Young Nak (YN) Presbyterian Church was founded in Seoul on December 2, 1945 by 1992 Templeton Prize recipient, Kyung-Chik Han. Inaugurated by twenty-seven refugees from Soviet occupied Korea, Young Nak steadily increased in membership as more refugees sought religious freedom below the 38th parallel.
On March 24, 1949, ground was broken for a new facility to replace the building and tent that had become too small for the growing congregation. By the time the new church building was completed in May 1950, membership had increased to over 4,000. By 1992, when Rev. Han was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, membership had grown to 60,000 (making it, at that time, the largest Presbyterian congregation in the world), excluding 500 sister churches planted by members of the original congregation.
In 1998, under the auspices of Rev. Han, who at the time was a Pastor Emeritus, Young Nak gained an English language ministry, International Worship in English, which was founded by an American missionary to Korea, Bill Majors. For his efforts, Majors was made an Honorary Citizen of Seoul in 2005.
Presently the senior pastor of YN is Rev. Chul Shin Lee (1997–present).
Famous quotes containing the words young, presbyterian and/or church:
“A young Apollo, golden-haired,
Stands dreaming on the verge of strife,
Magnificently unprepared
For the long littleness of life.”
—Frances Cornford (1886–1960)
“He is a Presbyterian first and an artist second, which is just as comfortable as trying to be a Presbyterian first and a chorus girl second.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“If I should go out of church whenever I hear a false statement I could never stay there five minutes. But why come out? The street is as false as the church, and when I get to my house, or to my manners, or to my speech, I have not got away from the lie.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)