Dean Sterling Speaks at World’s Largest Church During Recent Korea Trip

In the United States, a church with 10,000 members is considered “mega.” Add two zeroes to that figure, and you know the approximate size of the church in South Korea where Yale Divinity School Dean Greg Sterling spoke during his recent Korea trip.

In his brief message to the more than 1 million-member congregation of Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Sterling gave greetings on behalf of YDS, congratulated the congregation for its effectiveness at evangelism, and encouraged church members to “distinguish yourselves by the quality of your lives.”

Sterling’s invitation to speak at the world’s largest church came about via the YDS international network. Joon Park ’69 B.D., former provost at Yonsei University, knows Yoido’s new senior pastor and suggested that he invite the YDS dean to address the congregation.

Yoido, which assembles in a 20,000-seat auditorium and beams its services to hundreds of thousands more in a network of adjoining rooms and satellite locations, was one of three main stops on the dean’s late-October tour. Sterling also gave papers at a plenary session of the Korean Association of Christian Studies and at Seoul Theological University, where he spoke to 2,000 undergraduates and 200 faculty members and graduate students.

At the Christian studies conference, Sterling spoke on “Religion as a Bridge Rather Than a Wall.” He gave the talk again at Seoul Theological University as well as one on “When the World Became Flat: Rethinking Christianity in the Twenty-first Century.”

 “Christianity exploded in South Korea in the 20^th century,” Sterling said as he reflected on the trip three days after his return to New Haven, noting that Christians were less than one percent of the Korean population at the beginning of the century and nearly 30 percent of the South Korean population by the century’s end. “Until very recently, the country was second only to the U.S. in the number of missionaries sent out in the world, so the impact of the Korean church is felt well beyond Korea. That’s why Korea is of such vital importance in conversations about world Christianity.

“Another factor is that there is openness to and appreciation for academic study of Christianity in South Korean that we do not always seen in other countries,” Sterling said. He added that the faculties at South Korea’s theological institutions have an international perspective. “Most of the faculty members, even at relatively conservative schools, have been trained in European and American universities.”

YDS, which has several Korean students each year and more than 50 alumni living in Korea, is cultivating a stronger relationship with Seoul Theological University. The two institutions are developing a preliminary agreement by which YDS will send professors to lecture at Seoul and host Seoul faculty members as visiting scholars.

“YDS has name recognition and influence worldwide and a unique role to play in global Christianity,” Sterling said. “We need to serve churches not only here in the U.S., but also in Asia, Africa, and around the world.”