Okcheon-dong Catholic Church

History & origins

By the early 1970s, population growth and urban planning in Gangneung made it increasingly difficult for Imdang-dong Parish alone to serve the expanding residential area. The Diocese of Chuncheon judged that a new parish was needed, and Bishop Thomas Park began construction of a church in 1973. The building was completed and dedicated on November 1, 1974.

With the new church in place, Okcheon-dong Parish was formally separated from Imdang-dong Parish and established on December 15, 1974. Its patron, the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, was chosen in connection with the “Happy Family” movement actively promoted by Bishop Thomas Park at the time. A new parish community thus took root in response to the city's expansion.

After decades of use, the original church had aged and the parish began preparing a new building. The new church was completed on April 17, 2023, and dedicated by Bishop Simon Kim Joo-young of Chuncheon. This marked an important transition for a parish that had begun amid the urban growth of the 1970s and was now continuing its history in a renewed liturgical space.

The first church of 1974 and the new church completed in 2023 reflect two different stages in the urban development of Gangneung. The first provided a foundation for a new parish serving emerging residential districts, while the later building resulted from a community of nearly half a century renewing an aging worship space for the next generation. The two church-building moments together show the parallel story of urban growth and the continuing life of Okcheon-dong Parish.