Senior Pastor Yoo Sang-jin of Yeongam Church in Seongbuk-gu
“The church is a place where anyone who comes to pray is accepted.”
Senior Pastor Yoo Sang-jin, who met at Yeongam Church (incorporated by the Presbyterian Church of Korea) in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul on the 7th, said this when asked, “Has there been any embarrassment due to President Yoon Seok-yeol’s visit to the church in the past?” Yeongam Church is where President Yoon attended from his first year of elementary school to his first year of middle school. President Yoon held a Christmas service here in 2022, the first year of his election, and a memorial service for the first anniversary of the Itaewon disaster on October 29, 2023. Because of this, he suffered considerable misunderstanding from believers with different political leanings.
Pastor Yoo said that when the President’s Office requested a memorial service for the first anniversary of the Itaewon disaster, he expressed the opinion, “Isn’t it right to hold the service on site?” This is because Yeongam Church had nothing to do with the Itaewon disaster, and it was thought that it was appropriate to commemorate the victims at the site of the disaster, regardless of the political situation. Pastor Yoo said, “I expressed my opinion, but I did not refuse the visit because I said, ‘I really want to do it here.’” He added, “There were concerns that it might be used politically, but even if that were the case, the church cannot refuse people who come to pray. “Because there isn’t one,” he said.
In his sermon at the time, he quoted the verse, ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep’ (Romans 12:15). This was borrowed from the Bible to mean that a leader in charge of a country should be next to the victims and their families. Pastor Yoo said, “The associate pastor and church officials looked shocked and shocked, but I’m not sure how the president felt.”
He was worried that conflicts between generations and ideologies were arising even within the church due to the chaotic current situation.
Pastor Yoo said, “The reason why our society is experiencing more acute conflict than ever before is because I insist that only the way I love is right,” and added, “If we can go beyond dividing each other and embrace each other with a bigger heart, even if we are uncomfortable with different thoughts, now is the time.” “We will be able to overcome the difficulties wisely,” he said.
Reporter Lee Jin-gu [email protected]
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