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| Yoido Full Gospel Church is one of many mega churches that wants to keep its Sunday worship./ Korea Times file |
By Kim Se-jeong
Calls are growing for Yoido Full Gospel Church, Gwanglim Methodist Church and other protestant mega-churches to halt all worship services, including those on Sunday, amid growing fears of the spread of COVID-19.
Myung Sung and Somang churches canceled all of their services after both members and a pastor were confirmed to have been infected, Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
Onnuri Church was the first to voluntarily axe services, replacing them with online worship.
However, Youngnak Presbyterian Church in Seoul has thus far kept its Sunday worship, claiming that it should continue in a time of crisis. The Full Gospel Church also refused to cancel its Sunday services.
Korea is home to a number of protestant mega-churches with more than 10,000 members each. Seoul and Gyeonggi Province alone have at least 20.
Some of the most concerned about the continuation of services are those who live near the places of worship.
"I am not a member of the church and so it's worrisome to see so many people gathering in a small space nowadays. My neighbor might be a member and I could meet them in an elevator on their way home from the service," a resident who lives near the Full Gospel Church on Yeouido told a local newspaper.
The "second-wave" of the coronavirus outbreak here has already seen a religious organization as a hot-bed for the spread of infections. The number of confirmed patients grew exponentially in Daegu because of one infected churchgoer who attended a Shincheonji worship service with thousands of other people.
The Catholic Church and Buddhist authorities in Korea have already canceled their major religious activities nationwide.
An expert on religions here explained that the reluctance of the Protestant churches to follow suit was probably financially driven. "Protestant churches have no support from other organizations or the government, and rely heavily on membership offerings," said Kim Jip-joong, secretary general of the Religion Transparency Center.
