Sungrak Church as an Independent Church


Sungrak Church was founded as an independent church, in the pursuit of the Bible as the supreme law of the church. The Bible speaks of the church as follows: Ephesians 1:22-23 says that Jesus is the head of the church and the church is His body. It means that there is no higher institution as a mediator between Jesus and the church.Thus, God’s revelations should be directly given to the congregation without a higher institution or assembly.It does not mean that the congregation ministers or runs the affairs of the church.In other words, Sungrak Church is the congregation that pursues in saving soul, and the congregation does not have authority over the church.

The Berea Movement of Sungrak Church is a movement that asserts believing and following the Bible just as it is written. Sungrak Church is an independent church which does not belong to any other denomination, but it is a gathering of Baptists who follow Jesus’ commandment and a congregation of those who follow the Bible. There is no other church like Sungrak Church because Sungrak Church was founded as an independent church, and an independent church has its own ideals and values. There might be an independent church alliance, but each member, each church, may have different ideals and values. Each church must pursue its own unique ideals all the way. Therefore, an independent church reflects the founder’s beliefs and will.

Since its foundation, Sungrak Church has sustained the ideals of an independent church.

(1) Why Sungrak Church Gives Baptism

  There are two arguments concerning the definition of the Baptist Church –the Baptist Church as a Protestant Church or as a non-Protestant Church. One of these arguments is that the Anabaptist Church is certainly not a Protestant church. That argument is based upon the fact that the Baptist Church started from the time Jesus commanded baptism – not from the time when the Protestants emerged from the Catholics during the Middle Ages. The Israelites were not Egyptians but remained the descendants of Abraham, even though they had lived in Egypt for 450 years. Koreans never changed even though they were ruled by Japan for 36 years. Likewise, even though the Baptist Church was once ruled by the Catholics, the fact that its root is derived from Jesus does not change.

Therefore, the baptism of Sungrak Church is not rooted in Protestantism, which emerged from the Catholics. The baptism of Sungrak Church is traced back to Jesus. Sungrak Church only follows the baptism that the Son of God commanded. Simply speaking, Sungrak Church is not a Protestant church. The term, ‘Protestant’ means those who disagreed with Catholicism and came out of it (The Reformation). But Sungrak Church is not Protestantism but a church that follows the tradition that came from Jesus.  

Sungrak Church does not follow the model of the existing Baptist denominations. Sungrak Church only follows the words of the Bible in accordance with the commandment of Jesus. In other words, Sungrak Church gives baptism because it is the command of Jesus, not because Sungrak Church follows the tradition ofthe Baptist denominations.

(2) Why Sungrak Church Has Only Two Offices: The Pastor and The Deacon

According to the regulations of The Korean Baptist Convention,there are only two offices in the church –the pastor and the deacon. Sungrak Church agrees with these regulations because the Bible shows onlythese two offices .To be more specific,it is not that Sungrak Church follows these regulations, but SungrakChurch chooses the offices found in the Bible. The Baptist Convention made the regulations based upon the Bible, and Sungrak Church, also following the Bible, came to have some common agreement with these regulations.

(3) Sungrak Church as an Independent Church Separated from the Baptist Denominations

Sungrak Church once joined the Baptist Church Alliance but left it when the Baptist Church Alliance was converted into the Baptist Church General Assembly. The reason is that the Alliance recognized the independence of a single church, but the General Assembly has the higher authority over all the churches, meaning that the independence of the churches would not be guaranteed. That does not fit with the ideals of Sungrak Church. When Sungrak Church belonged to the Alliance, the characteristics of the independent church were maintained. Since its foundation, Sungrak Church has sustained the ideals of an independent church.

The Berea Movement of Sungrak Church is a movement that asserts believing and following the Bible just as it is written. Sungrak Church is an independent church which does not belong to any other denomination, but it is a gathering of Baptists who follow Jesus’ commandment and a congregation of those who follow the Bible. There is no other church like Sungrak Church because Sungrak Church was founded as an independent church, and an independent church has its own ideals and values. There might be an independent church alliance, but each member, each church, may have different ideals and values. Each church must pursue its own unique ideals all the way. Therefore, an independent church reflects the founder’s beliefs and will.