Abstract
In this book forum, I expand Jang’s discussion of the crisis of church decline today in S Korea and propose that developing the psychological, in addition to spiritual, maturity of church leaders as well as the laity, is critical to regaining hope in the church, and suggest that the church must prioritize the development of the psychological maturity of people as its foremost mission in contemporary society.
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Notes
Reverend Byung Wook Jun, who was known as the “star minister” and had a huge following, especially among young adults for his fresh messages, admitted to multiple counts of sexual harassment with young women in his congregation and resigned from Sam Il Church in 2010 but started a new ministry at Hongdae Sae Church in May of 2012. In 2014, his denomination, Korean Presbyterian Church, began an investigation and some female members of Sam Il Church came forward and testified about Reverend Jun’s sexual harassment at the investigation by the Presbytery of Pyongyang. (Yung Suk Jung, “The Scandal of Sexual Harassment,” News Hanguk, November 2, 2010, http://www.newshankuk.com/news/content.asp?news_idx=20101102083700n9623 and Sam Yeol Jin, “Requesting Discharge from Pastorship of the Sexual Criminal, Reverend Jun Byung Wook,” Kukmin Ilbo, December 19, 2014, http://news.kmib.co.kr/article/view.asp?arcid=0922886441&code=23111111&cp=nv.)
Son renders biblical support for spirituality of joy by offering an alternative reading of the beatitudes in Spirituality of Joy (2013, pp. 67–81).
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Son, A. Crisis of Church Decline in and Revitalization of Korean Churches. Pastoral Psychol 67, 569–577 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-018-0803-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-018-0803-7