by Andrew ClarkPosted: Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 10:47 (BST)
From Left: Rev. Joong Seon Park; former CCK President Rev. Kwang Seon Rhee; WEA Secretary General/CEO Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe; CCK President Rev. Ja Yeon Kiel; WEA North American Council Board Member Rev. Dr. David Jang; and Rev. Jae Cheol Hong. (Credit: WEA)
The World Evangelical Alliance together with the Christian Council of Korea (CCK) have confirmed the dates for the WEA General Assembly, which will be held in Seoul, South Korea in 2014.
A delegation of top leaders from the Christian Council of Korea, the largest alliance of churches in South Korea, visited WEA's world HQ in New York from September 9 to 10, 2011 to discuss as hosts the preparations and to confirm the date of the global gathering.
The WEA GA will take place from October 27 to 31, 2014, at the Asem Hall Coex Convention Center in Seoul.
The WEA, the largest body of evangelicals worldwide representing over 600 million evangelicals, holds its general assembly every six years to conduct its business, train leaders, promote mutual learning and partnerships, build synergy, and cast a vision for impacting the world.
The last WEA GA was held in October 2008 in Pattaya, Thailand.
CCK President Ja Yeon Kiel led a delegation from South Korea which included former CCK President Rev Kwang Seon Rhee, as well as Rev Jae Cheol Hong and Rev Joong Seon Park.
The four Korean evangelical leaders met with WEA’s CEO/Secretary General Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe and a WEA leadership team to firm-up the details.
“We will be meeting from October 27 to 31 with delegates from across the world, as well as with the churches in Korea,” said CCK President Kiel. “The issue of world unity will be discussed at the General Assembly.”
President Kiel added that CCK hopes to invite a small team of WEA leaders to Korea in November next year to discuss the planning progress.
“I hope that the WEA GA in 2014 can reconfirm Christ as the foundation for worldwide churches and the churches in Korea,” said President Kiel.
Speaking about the challenges of preparing for such a large-scale event, former CCK President Rev Rhee added: “For CCK to hold this event successfully I feel there is a great need to give a lot of prayer. Doing this kind of work without praying is very difficult to accomplish.”
Rev Rhee added: “With the Korean churches as well as with all the worldwide WEA churches we need to pray together for the success of this gathering.”
Dr Tunnicliffe said, “We are very grateful for the visit of the leaders of CCK to our office in New York City on September 9. We are also very thankful that both CCK and WEA leaders have agreed on the dates of the next General Assembly to be held in Seoul in 2014. It is our belief that this General Assembly will not only be historic but also by God’s grace and the empowerment of His Spirit will profoundly impact not only the spiritual climate of Korea but of the nations of the world.”
In a previous statement on the WEA GA 2014, Dr Tunnicliffe said that Seoul would be an "ideal location" for the event.
“The dynamic church in Korea will provide a strong foundation in prayer, as well as logistical support and assistance in obtaining visas for all our delegates. In addition, Korea’s advanced technological capacity will facilitate our efforts to broadcast the main sessions of the Assembly globally,” he said.
WEA is the largest global evangelical body with a network of churches in 129 nations and an alliance of 100 international organisations.
The CCK, the largest alliance of churches in South Korea, has within its membership 69 denominations and 20 Christian organisations that together represent over 12 million Christians in the world’s second largest missionary-sending country.
Dr Tunnicliffe said: “The 2014 General Assembly will provide a significant and historic moment for the leaders of the global evangelical movement to engage in Kingdom work.”