One of the top things on my grandma’s list for when she came over was to get to go to a Korean church service. So the first full weekend we had together we headed out to go to church. Now, it wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be to find an English Presbyterian specific service here in Seoul, but thanks to korea4expats.com, they have a whole list of English services and I was able to locate two Presbyterian churches in Seoul with English services. One was almost two hours away because of its location. The other one, however was located close to Myeongdong, so that is the one we ended up going to. The church is called Youngnak Church and it is a very nice set up.
Rather than being in a modern building like most of the churches here in Seoul, the main building is an old chapel and very beautiful. Here the services are in Korean but there is a foreign section and you can put on headphones and listen to the service translation. If this isn’t your style, you can also go over to the international building of the church campus and go to an all English service.
The pastor is a very nice man named Bill and he is originally from Oklahoma. Actually, every single person we came in contact with was extremely friendly. It was, by far, the friendliest church I have ever been to. They really tried to make you feel welcome, find out a bit about you and interact with you as much as possible. What really surprised me is that people remembered my name through the whole morning. Now that takes some effort. Truly impressive.
The service was very nice. We went to the traditional service at 10am with a choir and hymns throughout the service. However, if you would like something a bit less formal, they also have a “modern” service at 3pm which has a praise band and I would imagine is more focused towards a younger crowd. Either way, no matter what service you chose, the message of the sermon is the same in both services.
After the service there were refreshments and an optional bible study. We did not stay for the bible study, but I’m sure it would have been lovely as well. They also have activities for young people (such as myself) such as coffee get togethers, holiday retreats, etc.
So if you are looking for a church here in Seoul, South Korea, might I recommend Youngnak church? They have English services and you couldn’t ask more a nicer group of people.
Their website is: http://www.myiwe.com/
And they are located at:
YOUNGNAK CHURCH 2-69 JEO-DONG,
JUNG-GU, SEOUL,
100-032 SOUTH KOREA
T&S
KC
