UNY Conference trip to South Korea

June 21, 2017 / By UNY Communications / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Almost immediately after Annual Conference 2017, Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb, several members of the UNY Cabinet as well as other leaders in the UNY Conference, and many of their partners or spouses traveled to Bupyeong, South Korea from June 6-June 14.

The Rev. Eun Pa Hong invited Bishop Webb and the UNY Cabinet to visit his church in South Korea.  Rev. Eun Pa Hong feels one of the main ministries of his church is to introduce Americans to the way that Korean Methodists worship the Lord.  He has invited several United Methodist Conferences across the world to his church. All expenses except for travel to and from South Korea were paid for by the Bupyeong Methodist Church.

According to the Rev. Bill Gottschalk-Fielding, who went on the trip, there were four main reasons for the trip, “One reason was as a way for the pastor of Bupyeong Methodist Church, The Rev. Eun Pa Hong to thank us for bringing Methodism to his country. He was so gracious for something we didn’t directly have any part of. A missionary from the United States introduced Korea to the Methodist Church in the 1880s.” Rev. Gottschalk-Gielding explained that the three additional reasons for traveling to Korea were for Upper New York Cabinet members to experience the Korean Church, to experience spiritual renewal, and to better understand Korean culture.

Bishop Webb and Upper New York Cabinet members and leaders worshipped with their Korean brothers and sisters every morning at 5:00 a.m. On Sunday, they attended a worship service at 11:30 a.m. in addition to the 5:00 a.m. service. Bishop Webb preached at the 11:00 a.m. service and The Rev. Dr. Sung Ho Lee interpreted the sermon.

UNY visitors stayed in housing that Rev. Gottchalk-Fielding described as “immaculate” right at Bupyeong Methodist Church. He said, “The attention to detail of the South Koreans was absolutely amazing.”

UNY visitors were also able to visit several other Methodist churches in South Korea and were able to sight-see, including seeing the North Korean border. 

It was a deeply moving experience to learn about how the 1.5 million Methodists in South Korea worship and serve God in their churches.

In this blog series, you will read what some of the UNY visitors took away from their experience in South Korea.