The Council of Church Leaders Opposing the Hosting of the 2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly, comprising 1,300 pastors and elders from the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapdong), the largest denomination in Korea, released a statement on Jan. 16 titled “Our Position on the 2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly.”
The council stated, “WEA has serious issues with its theology, members, and activities, and all exchanges, cooperation, and membership with it must be prohibited.”
It is the latest statement that follows several other Christian groups raising concerns about the World Evangelical Alliance's (WEA) plans to hold its General Assembly in Seoul, Korea, in October this year.
In the statement, the council noted, “On Nov. 15, 2024, a committee for hosting the 2025 World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Seoul General Assembly was launched at the CCMM Building Convention Center in Yeouido, Seoul, with Pastor Oh Jung-hyun (of Sarang Church) and Pastor Lee Young-hoon (of Yoido Full Gospel Church) as co-chairs. This has sparked significant controversy.” The council declared, “We define WEA as an unbiblical organization.”
The council criticized WEA as being led by “neoliberalists aligned with ecumenical theology” and pointed out that “WEA leaders recently met with a Muslim organization (NU) and formed a close friendship (‘Best Friends’ relationship). WEA Deputy Secretary-General Samuel Chiang has cooperated with Muslims, veering toward religious pluralism. Examining the leaders of WEA reveals its true nature.”
The council also referenced the 105th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapdong), which decided to “withhold any resolutions on WEA until its nature is clearly understood and to avoid unnecessary controversy.” However, the council added, “Local churches under the General Assembly have been actively preparing to host the ‘2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly,’ claiming there are no issues with WEA’s unbiblical theology and activities. This undermines the authority of the General Assembly and disrupts its order, and therefore must be dealt with sternly.”
Christian Daily International has reached out to WEA for comment but has not received a response by the time of publication.
Below is the full text of the council’s statement:
Our Position on the 2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly
WEA has serious issues with its theology, members, and activities, and all exchanges, cooperation, and membership with it must be prohibited.
Greetings to churches nationwide in the name of Jesus. Our denomination stands firmly on Calvinist Reformed theology. Our forefathers endured significant suffering and sacrifice to protect this precious theology. However, on Nov. 15, 2024, a committee for hosting the “2025 WEA (World Evangelical Alliance) Seoul General Assembly” was launched at the CCMM Building Convention Center in Yeouido, Seoul, with Pastor Oh Jung-hyun and Pastor Lee Young-hoon as co-chairs, sparking great controversy.
We declare WEA as an unbiblical organization and clarify our position on it:
1. On WEA’s Theology: WEA, as a group of neo-evangelicals, interprets the Bible arbitrarily from its charter, embraces ecumenical theology aligned with neoliberalism, and broadly accepts neo-orthodox theology, causing unlawful behavior within our denomination.
2. On WEA’s Pluralism: WEA adopts unbiblical doctrines of inclusion and religious pluralism from WCC ecumenical theology, aligns with Roman Catholic teachings, and seeks cooperation and unity with them.
3. On WEA’s Partnerships: WEA, along with WCC and Roman Catholicism, forms the Global Christian Forum (GCF) and Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT), which have held meetings for nearly 30 years, accepting any doctrine as long as there is a nominal confession of the Triune God and Christ as Mediator, even embracing Seventh-day Adventist theology.
4. On the General Assembly’s Stance: The 105th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Korea decided to “withhold any resolutions on WEA until its nature is clearly understood and avoid unnecessary controversy.” Despite this, some local churches are actively preparing to host the 2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly, ignoring the unbiblical theology and activities of WEA. This undermines the authority and order of the General Assembly and must be dealt with sternly.
5. On Recent Developments: Since the 2010s, WEA’s alignment with WCC and Roman Catholicism has peaked. Recently, WEA leaders have met with Muslim organizations (NU) and formed close friendships (“Best Friends”). Deputy Secretary-General Samuel Chiang has cooperated with Muslims, steering toward religious pluralism. The leadership of WEA reveals its true nature.
We firmly criticize WEA’s neo-evangelical theology and ecumenical activities, declaring WEA a harmful organization contrary to the Word of God (1 Cor. 11:17). We assert that our denomination must not join, exchange, or cooperate with WEA. We believe this is the way to protect and preserve our denomination and churches and make this position unequivocally clear.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15).
- Council of Church Leaders Opposing the Hosting of the 2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly
Originally published by Christian Daily Korea, translated and edited by Christian Daily International staff.
