• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.68
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• pp.307-344
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• 2021

After Protestant missionaries delivered the gospel to Korea in the 1880s, Korean Protestantism has pursued qualitative growth following quantitative growth. Pastors and scholars are continuing their efforts for qualitative growth in various fields such as theology, ministry, social participation, ethics, education, counseling, history, and spirituality. Prayer has been a significant spiritual resource and method in the history and for the faith of Korean Protestant churches. Historical and theoretical research on Korean Protestant prayer traditions has been continuously performed, and it is time to re-establish and renew the prayer traditions for the new generation and context of the Protestant churches. In this historical time, it is necessary to summarize the Korean Protestant prayer traditions and describe their significance for the change of Korean Protestantism and its prayer education. This study analyzes the characteristic elements of the Korean Protestant prayer tradition and discusses its significance in the church and Christian education. In addition, it analyzes the cause and background of the establishment of a specific prayer element in Korean Protestantism and describes the relationship with the topics currently being emerged. Through the research on the prayer traditions, this study reflects on the meaning of the Korean Protestant prayer tradition to Christian education and discusses the content, method, and purpose of future education in relation to Korean Protestant prayer. This study argues that prayer education should be conducted from the perspective of Christian history and tradition as a whole with understanding the characteristics of Korean Protestant prayer traditions and the educational and non-educational elements of prayer.

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.70
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• pp.75-106
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• 2022

The religious discourse produced by the daily newspapers can be viewed as a 'social-relationship' discourse rather than a religion's 'faith-identity' discourse. As a social relationship discourse, the understanding of Korean Church (Protestantism) discourses should be understood in the context of the social structural changes in South Korea. The public discourse produced by the media shows a reality that has been interpreted with specific values and standards on the premise of Spatio-temporal specificity rather than the actual social reality. This research approaches the Korean Church discourses produced by the daily newspaper from a social constructionism perspective. Moreover, the globalization theory is especially highlighted due to the social structural changes in South Korea. The research purpose is to reflect on the relationship between Korean society and the Korean Church in the 21st-century Korean situation through content analysis and discourse analysis in Korean newspapers. As a result of analysing the Korean Church discourse produced by the daily newspapers over the past 18 years (2004-2021), it was found that various mutual conflicts between Korean society and the Korean church were occurring.

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.68
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• pp.375-415
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• 2021

Although the interest in Christian education of spirituality has increased recently, the practice of the education of spirituality in the Korean Church has been fragmented in the contents and methods without any clear educational purpose of the Protestant tradition. This requires a creative study to seek out the contents and method best suited to realizing the educational purpose of the Protestant tradition, through a rigorous academic methodology. This study proposes just such a creative model for the education of spirituality with an educational purpose based on the core ethos of the Protestant spirituality, integrating the long tradition of spiritual practices of Christianity. First, I survey the teachings on 'the life of faith' of the main leaders of the Protestant church, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Wesley. Through this process, I reveal 'liberated-ness' to be the common purpose of the Protestant leaders, and the core of the practices for that purpose are 'the means of grace,' which has a different meaning from that of the Roman Catholic tradition. I construct the meaning of 'liberated-ness' in a dynamic manner, which begins with the 'liberating will' of God, and is followed by the 'self-giving will' of the believer as the response to the 'grace' of the 'liberating will.' The contact point of these two 'wills' is what I call 'the living membrane of faith.' As a creative synthesis of the above discussions, I propose a model of 'the practice of liberated-ness' for an education in spiritual practice. The purpose of this education is for the learner to become a person who continuously experiences ever-increasing 'liberated-ness' through continuous personal 'encounters' with God, and to become ever more faithful in carrying out practices for the 'liberated-ness' of her or his neighbors. The relationship between the teacher and the learner is that of personal 'encounter' as put forth by Sherrill, and also incorporates elements of 'co-authorship' as conceptualized by Kim. I transform and rename major practices of spiritual discipline according to a principle of 'liberated-ness' based on the Protestant tradition, and these comprise the main content of my spirituality education model. They include: 'lectio divina of encounter,' 'prayer facing the Lord,' 'service in liberation,' 'reflection of liberated-ness,' and 'mutual spiritual direction.' The teaching and learning process draws on Dykstra's methods of coaching and mentoring. The key environment is that of a 'sacramental community' as defined by Moore. Evaluation can be performed only by the learner her/himself. The significance of this model is that it creatively inherits and succeeds the tradition of Christian spiritual discipline from the early church onwards by transforming it through a Protestant spirituality of 'liberated-ness.'

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.69
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• pp.163-192
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• 2022

In the early 20th century, Korean Protestant Christians began two forms of prayer, Tongsung Kido and Dawn Prayer. The two prayers have been loved and performed by Korean Protestants for over 100 years. Speaking in tongues was introduced in the 1950s and became one of the most popular prayers along with Tongsung Kido and dawn prayer. Korean Protestant churches started Bible meditation in the 1970s through journals like the Daily Bible of the Scripture Union Korea. Now contemplative prayer appears as an unfamiliar and strange style of prayer, given the history of prayer so far in Korean churches. Protestant scholars and pastors have made this into a controversy; contemplative prayer is the first non-protestant prayer that has become controversial. The controversy is mainly about biblical origin, theological relevance, and historical and traditional conformity. This study asks and answers why this controversy is important for Korean Protestant churches. This study introduces the controversy and explores why one group accepts the prayer and others do not. Then, this study recounts the history of Korean Protestant prayers and shows the meanings of the encounter of Korean Protestant prayers and contemplative prayer. This study argues that Korean Protestant Christians, through the controversy, can learn that Korean Protestant churches have the potential to create a new prayer culture and tradition and need spiritual discipline through silence.

• Health and Mission
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• s.4
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• pp.66-68
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• 2005

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.73
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• pp.139-157
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• 2023

In Korean Protestantism, interest in Christian spirituality has grown significantly since the 1980s. Spirituality is now studied and used as a crucial term and topic in theology and ministry. As research on spirituality expanded to various areas of study and ministry and various topics related to spirituality were dealt with, research on spiritual direction also began. Oe-Shik Kim and Hae-Yong Yoo, who studied in North America, are the early scholars who began to study spiritual direction in Korean Protestantism in the 1990s. Their research has influenced Korean Protestant scholars and pastors to understand spiritual direction and apply it to seminary education and the Korean Protestant churches. Spiritual direction has been practiced in the Korean church in the form and content of faith education, spiritual training, devotional training, discipleship training, small groups, and pastoral counseling. The spiritual direction practiced by Eastern, Western, and monastic traditions throughout Christian history is not shared by Korean Protestants. Because Korean Protestantism has developed a unique spiritual tradition in the Korean context, its contents and forms of spiritual direction reflect the Korean context. Korean Protestants are more familiar with Tongsung Kido, early morning prayer, Bible study or Bible meditation, and small groups than contemplative traditions and individual spiritual direction. Thirty years have passed since research on spiritual direction began. The Korean Protestant academia needs to critically reflect on its research and practice. Spiritual direction is a term and tradition of different Christian cultures around the world and is part of Christian history and tradition. Korean Protestant scholars and church ministers need to accept the concept and application of spiritual direction considering the context and spiritual tradition of Korean Protestant churches, a flexible understanding, perspective, and attitude toward the concept and application of spiritual direction in Korean Protestant churches are needed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.115-140
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• 2015

For the efficient management of church documentary for religious reasons, including their historical and cultural values, the church archives should be excellently managed. However, the lack of understanding and consideration of the church records and archives makes it very difficult to have an actual grasp of its status and practical supports, such as budget and personnel, for records management. In this study, literature reviews and current status of domestic Protestant church archives, user survey of Saemoonan Presbyterian church and interviews of church archives records officer were carried out. Based on the results of the study, three parts of the proposed plan of the Saemoonan Presbyterian Archives were suggested. Education, exhibition, publication, and promotion of the church's archival services will help redirect the roles and values of the archives, which will make it an essential part of the church.

• The Critical Review of Religion and Culture
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• no.29
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• pp.134-167
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• 2016

This paper aims at exploring the characteristics and meanings of religious freedom controversy surrounding religious education, with special reference to proselytism, in protestant mission school in recent Korea. Most of protestant mission schools have been providing students compulsory religion class and chapel service in the name of religious education. According to the school authorities, religious education should be provided for the realization of founding philosophy, and they say that mission school has the right to religious education. On the contrary, many non-christian students argue that their religious liberty is seriously violated by required religious education especially compulsory chapel worship. So serious conflicts broke between mission school authorities and students. Supreme Court decided that Soongsil University has the right to maintain compulsory chapel service, ruling that Daegwang High School should not maintain required chapel worship. It seems that Supreme Court gave different decisions to high school and university respectively, considering the differences between high school and university in application for admission to a school, students' critical consciousness, school's autonomous rights, etc. However, these precedents are being challenged by many peoples and groups. There are three agents which are involved in religious freedom controversy in mission school. The first are mission school authorities supported by religious groups, the second government supported by political parties, and the third mission school students guided by NGO. Among them protestant groups are playing the major role in making religious freedom problems in mission school. Protestant groups try to convert mission school students to protestantism by compulsory chapel service and religion class. Such a protestant proselytism becomes a cause of oppressing students' human rights and religious liberty. In this situation government has a responsibility to protect the students' rights to religious freedom. But government seldom impose sanctions on the protestant mission schools' compulsory programs. The reason why government does not restrict mission school's unlawful religious education is because protestant groups have strong influence in voting. Eventually civil movements organizations involved in religious freedom controversy for the sake of students's human rights. In conclusion, the assailment is protestant proselytism, the accessory is government, the victim is students in the religious education in mission school in recent Korea.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Design Studies Conference
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• 2002.11b
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• pp.166-167
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• 2002

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.11
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• pp.134-147
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• 1988