Han and the Pentecostal experience: a study of the growth of the Yoido Full Gospel church in Korea

Abstract

This thesis aims to investigate the growth of the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Korea, which has grown to be the largest single church in the world, and has attracted the attention of many scholars. Accordingly, much work has been done to find the reasons for its growth. However, most of them are one-sided in investigating the institutional factors of the church. These are limited and inadequate in terms of methodological appropriateness. This thesis grasps the intrinsic reasons for the growth of the church by overcoming such methodological problems. This study considers Han, the Korean people’s distinctive feeling, as the contextual factor and the Pentecostal experience of the Yoido Full Gospel Church as the institutional factor. This study investigates the growth of the church through these two factors. It shows that Han is associated with specific church growth concepts through the Pentecostal experience of the church. It also reveals that there are significant factors and processes by which Han is associated with church growth. As a result, as new findings this thesis shows how pentecostalism, a particular sect of Christianity, adapts concretely to the Korean context. It suggests some practical methods and strategies of mission for Korean Protestantism and beyond