SOUTH KOREA – In late 2021, the Lutheran Church in Korea (LCK) reelected Rev. Eunseop Kim to serve as its president for another term.
The decision came during the church’s 51st General Assembly, which was a hybrid online/in-person event held in Seoul from October 7-8, 2021. Rev. Kim is the LCK’s eighth president. He was reelected to a four-year term.
An installation service for President Kim took place on November 1. In his address, he called on the church not to be distracted from its primary mission and wander off on other paths. “The church must travel the right path,” he said, “not the wrong path, under any circumstances.”
“The church must follow God’s Word,” he continued. “The road that Christians are to go is not a wide road that can be travelled comfortably but instead a narrow road.” We must follow Christ where He leads us in His Word—like Abraham who left his homeland to follow God’s call, like Peter who left his boat to follow Christ, like Paul who left his place of comfort in Jewish society to go where Jesus led.
“[Paul] didn’t look to what was behind,” the president explained, “but instead to what was in front, and he ran. He ran solely toward the reward which God had given him.” President Kim explained that he wished to follow the same path. “And this is not only the way a church president should travel,” he said. “It is the way for all Christians, and we will go together.”
He pledged to work alongside the church as together they follow the road. “I hope that you will encourage and support me so that I do not fall as we walk together,” he said. “Let us travel together the road where the light is visible and life comes alive.”
The Lutheran Church in Korea is a member church of the International Lutheran Council, a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies.
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