Face-to-Face Worship Recovery Battle... Protestantism's All-Out Effort to Win Back Congregants Lost to COVID-19

Worship scene at Sae Eden Church Photo by Sae Eden Church

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] Movements within the Korean Protestant community to reclaim congregants who left worship halls due to COVID-19 are being detected.

On the 27th, Sae Eden Church announced the launch of a project called "Saving Private Ryan" aimed at reclaiming "non-attending congregants." Just as Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) in the movie of the same name searched for and returned Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) to his hometown, the church intends to bring back members scattered by COVID-19 to the worship hall.

The method involves prayer and expressions of sincerity. Holding an "Anxious Prayer Meeting" to express the desire for the return of non-attending members, visiting each congregant's home to deliver handwritten letters, scripture postcards, and gifts to encourage church attendance.

The effect was considerable. By the end of May, the number of attending congregants had recovered to 80% of pre-COVID levels. On the 26th, Sae Eden Church reported that attendance approached 90%.

So Gang-seok, senior pastor of Sae Eden Church, said, "During the silent war called COVID-19, we suffered enormous human and property losses and became prisoners of the virus. Since the non-attending congregants have become Private Ryan waiting for our rescue, let us embrace the love of Jesus and, with the heart of Captain Miller, find them and lead them back to church."

According to recent results from the Pastoral Data Research Institute's "Korean Church COVID Tracking Survey," worship sites, which shrank due to COVID-19, are recovering slowly.

In a survey conducted in April of 981 senior pastors belonging to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap), attendance rates after the lifting of social distancing measures were only 73% of previous averages. Sunday school attendance was at 43%, and new member inflow was at 20%.

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