서산예천동 성당

History & origins

Seosan Yecheon-dong Parish was established on January 8, 2004, after being separated from Seosan Dongmun-dong and Seosan Seokrim-dong parishes in response to the expansion of the city and the growth in the number of Catholics. According to the parish's official introduction, the new community celebrated its first Sunday Mass at Buseok Mission Station on February 15 of that year. The parish did not begin with a completed church building; it took shape by using an existing mission station and temporary facilities.

After the first Mass, the community rented a commercial space in Eupnae-dong and used it as a temporary church for about a year and a half. In July 2005 it acquired a new site in Yecheon-dong, and on January 26, 2006, a prefabricated church was completed there and Mass began to be celebrated on the new site. This sequence shows in concrete terms how a parish created because of urban growth gradually moved from temporary spaces to its own pastoral base.

The parish later gave further expression to its identity under the patronage of St. Andrew Kim Taegon. During the bicentenary of his birth, it was included among the churches designated by the Diocese of Daejeon for the plenary indulgence, connecting ordinary parish life with the memory of a Korean martyr saint. The separation and foundation in 2004, the establishment of a base in Yecheon-dong in 2006, and the later commemorative activities associated with St. Andrew Kim are verified stages in the formation of the present community.