On the morning of the 23rd, a notice prohibiting the entry of Shincheonji members was posted at the entrance of the Yoido Full Gospel Church World Mission Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. (Photo by Yonhap News)
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seung-jin] Yoido Full Gospel Church will hold the upcoming Sunday worship service despite concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).
Yoido Full Gospel Church announced on the 27th that this decision was made at a meeting attended by senior officials of the church council, including Senior Pastor Lee Young-hoon and Elder Chairman Park Kyung-pyo. However, the number of Sunday worship services and the scope of attendance will be reduced.
The Sunday worship services, which were held up to the 7th session, will be reduced to 5 sessions. The services will be conducted with only a small number of voluntary attendees, mainly church officers such as pastors, elders, and deacons.
Parish bus operations will also be suspended, and the elderly and children are encouraged to attend worship online from home. The church sanctuary will not be opened after the worship service.
Yoido Full Gospel Church is estimated to have about 560,000 registered members, making it the Protestant church with the largest number of believers in South Korea. It is reported that an average of about 5,000 believers attend the Sunday worship services.
Meanwhile, at the meeting on the same day, Yoido Full Gospel Church decided to provide 1 billion KRW as medical support funds to comfort the citizens of Daegu suffering from COVID-19 and to share their pain.
On March 3rd, the church plans to visit Daegu City to meet with Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, and Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin to express condolences and deliver the medical support funds.
Yoido Full Gospel Church will hold another meeting on the morning of the 28th to continue discussions regarding the holding of Sunday worship services. Depending on the results of the meeting, the decision on whether to hold Sunday worship services may change.
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