Renewing the Church for Mission: A Holistic Understanding of Renewal for Korean Protestant Churches

Abstract

As Protestant churches in Korea navigate their own problems in the midst of stagnation and even decline, they are increasingly inquisitive about their own identity, understanding of renewal, and ways of evangelism. The purpose of this paper is mainly focused on how to renew Korean Protestant churches through a holistic paradigm of renewal that moves beyond the reigning false dualistic paradigm. First, I will discuss a holistic understanding of renewal for the Korean church, tracing two foundations: an ecological understanding of church, and a holistic understanding of conversion. Then, I will explore one successful model (Wesley) and one failing model (the Western church's cultural captivity) in the history of Christianity, asking why the reigning, falsely dualistic paradigm is so problematic and why a holistic paradigm for renewal is so essential to the churches in Korea. These will lead to my thesis: vitalizing energy for renewal comes from holding a holistic understanding of renewal. As a conclusive remark, I shall propose three renewal tasks for the future of Korean Protestant churches and insert a case study to exemplify these models in the context of Korea.