InterviewConference to serve as fresh catalyst for revival of churches, says CGI chairman

Church Growth International (CGI) was established in November 1976 with the aim of fostering the growth of churches around the world by showcasing exemplary models like Yoido Full Gospel Church. Since then, CGI has continued to grow remarkably as global pastors and church leaders have participated actively.

The 50th CGI Conference takes place at Yoido Full Gospel Church and Jamsil Student Gymnasium in Seoul from Oct. 28-31, led by Lee Young-hoon, senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church. Lee, who also serves as the CGI chairman, expects the forthcoming conference to be the fresh catalyst for the revival of churches around the world.

In a recent interview with GoodTV, a Christian gospel broadcaster, he told Korean churches to tide over endless division, conflict and confrontation and unite to prepare for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula. “Korean churches should repent and reflect before the global religious world,” he said.

Asked about what was behind the foundation of CGI, Lee said CGI has had a tremendous impact on churches around the world over the last 50 years. “As the late Rev. Cho Yong-gi had travelled around the world, leading church growth seminars, church leaders there told him that they wanted to learn in person in Korea. The inaugural CGI conference was held in 1976, and since then, the conference has taken place every two years in Korea and around the world. This year’s gathering will be precious enough to prepare for the next 50 years.”

Looking back on Korea's church revival

Touching on the history of the revival of Korean churches and its meaning, he said Cho began the religious movement at a church of a small denomination. “The movement stole the global limelight and flourished. CGI was founded with the dream of growing and prospering through solidarity, and churches in many countries actually grew rapidly” he said, adding that the CGI conference is where the spiritual blessing God has given to Korea is shared and can play the role of grafting biblical principles onto pastors.

“One of the things that Rev. Cho contributed a great deal to the global church was that he let the world know the prayer movement of Korean churches. Behind the revival — a church that began with five grew to 780,000 in 50 years — were the powerful prayer movement, the Holy Spirit experience movement, an absolutely positive faith and the missionary movement to spread the gospel to the end of the earth,” Lee said.

Lee, who was born in a fourth-generation Presbyterian family, has led Yoido Full Gospel Church since 2008 and was appointed as the chairman of the CGI board of directors in 2022.

Asked what the most important keyword is for the revival, he pointed to the phrase “back to basics.”

“This means that biblical principles must be applied to today’s generations rightfully. The fact is that even if the revival can be sparked by the reinterpretation and application of biblical principles in line with the times, many church leaders lost the key point. Rev. Cho’s attempt to apply biblical principles to the era awakened the sleeping European religious world and sparked the revival history of Latin American churches. I’m convinced that CGI contributed to spreading the Holy Spirit around the world.”

7,000 expected to attend

The 50th CGI Conference, under the theme “The Holy Spirit Across Generations,” is expected to draw about 7,000 people, including 3,000 foreigners.

“Everything must be renewed and new features need to be inherited to the next generation. The churches in Europe became a spiritual graveyard ultimately because their glamorous histories of revival and church growth were not properly inherited,” he said, adding that CGI is tasked with passing on all this knowhow to the next generation so that they can develop what suits their own era.

Many people say Korean churches have passed the heyday of their revival and entered a period of decline. Is there anything Korean churches must learn from the global trend? Touching on this question, Lee said there were discussions concerning the salvation of ecosystems in the theological world in the 1980s. “We are seeing such tragic events as the Nepal flooding because of our lack of interest in and efforts toward the salvation of ecology and the global warming has become a big disaster for the whole world.”

“I hope that churches will share the concern about these problems through CGI. And Korean churches have suffered from the endless division and remained negligent about reunion. As many as 300 denominations are registered with Korea's culture ministry and the number of denominations bearing a sign labeled Korean Presbyterian Church reaches 250. This is a task Korean churches must overcome through repentance and reflection before the global church. Endless division, conflict and confrontation are very important in realizing God’s work within the Holy Spirit and overcoming these problems has much to do with the issue of Korean reunification.”

Churches' role on NK issue

Asked whether Korean churches are active enough toward the North Korean issue, Lee admitted that Korean churches have focused somewhat on individual salvation and did not make any special effort or show any interest about social salvation and reunification.

“When the gospel first arrived here during Korea’s enlightenment period, the leaders in politics, education, culture, health care and society were all Christians. We need to reflect on this and recover our first love so that the entire denominations can become a united Christian community and prepare for the era of reunification.”

He also that while the revival era is opening worldwide, Korea is failing to catch up with global trends. “We are organizing this 50th CGI Conference, timed with the beginning of the revival. In fact, the revival in Latin America is tremendous. Nearly 80 percent of Christians there belong to churches filled with the Pentecostal Holy Spirit and the churches grow 30 to 40 percent every year.”

“The same is true in the Asian region. Already, there is a church with over 400,000 devotees in India. At this time of revival, it seems that Korean churches have yet to catch up with the global trend of revival. I hope that the forthcoming CGI will serve to change and overturn the religious world as well as Korean churches once again.”

When asked what church leaders from across the world can expect from Korea during the conference, Lee said, “They will come to Korea to learn the revival history of Korean churches ... I hope that the conference will serve as a valuable chance for churches in Korea and abroad to share such experiences.”

He concluded the interview by once again extending an invitation for churches, believers and pastors to participate. “The age of hope has begun. The era of revival has begun. Churches around the world will come to Korea during the last week of October to learn Korea’s revival. I invite all of you to this site of revival.”