“You’ve heard that our church is very big. Very large,” said the pastor emeritus of the world’s largest Presbyterian church at the 2018 commencement of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. “I and my colleagues at our church worked together and practiced exactly what American missionaries taught us,” continued Kim Sam-whan, who in 1980 founded Myungsung Presbyterian Church in Korea with 20 members.
Today, Myungsung claims more than 100,000 members, and its footprint extend beyond its main Seoul sanctuary with its two towering spires. The church owns and operates an evangelical television channel, two schools, the first and only private prison in Korea, and hospitals in Korea and Ethiopia.
However, the megachurch and its denomination have been fractured after the 74-year-old Kim gave his senior pastor position to his 46-year-old son in 2017.
Next week, the court of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK-TongHap), one of the largest of Korea’s more than 100 Presbyterian denominations, is scheduled to announce its decision July 16 on whether the accession of Kim’s son, Kim Ha-na, is valid.
The crux of the debate is Article 28.6 of the PCK-TongHap constitution, which prohibits the transference of pastor or elder positions to family members. Defenders argue that Kim Ha-na was elected in accordance with Myungsung’s laws, and the denomination that Kim Sam-whan once headed should not meddle in the megachurch’s affairs. Critics argue that the denomination’s flagship church is flouting the corporate laws it must heed.
“Hereditary succession is a major issue in Korea because the world’s first major wave of megachurches was birthed in Korea,” said Warren Bird, megachurch researcher and co-author of Next: Pastoral Succession That Works.
Today, South Korea is home to 3 of the 10 largest Protestant churches in the world, according to Leadership Network’s current database. The East Asian nation also has more than 15 “gigachurches” (ones with more than 20,000 members)—the most in the world, followed by Nigeria and the Philippines.
About 1 in 10 megachurches worldwide see their outgoing lead pastor succeeded by a family member, according to Bird. The Alliance Against Church Inheritance, a Korean parachurch group, reports that since 2013, more than 140 Korean churches have handed their pulpits over to a family member of the senior pastor.
In the United States, pastoral succession within families is a common practice—and often a successful one. For example, America’s largest church—Lakewood Church where some 50,000 gather every Sunday to worship at the former arena of the NBA’s Houston Rockets—is led by Joel Osteen, the son of founder John Osteen. In Virginia, Jonathan Falwell inherited his renowned father’s Thomas Road Baptist Church after Jerry Falwell passed away in 2007.