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Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that traces its origin to the Church of Scotland. Presbyterian churches derive their name from the presbyterian form of church government by representative assemblies of elders. Many Reformed churches are organised this way, but the word Presbyterian, when capitalized, is often applied uniquely to churches that trace their roots to the Church of Scotland or to English Dissenter groups that formed during the English Civil War.
This timeline of Christian missions chronicles the global expansion of Christianity through a listing of the most significant missionary outreach events.
The practice of Christianity in Korea is marginal in North Korea, but significant in South Korea, where it revolves around two of its largest branches, Protestantism and Catholicism, accounting for 8.6 million and 5.8 million members, respectively. Catholicism was first introduced during the late Joseon Dynasty period by Confucian scholars who encountered it in China. In 1603, Yi Gwang-jeong, a Korean diplomat, returned from Beijing carrying several theological books written by Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit missionary to China. He began disseminating the information in the books, and the first seeds of Christianity were sown. In 1758, King Yeongjo of Joseon officially outlawed Catholicism as an "evil practice." Catholicism was reintroduced in 1785 by Yi Seung-hun and since then French and Chinese Catholic priests were invited by the Korean Christians.
A Christian mission is an organized effort to spread Christianity to new converts. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as educational or hospital work. Sometimes individuals are sent and are called missionaries. When groups are sent, they are often called mission teams and they do mission trips. There are a few different kinds of mission trips: short-term, long-term, relational and those that simply help people in need. Some people choose to dedicate their whole lives to mission. Missionaries preach the Christian faith, and provide humanitarian aid. Christian doctrines permit the provision of aid without requiring religious conversion. However, Christian missionaries are implicated in the genocide of indigenous peoples. Around 100,000 native people in California, U.S., or 1/3 of the native population, are said to have died due to missions.
Calvin University is a Presbyterian-affiliated university in South Korea. The campus is located in Giheung-Gu, Yongin City, Gyeonggi province, to the south of Seoul.
Christianity in China has been present since at least the 7th century and has gained a significant amount of influence during the last 200 years. The Syro-Persian Church of the East appeared in the 7th century, during the Tang dynasty. Catholicism was among the religions patronized by the Mongol emperors in the Yuan dynasty, but did not take root until it was reintroduced in the 16th century by Jesuit missionaries. Starting in the early nineteenth century, Protestant missionaries attracted small but influential followings, and independent Chinese churches followed.
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons dedicated to missionary work in foreign lands.
Rev. Henry Gerhard Appenzeller was a Methodist missionary. He and four other missionaries, including Horace N. Allen, Horace G. Underwood, William B. Scranton, and Mary F. Scranton introduced Protestant Christianity to Korea from 1885 to 1902. He was known for his three major contributions to Korea: the Paichai College Hall, the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Seoul, and the translated New Testament.
Merriman Colbert Harris was a Missionary Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1904, who was active in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Japan.
The Catholic Church in North Korea retains a community of several hundred adherents who practice under the supervision of the state-established Korean Catholic Association (KCA) rather than the Roman Catholic hierarchy. The dioceses of the Church have remained vacant since Christian persecutions in the late 1940s. The most prominent congregation is that of Pyongyang, which meets at Changchung Cathedral. According to a KCA official, two other congregations exist. The state ideology of Juche has largely displaced Catholic faith, and full services are provided only to people with a Catholic family background.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was unofficially established in South Korea as early as World War II due to religious influence by LDS servicemen; however, Korean people did not begin to get baptized until the missionary efforts of LDS servicemen during the Korean War. Kim Ho Jik was the first Korean person to be baptized in the LDS Church on July 29, 1951 in New York. Two of his children were of the first four Korean people baptized in Korea on August 3, 1952. LDS Church presence and missionary work was officially established on April 20, 1956 with the arrival of two missionaries: Don G. Powell and Richard L. Detton. The Korean Mission opened on July 8, 1962 with Gail E. Carr as the first president of the mission. Successful missionary work led to the growth of the LDS Church in the 1960s and 1970s leading to the organization of the first stake in Korea in 1973 and the dedication of the first temple in Seoul on December 14, 1985.
There is a small community of French people in Korea.
The Korean Orthodox Church or the Metropolis of Korea is an Eastern Orthodox diocese under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Korea.
Horace Grant Underwood was a Presbyterian missionary, educator, and translator who dedicated his life to developing Christianity in Korea.
Christianity in the 18th century is marked by the First Great Awakening in the Americas, along with the expansion of the Spanish and Portuguese empires around the world, which helped to spread Catholicism.
Mary Fletcher Benton Scranton was an American Methodist Episcopal Church missionary. She was the first Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church representative to Korea and the founder of the Ewha Girls School under Emperor Gojong. Today, the Ewha Girls School is the Ewha Womans University, one of the most prestigious women's schools in Asia. Scranton also founded the Tal Syeng Day School for Women in Seoul and the Training School for Bible Women.
The Presbyterian Church of the Philippines (PCP), officially The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the Philippines, is a growing evangelical, Bible-based Reformed church in the Philippines. It was officially founded in 1987 and the General Assembly was organized in September 1996.
In South Korea, there are roughly 20.5 million Christians of whom 15 million are Protestants; of those some 9 to 10 million are Presbyterians. Presbyterians in South Korea worship in over 100 different Presbyterian denominational churches who trace their history back to the United Presbyterian Assembly.
The Korean Methodist Church is a large Methodist denomination in South Korea, with approximately 1.5 million members. Methodist missionaries came from the United States in the late 19th century. It became independent in 1930, and celebrated its centennial in 1984. The denomination has ties with its mother church, the United Methodist Church.
The Kosin Presbyterian Church in Korea, also called Korea-pa, is an Evangelical Reformed and Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of South Korea. Although, congregations have spread all over North America and in many other countries.
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