The life and works of Kim, Chang-in, whose achievements have shaped the growth and development of the Korean Presbyterian Church, were analyzed in view of his ministry of soul-saving. Kim, Chang-in played a pivotal role in the church and the denominat...
The life and works of Kim, Chang-in, whose achievements have shaped the growth and development of the Korean Presbyterian Church, were analyzed in view of his ministry of soul-saving. Kim, Chang-in played a pivotal role in the church and the denomination from the tumultuous period of Japaneses occupation era through the independence and the Korean War and to the explosive growth of the Korean church in the midst of the rapid modernization of the Korean society. Thus, his life is closely linked with the history of the Korean church. Despite this fact there has been no historical and theological research on his life and ministry in general until now, which has remained a regrettable void in the Korean church. In order to compensate bridge this research gap, this study attempts to establish a basic framework for Kim, Chang-in studies by historically examining the practical aspects of his life, pastoral philosophy, and ministry.
Essentially, the theme encompassing Kim, Chang-in's ministry was soul saving. He defined the essence of ministry as 'leading one soul to the Lord', and this theological perspective served as a cornerstone leading the formation and development of the Choonghyun Presbyterian Church's five goals: divine sacred worship fostering heaven workers, national evangelization, world missionary world missions, and love for neighbors. These goals were not a formal slogan or simple guideline, but rather a category for the practicality of Kim, Chang-in's pastoral philosophy and theological conviction, and the growth and ministerial direction of the Choonghyun Presbyterian Church were revolved around these goals. In addition, his ministry of saving souls contributed to expanding the missionary domain of the Korean church through the vision of national evangelization, world missions, and North Korean Missions to the North Koreans.
However, his ministry caused a lot of controversy due to his nepotism, which is often regarded as a representative case for the problem of nepotism. This is a historical fact that should be dealt seriously in evaluating Kim, Chang-in's ministry, so this study did not avoid it and tried to look at it from a balanced perspective. The issue of Nepotism left a big stain on his lifelong ministry big stain on his lifelong ministry, but still I argue that the historical evaluation should cover both the positive aspects of his ministry as well as the negative sides of it.
This paper was conducted with several limitations, such as a lack of primary historical data on Kim, Chang-in, a gap in North Korean data, and an unorganized internal record of Choonghyun Presbyterian Church. Despite these restrictions, I attempted to be as objective and unbiased as possible by using oral data, existing public records, religious documents, and Choonghyun Presbyterian Church historical records. In particular, the significance of this study is that it attempted a three-dimensional historical and theological analysis focusing on his pastoral principles, education, evangelism, and missions, going farther than the limitations of existing research that was limited to the study of sermons.
In conclusion, Kim, Chang-in's ministry sheds new light on the essence of pastoral ministry. He was a pastor who personally embodied the church's core mission of dedication to one soul, fostering heaven workers through education, and spreading the gospel to the all the nation of the world even in the midst of the turbulent times. Even though the Korean church is facing various crises and challenges today, his soul-saving-oriented pastoral principles provide meaningful insights into restoring the church's essential identity and suggesting future directions on the basis of the Bible.
Finally, this study is the starting point for Kim, Chang-in studies, and we look forward to continuing further research on his ministry, especially the North Korean missions, and his preaching and pastoral methods. The ultimate wish of this study is to contribute to the restoration of the essence of the pastoral ministry for a new era by re-examining the ministry of Kim, Chang-in, who formed an important axis of the Korean church and the Korean Christian history.