Dongshin Presbyterian Church

On Wednesday evening, we participated in a prayer service at Dongshin Presbyterian Church with Rev. Han, a Princeton alum. Group members read Scripture and blessed youth and young adults who were being confirmed or baptized. At the end of these markers of the Christian journey, family members brought flowers to the front and gave them to those who had professed their faith. We, then helped to serve communion to the congregation. Here are some pictures to enjoy.

Our time at WCC comes to a close

We had a wonderful last day at WCC on Wednesday. I especially was amazed with the presentation from the Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary on PCK World Mission past and present. We are now headed to this seminary, who will be our final hosts before we return to the US on Saturday.

Here are a few last pictures from the BEXCO Center in Busan.

Birthday Tea Ceremony

Today is the Rev. Debra Church's birthday. So we celebrated by learning how to do the Korean Tea Ceremony in the Madang Exhibition area. Here are some pictures of the two of us after we graduated.

Earl and Sandra with the Youth of Pohang Central Presbyterian Church

Here are a few more pictures of our group from the Sunday worship experience with Pohang Central Presbyterian Church. Thanks to B.B. Calloway we have these great pictures of Earl and Sandra leading the  11:30 Youth Service.

Buddhist Temple Visit

On Tuesday morning before going to the WCC conference we had an interfaith experience by visiting our neighboring Buddhist temple near Eden Valley. We enjoyed learning about the functions of this temple, which is mainly related to services related to death, as it sits above a large Buddhist cemetery. We also figured out our animal birth years and took pictures by our respective animal statues. Enjoy our photos of this peaceful place.

Madang Workshop on Korean Traditional Music

Dave VanderMeer and Paul Huh both attended a Madang Workshop on incorporating Korean traditional music into Christian worship. Madang means a courtyard where all gather to learn together. The rest of us attended other workshops on a variety of topics, but we thought you'd enjoy the pictures from this particular workshop. I wish we had sounds to put with them.

Worship in Pohang Central Presbyterian Church

We had a wonderful Sunday at Pohang Central Presbyterian Church. All told we led worship at five different worship times: Friday Prayer, Sunday at 7:30, 9:00, 11:30, and 2:00. We broke new ground when Lindsay Armstrong stepped into the pulpit at 7:30 to be the first woman ever to preach at the church, followed at the 2:00 service with Veronica Slater. Some of us worked with other age groups during this time, too. I'll attach a couple of pictures here with more to follow I'm sure.

Group Photos

We're discovering that our hosts from Pohang Central Presbyterian Church like to take group photos. So here we are in a variety of locations around Pohang City during our weekend with our very gracious hosts.

Foods of Korea

Yesterday we went to Juk Do Market, where we encountered many types of Korean food in the raw or in some cases still alive. How many of the foods below do you recognize?

And when you put them all together you get something that looks like this...

Move to Pohang

Yesterday we moved from Eden Valley Resort to Philos Hotel in Pohang. On the way we stopped at some historical spots related to ancient Korean history--more on that later. We eventually arrived at our host church Pohang Central Presbyterian Church, where the group participated in worship leadership for the Friday Prayer Service. Below you see a picture of the sanctuary before the service. Rev. Jeff Brown preached with Dr. Paul Huh translating. Dr. Huh also played a cello brought by one of the church members. Prayers were led by Maggie Chandler, Rev. B.B. Calloway, Rev. Debra Church, and Rev. Laura Dorsey presented a plaque from Gardens for Peace to the congregation. It was a wonderful spirit-filled time to begin our stay with our hospitable sisters and brothers in Pohang.

Some memories from the first two days of the WCC

Today we're headed to Pohang to visit with our hosts, Pohang Central Presbyterian Church and to lead their worship services over the next few days. This morning is a good time to reflect back on what we've experienced so far. The opening worship and opening plenary will live long in my imagination. Both were filled with images and music of Korean culture and global Christianity. During the plenary operatic singers and dancers brought the history of Korean Christianity during the last 130 years to life. At the end of this presentation all the Korean pastors in attendance came to the stage as an ecumenical presence of the growth and vibrancy of Korean Christianity. 

On the second day the conference got down to business, beginning with a morning worship, followed by a Bible study focused on the image of the Tree of Life and dwelling deeply in Genesis 2:4-14. The picture attached to today's post is a very grainy photo of the Prime Minister of South Korea addressing the assembly. This was followed by a Theme Plenary of three speakers presenting issues that address justice and peace in their corner of the world. Later we saw the assembly at work in their business plenary dealing with issues such as religious freedom for religious minorities in various parts of the world. All decisions by the body operate under consensus rather than parliamentary procedure, a strategy proposed by the Orthodox Christians about 10 years ago. In the afternoon we divided up into Ecumenical Conversation Groups. Everyone in the CTS group is looking at a different facet. My particular group explored a global study of theological education that was very interesting. We then had dinner together at a Korean buffet restaurant--lots of choices and new tastes. We concluded our day with evening prayer led by our Orthodox companions. As you can tell it was a very full day. I hope to get others from our group to add their thoughts soon. Blessings to you all!

Arrived Safely in Busan

We have arrived safely in Seoul and then took the long drive to Busan. All 14 of us got together yesterday morning and arrived at the BEXCO conference for Opening Worship and the Opening Plenary of the WCC. It was amazing to see the 5,000 to 6,000 Christians from all over the world who assembled to pray together in multiple languages and to learn about Christianity here in Korea. 

This morning we are about to return to the conference for a full day of prayers, Bible Study, business meetings, and ecumenical conversations. We'll send more later including pictures, but know that we are all well and having a wonderful time communing with the global church.

Kathy Dawson