needed to reform the Korean churches. What do the young want in the churches and what should the churches be to the young. As the role of light and salt in society, what should the church be?

"If church does not change, there will be no youth"

Ecumenical Youth Council in Korea, General Secretary, Nam KiPyung

Thirty Theses Toward Churches

1. The core of the church is Jesus Christ.

   The church does not belong to pastors nor is it pastor-oriented.

2. The moral corruption of leaders as well as pastors in church is serious.

   There are many different expediency like plutocracy election. That’s not authority from God and even makes the church lose ability of self-purification. The base of the church is a moral barometer for the world.
 
3. The population in church has become an inverted pyramid for a long time. Ten years from now, we will see the start of a decrease in the laity population. The church will face many crises.

   The lack of awareness of crises has reached a very serious level.

4. Korean Churches don’t know how to use offertory and it is used with discretion-abused. In order to cover the mishandling of funds, the laity is forced to donate contribution for many reasons.

   The finance of the church is uncertain in Korea.

5. Those who founded parties, such as the Christian Party and the Christian Democratic Party, have been obsessed with their desire for power and with the current establishment.

   They should repent thoroughly. Some leaders delude and call up the laity to take their power. God’s will and the role of the church are on the side of the poor and the pent and a comfort, instead of being at the top with authority.
 
6. Religious forebears sang, “how wonderful, how wonderful when brother and sisters get along!” (Psalm 133:1), but

   today the churches speak discrimination and hatred without hesitation, inciting the people.

   Those who speak disgusting comments, preach a sermon again in the pulpit without compunction and their hateful rhetoric is covered by some laity. This is a shame.

7. In the Korean church, it is normal to exclude women and the young when making decisions and discussing important matters.

   The male centered, prejudice decision making process imposes biased views and the undemocratic churches are just retrograde.

8. The Korean churches are indifferent about the Sewol Ferry, the reunification, the 4 labor issues and much more.

   This issue is the result of the lack of social participation. Churches are locked into only their communities. The Social participation of some churches are biased or pro-government. Also, churches have distorted views and opinions for the vested rights. That is not a church as the body of Christ

9. Korean Christians differentiate between in-church (a religious life) and out-of-church (a public life).

   The both should be One. We are disciplined in out-of-church (a public life) so we shouldn’t differentiate in-church (a religious life) from it. Christians live with prayer and act with faith.

10. Faith for blessing are stressed to this day.

    The laity aren’t learning the religious life of a the Christian but are learning to set value on the concept of the universal, success oriented blessing and the individual’s faith.

11. Blind faith has been forced and there are no queries in the church.

    The religious life is a series of questions and the process of searching the answers. However, Korean churches and leaders removed queries in the church and stress only the maenadism faith,which makes an idol. The leaders witness that the church becomes an idol. The Korean churches should eliminate the idols.

12. The monotonous model of churches is highlighted.

    A variety of potential and direction- pastoral organization and alternative ministry- are disregarded. Denomination centered and church centered are blocking the alternative ministry. This is the time to need the paradigm shift of ministry.

13. The church, which are based in local communities, have become such nuisances.

    Although Megachurches have large land and big buildings, they do nothing for local communities. Rather, Megachurches cause parking problems, noise, and construction damage.It is the proper missionary work that the church have coexistence and co-prosperity with communities.

14. The Korean church has lost its public function.

     Instead, the church has only focused on its own growth The church has forgotten what to do as the body of Christ. The true mission of the gospel is not each church’s quantitative growth but the right role as a church and being a true Christian.

15. The pseudo and heresy wield more power than ever, but the Korean church has brought this situation onto themselves.

    The Korean church is not free with diatribe of the heresy. If the church doesn’t truly become born again, they will be pushed around by heresy.

16. Today, the sermon in the pulpit is losing the Biblical message.

    The never-ending sermon with no points makes the laity lose their interest. There is a need for a sermon in which there is a guidance for the laity and the young who live in this world.

17. We make an objection to repentance without sincerity and also to a parlor to grace with no power.

    The Korean churches have always stressed repentance, at some point we lost it, repentance and grace. We should revive them.

18. Each laity is the center of the church, not a slave for supporting pastors or helping leaders.

    They are servants of Christ and also precious treasures in the heavenly kingdom.

19. We make an objection to authoritarianism in the pulpit with untiring effort for Bible study,especially incapable authoritarianism.

    Pastors who mislead the laity with the distorted interpretation of the Bible and invalid reading should wake up

20. The Korean church measures the faith of individuals arbitrarily.

    The church measure the level of religious maturity by a particular gift (Gift of Tongues). They apply it to Christian education and force it on the laity.

21. The labor conditions in churches are very poor.

    They’re a sweatshop for a vicar, a preacher, a deacon and a deaconess in the name of service and duty. Sometimes laborers are asked unreasonable demands and their human dignity is violated. The churches that don’t have good influences on the inside, can’t exercise positive influence on society

22. In the social services, under the churches, there are opaque finances and dictatorial personal matters.

    Churches have lost the public nature of social services and are busy looking out for only their own members. They have easily breached the Labor Standards Act.
 

23. We stop evangelizing to make laity horizontally mobilize.

    Megachurches have 6 capabilities, like the ability to run their own shuttle buses, and people compare this toother churches. People will always move from one church to another. Churches should stop evangelizing to enlarge the number of laity. We all try to do true mission and evangelism.

24. A lot of community churches pioneered by Megachurches throw the church system into confusion.

    This kind of accords with perfect market economics. There are no religiosity and public functions.

25. The Korean church is wasting resources and the environment.

    They waste an enormous amount of disposable products. Therefore wasting resources and accelerating global warming. Remember that we are also one of God’s creation.

26. The service tradition are discarded or disappeared.

    While the laity don’t know the meaning and tradition of service the core of their service change ‘the sermon on the pulpit’. The services should reveal the restoration and the grace with the true meaning of the service.

27. Some think of the church as their property so the take it for granted and they pass the church onto their sons or relatives.

    Some religious orders approved a bill for prohibition of succession. Some disregard this and are privatizing churches expediently. How then are they different from enterprises?

28. Some commit sexual harassment and sexual abuse.

    This is obviously a criminal offence. Some churches and the laity who hide or cover up the abuse should repent. This is a criminal act which violates human dignity and does not concern LOVE at all. People like criminals brazenly stand in the pulpit and excuse themselves. This is a behavior that ignores God and is nonreligious. These people are unqualified for the clergy.

29. Some churches are so greedy and indulge in luxury receiving a luxury car, oversea strips,hobbies,annual salary and even severance pay.

    Consuming at an inconceivable level.Are these indispensable factors for the pastors and churches?

30. There is no hope with the churches which have no regard for the young.

    Definitely,the young are the leaders for the present and the center of the church. The church doesn’t offer comfort and present visions to the young. These can’t have hope.