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COVID-19 testing is carried out in a parking lot of Gwangju Antioch Presbyterian Church, Thursday. The church, known to have some 1,500 believers, had a service recently in which 87 attendees were infected by COVID-19. Yonhap |
By Park Ji-won
A Protestant church member who wished to be identified only by his surname Yoo says he doesn't go to church anymore. He is still a believer but says he is tired of the way Protestant churches reacted after the outbreak of the coronavirus.
"I stopped going to church. It doesn't mean I am not a believer," he said. "The pandemic was a milestone event. I don't feel comfortable with the church community anymore because of how they've been handling the pandemic."
Yoo is not the only church member to boycott Sunday service.
A recent survey found that more Koreans think the Protestant church is not trustworthy after the spread of COVID-19.
The Ministry Data Institute released the results of its recent survey conducted on 1,000 people between Jan. 12 and 15. It showed only 21 percent of respondents said they trust the church, dropping by 11 percentage points from last year's survey conducted by the Christian Ethics Movement. Nearly eight out of every 10 Korean respondents said churches are not trustworthy.
Meanwhile, 86 percent said the country should limit religious activities if it is necessary for public safety. Church-related infections account for 11 percent of all infections, but the respondents said they feel like the figure is much higher than that.
The Ministry Data Institute said Koreans losing faith in church is largely attributable to the church itself, urging church leaders to form a body to deal with the estranged public.
"Some say the media is responsible for antagonizing churches as people's perceptions of the role of church in the surge of infections is a lot greater than actual church-related infections. But this doesn't justify the actions of some churches after the virus outbreak. Currently there seems to be no concrete measures churches can take to steer the public's perception in favor of them, except their continued efforts to restore public trust," the survey report reads.
"Over the past year, the church has had difficulties in dealing with the media. It is necessary for the religious community to operate a channel to deal with the media."
The survey results were made public while infection cases are showing small signs of decreasing to between 300 and 400. Some of the infections came from churches or church-related groups such as missionary training schools run by the International Mission (IM), a local Christian missionary group.
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Leaders of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), YMCA Korea and YWCA speak during a press conference held in a church in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Friday. They apologized for mass infections made in Protestant church groups. Courtesy of NCCK |
Amid the public giving a cold shoulder to churches, some liberal Protestant church leaders apologized to the public.
The group of churches ― the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), YMCA Korea and YWCA, which are widely categorized as liberal groups ― said in a joint press conference, Friday, that "Facing the reality that Korean churches are regarded as a major threat to public health, we deeply apologize to the people in the nation."
It criticized churches for allowing gatherings in these dangerous times while urging religious communities to sacrifice for the good of their neighbors.
"We're so sorry for some defiant churches. Self-employed people, citizens, government employees and healthcare workers, all united to overcome the pandemic, but some churches didn't," they said. "Social distancing is not a political decision and it has nothing to do with religion or faith. The entire nation tried hard to overcome the pandemic which sometimes required them to set aside their personal interests, but some churches were defiant and went ahead with physical services… which is irresponsible."