The Korean Methodist Church (KMC) is a denomination of Protestant Church in Korea which is one of the largest religious orders and has a great influence in our society. It is well known that KMC was related to the modern history, in which famous people came from it, like the first president of the Republic of Korea (Syngman Rhee), two prominent figures in the modern era(Okgun Kim and Chiho Yoon), a leader of an independent movement under Japanese colonial rule(Kwansoon You), and etc. And there are eleven colleges and university, fifty six middle schools, and a lot of institutions for social work joined with KMC. Therefore it is very important to research the general characteristics and historical change of KMC for understanding Protestantism and religions in Korea with historical context of Korea, I think.
Firstly I have tried to grasp the place of KMC in the Protestant churches of Korea and world Methodist churches with its number of believers and some activities. Secondly I compared the doctrine and theology of KMC with its several brother orders like the Salvation Army, the Holiness Church, and the Protestant Episcopal Church. Thirdly I looked into the historical change of KMC since it was introduced in Korea. Lastly I have stressed on the relation of the context to the text in the methodology of this paper. It means that I would like to understand KMC as one religious phenomenon in the culture and history of Korea.
With this study I could suggest several concluding remark as follow:
First of all, the doctrinal and theological characteristics of KMC are exposed in the effort of keeping valence between personal belief and social practice, and traditional text and historical context. It was one of result of these efforts that Indigenization Theology was promoted and developed by KMC.
It is the organizational system of KMC that we could find the difference with other denominations in Korean Protestant Church. KMC have organized the order of rank that the president of the Council of Bishops is the summit. This organization was useful in management of a big religious order, but had some side effects that KMC was swayed by the president's theological perspective and social attitude, the lay person was neglected in the structure of church, and etc. Recent trouble with the election of the president of the Council of Bishops is related to this system.
I can read the tendency of conservatism in the contemporary history of KMC. The direct example of this tendency was the excommunication on two professors of Methodist Theological University (Sunwhan Byun and Joungsu Hong) because they espoused religious pluralism and postmodern theology.
As you know, the number of believers in Korean Protestantism is on the decrease since the mid-1990s. In this context KMC try to make a plan for continuous development and reestablish the identity as a Methodist Church. I think KMC is in critical moment for its theological and organizational change.