Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong)

The General Assembly of Presbyterian Church in Korea, also known as Yejang Hapdong or just Hapdong, is an Evangelical Presbyterian denomination, which is the biggest Christian church in South Korea. The headquarters of the church is in Seoul, South Korea.

WWW gapck.org

History

Hapdong was the more conservative group in the schism. Its conservative doctrinal basis made it possible to unite later with the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Koshin) in 1960. But this union did not last and a group of Koshin churches separated a few years later, although about 150 Koshin congregations stayed with HapDong. In 1961, another group separated to form the Bible Presbyterian Church, later to be called the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Daeshin).
At the 64th General assembly in 1979 the church suffered another division. Kim Hee Bo the President of the ChongShin Seminary advocated for the historical-critical approach to the Pentateuch. The church divided into a mainline and non-mainline groups. The debate centered about two issues: the authorship of the Pentateuch and the relationship with the ChongShin Seminary. The non-mainline section fragmented in the following years.
In the 1990s the Hapdong branch experienced phenomenal growth. By the early 2000s, Hapdong developed into the largest denomination in South Korea with more than 2.2 million communicant members, 5,123 congregations, and 6,300 ordained pastors. These figures differ from the statistics offered by Chongshin Seminary, which claims the church has 11,000 congregations and about 3 million members.
In South Korea there are about 15 million Protestants, about 9 million are Presbyterians in more than 100 denominations.

Doctrine

Hapdong is a theologically conservative denomination. The Hapdong group subscribe the historic Presbyterian Confessions, such as the Apostles' Creed, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger Catechism, and the Westminster Shorter Catechism

Women in ministry

According to most conservative Presbyterian interpretations of the Apostle Paul's instructions, there are no women ordinations. However, at the 2024 109th General Assembly, the preaching rights of female ministers were officially approved.

The stance on homosexuality

Hapdong declare that homosexuality goes against God's creation order, calling it anti-biblical and unethical, and continue opposing the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex partner rights. They emphasize the importance of maintaining a biblical understanding of gender and marriage. Additionally, they strongly oppose the comprehensive anti-discrimination law, citing concerns over the violation of fundamental rights such as freedom of conscience and religion.

Theological Education

The Chongshin University and are the only official educational institutions of the Hapdong Church to train pastors.

Missions

The General Assembly of Presbyterian Church in Korea created the Global Missions Society in South Korea to support evangelism and missions. The Global Mission Society, the missionary body of the Hapdong General Assembly of Presbyterian Churches of Korea, is the single largest Presbyterian missionary organization in South Korea and the world with over 2,500 missionaries working in Europe, Asia, Russia, Latin America, Africa.