South Korea-based
church holds graduation ceremony for over 100,000 Bible students,
the largest in the world
Press Release
November 21, 2022
DAEGU, South Korea
– A graduation ceremony for Bible students from Zion Christian
Mission Center (ZCMC) Class 113 was held at Daegu Stadium on
November 20. With a total of 106,186 graduates from 79 countries
including the Philippines, it was the largest in the world for a
theological education institution.
ZCMC is the Bible
education institution operated by Shincheonji (New Heaven and New
Earth) Church of Jesus, a church based in South Korea. Their
students completed a 9-month theology course that covers the 66
books of the Bible.
This is their second
100,000-person graduation, after almost 3 years. When the pandemic
hit, the institution shifted to online learning and utilized the
virtual platform to make their theology lessons more accessible to
the public including pastors.
In a press conference held
before the ceremony, Chairman Lee Man-hee shared, "When this world
has become corrupt and is full of sin, God desires to carry out the
work of recreation. That one book [Revelation] is actually the
content of recreation... People have to become a new person,
completely changed."
Among the graduates, there
has been a significant increase in the number of pastors and
seminarians for a total of 522 pastors in Korea and overseas.
One of the pastors, Heo
Jeong-wook, presented his testimony at the graduation ceremony as a
representative of domestic graduates. After 20 years of ministry, he
said, “I only learned traditional theology at seminary, but I didn’t
know much about the Book of Revelation. I put aside the difficult
words and only taught the words that are easy to convey to the
congregation members. I repent that I was a sinner who added to and
subtracted from the word of God." He added, “I have let go of
everything I had and have come forward to the truth. I have
completed this course by learning the real theology that leads to
heaven, not human studies. I thank God for giving me a chance at
life.”
The organizers assured the
participants on security measures being observed in cooperation with
the local government, police and health officials, given the high
concern about safety issues in Korea recently. "Above all, in order
to hold the graduation ceremony safely, we prepared with safety as
the top priority above all else”, a church official said.
