Greetings from the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea (PROK)
I am pleased to extend our warm greetings to Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Moderator of the World Council of Churches, and to the conference committee at the Berkeley Forum Center, which is preparing for the 2026 Seoul Conference, hosted by Hanshin Graduate School. We also express our gratitude to Prof. Paul S. Chung, Director of International Public Theology at the Forum Center, Berkeley. Professor Chung is a renowned alumnus of Hanshin Seminary and a scholar of public theology. He was honored as the first distinguished theologian in the field of religion and culture by the Korean government and serves as a dual citizen of both the U.S. and South Korea, promoting cultural exchange and public religion.
We are collaborating with Hanshin Graduate School to host an international conference on the theme Religion, Civil Society, and Sociobiology: A Public Theology Perspective, honoring Jürgen Moltmann. The conference will be held from September 28 (Mon.) through October 1 (Thurs.), 2026. This event aims to stimulate and encourage not only the PROK but also to have a profound impact on the Korean Protestant Church and its political and ethical responsibility, particularly in the face of the rising phenomenon of Christian nationalism.
Our General Assembly of PROK has decided to invite Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm as the keynote speaker, continuing the prophetic legacy of the late Prof. Jürgen Moltmann. Prof. Moltmann shared a deep solidarity with our respected teachers at Hanshin Theological Seminary, who was deeply involved in the struggle for democratic justice and human rights against military dictatorship during the 1980s.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer remains a powerful inspiration for PROK, particularly in the early stages of Minjung theology, aligned with Karl Barth and his Confessing Church. Today, we are confronted with the rise of the Christian far-right movement, which is aligned with creation science theory and sociobiology’s ideology of social Darwinism.
As General Secretary, I am entrusted with the responsibility of organizing the ecumenical session on Day 1 of the Seoul Conference, in collaboration with the Korean National Council of Churches (KNCC). This ecumenical collaboration will be one of the most significant moments for the Korean Protestant Church to deeply explore what ecumenical public theology truly means. We hope to continue advancing the prophetic legacy of Minjung theology and Moltmann’s theology of hope and the cross in constructive dialogue, learning from ecumenical public theology.
May God bless the conference committee in its meticulous preparation and unwavering commitment to justice, peace, and the integrity of creation on a global level, particularly in the realms of public church, religious diversity, and the science-religion dialogue in East Asia.
God’s Shalom,
Rev. Lee, Hunsam
General Secretary of PROK