Ipam Catholic Church

History & origins

Ipam Parish was created as Gangneung's population and residential areas expanded and local priests and Catholics discussed how pastoral care could be organized more effectively. The parish was formally established on March 25, 2008, with the Immaculate Heart of Mary as its patron. Since it had no church building at first, the new community began parish life in a commercial building adapted as a temporary worship space.

The parish then worked to secure a permanent site and prepare a proper church. Through the combined efforts of priests and parishioners, funds were raised and construction proceeded until the present church was completed. On May 26, 2014, Bishop Lucas Kim Woon-hoe presided over the dedication of the new church, giving the community that had begun in a temporary space a stable parish home of its own.

The Ipam area continued to develop with new apartment complexes and residential neighborhoods, making it a place with the potential for a growing and younger Catholic population. The history of Ipam Parish is therefore distinctive not as the continuation of an old Catholic village, but as the story of a new parish created in response to modern urban growth and pastoral need, whose members then worked together to build a permanent church.