Founder of South Korea’s biggest church Cho dies
The church that he started with five people in 1958, had swelled to 600,000
Reverend Cho Yong-gi, whose founding of the biggest South Korean church once stood as a symbol of the post-war growth of Christianity in the country s, died yesterday. He was 85.
Cho, an emeritus pastor at Seoul’s Yoido Full Gospel Church, died at a Seoul hospital, where he had been treated since he collapsed due to cerebral haemorrhage in July 2020, the church said in a statement.
“He was instrumental in growing the Korean church, particularly developing Yoido Full Gospel Church as the world’s largest church,” the church statement said.
Better known as David Yonggi Cho or Paul Yonggi Cho abroad, the late pastor started his church in Seoul with five worshippers in 1958. Under his leadership, the church achieved explosive growth and become a symbol of the rapid growth of Christianity in what was then a deeply Confucian country.
In 1993, the church had more than 700,000 members, making it the world’s biggest church congregation according to Guinness Book of Records. Church officials said the church’s membership has since declined to about 600,000 and that they cannot confirm whether their church remains as the world’s largest.
It’s still the largest Protestant church in South Korea. Church officials said their church has 400 pastors and evangelists in South Korea and 500 missionaries abroad.