Now You See HIM
November 18th, 2003, 10:29 PM
I'm asking really out of sheer curiousity (the fact that I'm an amateur Korea-phile explains a lot of it), but I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts concerning them--especially considering the fact that they're among the largest in the world.
The two that I keep running into are:
Yoido Full Gospel Church (english.fgtv.com) -- Apparently the largest indivudal congregation in the world (at 800,000 members), it has a large relief and missions-planning program relating to North Korea (see http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0611/p01s02-woap.html). (For a "Mystery Worshiper" review on the Ship of Fools site, see http://ship-of-fools.com/Mystery/2000/254Mystery.html.)
Manmin Joong-Ang Church (www.manmin.or.kr/english/home.htm) -- Much smaller (at "only" 80,000 members), I keep running into ANS stories concerning its "Miracle Healing Festivals" in various countries. (The latest such story is at http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s03110053.htm. I wonder who pays for Dan Wooding's trips to cover these events. ;): )
I'm not saying that these two are representative of all large Korean churches (or even most)--or that they're very similar to each other--but I am wondering if, maybe, such churches are, say, too Word-of-Faith-esque or even just too big. (And, you may have noticed from their [multi-lingual] websites that these two churches are trying to reach out to at least somewhat of an international audience.)
The two that I keep running into are:
Yoido Full Gospel Church (english.fgtv.com) -- Apparently the largest indivudal congregation in the world (at 800,000 members), it has a large relief and missions-planning program relating to North Korea (see http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0611/p01s02-woap.html). (For a "Mystery Worshiper" review on the Ship of Fools site, see http://ship-of-fools.com/Mystery/2000/254Mystery.html.)
Manmin Joong-Ang Church (www.manmin.or.kr/english/home.htm) -- Much smaller (at "only" 80,000 members), I keep running into ANS stories concerning its "Miracle Healing Festivals" in various countries. (The latest such story is at http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s03110053.htm. I wonder who pays for Dan Wooding's trips to cover these events. ;): )
I'm not saying that these two are representative of all large Korean churches (or even most)--or that they're very similar to each other--but I am wondering if, maybe, such churches are, say, too Word-of-Faith-esque or even just too big. (And, you may have noticed from their [multi-lingual] websites that these two churches are trying to reach out to at least somewhat of an international audience.)