Jungdong Church

Overview

Jung-dong Church is a church in Jung-dong, Uichang-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, belonging to the Masan Diocese. Beginning when a small number of believers gathered in 1953 and started Catholic mission chapel services, it was elevated to Changwon Parish on November 9, 1971, and its name was changed to Jung-dong Parish in 1973. The parish homepage starts its history from 1953 (Since 1953). The Masan Diocese homepage lists Since 1971.

History

According to the parish homepage history, on November 15, 1953, Catholic mission chapel services began under the leadership of Yun Cho-sam (Luke). The Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia records that after a small number of believers gathered in 1953 and started Catholic mission chapel services, they established the Changwon mission chapel in 1958, and in 1963 they founded the Goyang Association on their own and devoted themselves to mission-chapel events, catechesis for catechumens, and evangelization, so that the number of believers reached about 150. The parish history also lists the founding of the Goyang Association in 1963, and in 1966 the “Queen of Heaven and Earth” praesidium was founded.

Jurisdiction during the mission-chapel period changed several times. The parish history states that in March 1959 the Changwon mission chapel and the Bukmyeon mission chapel of Jinyeong Parish were incorporated into Namseong-dong Parish, in June 1961 the Yongji-dong mission chapel (the former Sangnam mission chapel) of Jungang Parish was incorporated into Namseong-dong Parish, and in January 1967, when Sangnam Parish was newly established, this mission chapel was incorporated into Sangnam Parish.

On January 20, 1970, the Masan Diocese purchased 4 annex buildings with a site of 730 pyeong and a floor area of 40 pyeong in Dongha-ri, Changwon-myeon, Changwon-gun, repaired the buildings, and then expanded and moved the mission chapel to its present location. At that time there were about 150 faithful. As the church grew, it was elevated to a quasi-parish on January 7, 1971, and 10 months later, on November 9, 1971, it was elevated to Changwon Parish. The first pastor was Father Lee Jong-chang (Bartholomew), and the first pastoral council president was Yun Cho-sam. On March 24, 1972, the Bukmyeon mission chapel and the Yongji-dong mission chapel (the former Sangnam mission chapel) were transferred to the jurisdiction of Changwon Parish.

For the construction of a new church building, a building committee was launched on June 10, 1972, with Lee Dong-il (John) as chair; construction began on November 1, 1972, and was completed on December 24, 1972. According to the Masan Diocese homepage’s parish introduction, the pastor himself molded bricks in the yard and believers joined in the work together, and materials salvaged from demolishing the existing buildings on the church site were reused to make the roof rafters and floor. According to this account, introduced as the testimony of Father Lee Jong-chang, even elementary-school children carried sand up and down to the bell tower, and they greeted the moment of dedicating the church on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1972. The parish history records that on December 30, 1972, Father Lee Jong-chang was transferred and the 2 pastor, Father Lee Gun-hyeong (Peter), took office; on January 1, 1973, the parish dedication ceremony was held, officiated by Diocesan Bishop Jang Byeong-hwa, and the patron was Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth. The Masan Diocese homepage lists the parish patron as the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so the wording differs between the two sources.

The parish history states that on July 1, 1973, as the parish jurisdiction was incorporated into Masan City, the parish name was changed to “Jung-dong Parish.” The Jung-dong Church entry in the Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia also records that in July 1973 it was renamed from the Changwon mission chapel to Jung-dong Church, while another entry in the same encyclopedia (Church) states that the parish name was changed to Jung-dong Church together with the church dedication ceremony on May 20, 1973, so the records of the renaming date do not agree. The Catholicism entry in the Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia explains that on July 1, 1973, when Changwon-myeon, Sangnam-myeon, and Ungnam-myeon were incorporated into Masan City, Changwon Parish was renamed Jung-dong Parish, and when Changwon City was established on April 1, 1980, Jung-dong Parish became a parish located in Changwon City. On August 15, 1973, a statue of the Virgin Mary was erected.

On December 31, 1973, the 3 pastor, Monsignor Kim Jae-seok (Joseph), took office. From February 26, 1975, Father Park Jeong-il (Michael) took office as temporary pastor, and from July 17 of the same year, Father Seo Jeong-sul (Francis) served as temporary pastor. On December 3, 1975, the Deoksan area of Dong-myeon, Changwon-gun, was incorporated into Jung-dong Parish. Father Seo Jeong-sul took office as the 4 pastor on January 10, 1976, and refounded the Goyang Association on March 15, 1976. On July 15, 1977, the 5 pastor, Father Ji Dae-geon (James), took office. The parish history records that in August 1977 the Yongji-dong mission chapel (the former Sangnam mission chapel) was elevated to a parish (the present Gaeum-dong Church), while the Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia states that on July 5, 1977, the Sangnam mission chapel was elevated to Yongji-dong Parish.

On January 6, 1980, a collection for offering-trays began at the general meeting of believers (target amount 200 ten thousand won), and on April 1, 1980, the collection of 26 trays was completed (total 2,369,700 won). On August 2, 1980, the opening ceremony for the expanded rectory and meeting rooms (2 stories) and a commemorative Mass were held, officiated by Diocesan Bishop Jang Byeong-hwa (Joseph) (total construction cost 19,208,600 won, construction size 38.5 pyeong). On March 2, 1980, Sister Park Baek-hak (Cecilia) of the Salesian Sisters took office, and the Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia states that in 1980 the 5 pastor, Father Ji Dae-geon, established the convent. For the convent building, the groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 21, 1989 (one basement story, 2 above-ground stories, total floor area 370.98 square meters, total construction cost 89,900,000 won; underground 1 story), and the blessing ceremony was held on July 1, 1989, officiated by Diocesan Bishop Park Jeong-il (Michael). This convent was changed on February 11, 2009, from the Salesian Sisters to the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres.

After the 8 pastor, Father Kim Han-ju (Mark), took office on August 10, 1985, the Parish Day event was held for the first time, and the Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia records that since then the Parish Day event has been held every year around the Marian feast on August 22. The parish history records June 29, 1989, as the “birth of a parish priest,” Father Kim Ho-bae (Joseph), and lists his first Mass on July 2; on January 22, 2002, the priestly ordination of Father Kim Jong-bong (John) was held at the Masan Indoor Gymnasium, with his first Mass at the parish on January 24.

On June 29, 1991, for the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Masan Diocese, Myeongseo-dong Parish was established by division from Banseong Church and Jung-dong Church. On May 5, 1996, the groundbreaking ceremony for Yongjam Chapel was held, and on June 30 the dedication ceremony for Yongjam Chapel was held, officiated by Diocesan Bishop Park Jeong-il; the Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia records that Yongjam Parish passed through a quasi-parish on January 20, 1998, and was elevated on January 18, 1999.

Regarding the construction of the new church building, the parish history records that on April 4, 2000, the Changwon regional pastoral council decided to support 30% of the construction cost; on July 11, 2000, it signed a contract with Sejeong Construction Co., Ltd. for 10 hundred million and 5,000 ten thousand won (444 pyeong); and on July 30, 2000, the groundbreaking ceremony for Jung-dong Church (new construction) was held. The Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia states that in 1999, during the tenure of the 12 pastor, Father Lee Gang-hae, the plan for the new church building was established and the groundbreaking ceremony was held, so the records of the groundbreaking date differ from each other. On May 24, 2001, the 30st anniversary of the parish establishment and the dedication ceremony of Jung-dong Church were held, officiated by Diocesan Bishop Park Jeong-il (Michael). On November 16, 2001, the Changwon Seongsimwon mission chapel was approved, and on April 30, 2006, the blessing ceremony for the Changwon Seongsimwon chapel was held. On October 21, 2006, the Mass and events for the 35nd anniversary of the parish establishment were held.

On January 2, 2007, Palyong-dong Parish was newly established and Father Jeon Byeong-i (Joachim) took office as pastor; the parish history records this as 330 households and 866 persons, and the Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia explains that Pallyong-dong Parish was established by division from Jung-dong Parish and Myeongseo-dong Parish. On January 31, 2010, the local farm-products store “Life Community” was opened and blessed, and on May 15, 2011, the Simeon School, a Bible school for the elderly, was opened. On October 21, 2011, a concert commemorating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Jung-dong Parish (Jung-dong 40th anniversary, Banseong 30th anniversary, Myeongseo-dong 20th anniversary) was held at the Changwon Seongsan Art Hall, and on October 29 the blessing ceremony for the believers’ resting place “Saichae” was held.

In 2018, the parish sent an official document to the Masan Diocese (Jung-dong 2018-1), titled regarding the purchase (sale) of state-owned land within the church (Jung-dong 740-18, 88 square meters). On August 30 of the same year, the Masan Diocese finance council approved the diocese’s purchase of this land, deciding that the parish would bear the usage fee (compensation) and the diocese would bear the purchase cost, and on October 2 the sales contract was concluded. On November 29, 2020, the offering of 100 ten thousand decades of the rosary began to commemorate the 50rd anniversary of the establishment of Jung-dong Church.

Architecture and Space

According to the description in the Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia as of December 2013, Jung-dong Church consists of a 3-story church building and annex buildings. In the church building are an auditorium and meeting rooms in the basement, the church, an infant room, an office, and meeting rooms on the 1 floor, the convent on the 2 floor, and the rectory on the 3 floor. The parish history records the groundbreaking for the new construction on July 30, 2000, and the dedication ceremony on May 24, 2001.

Religious Significance and Visiting Context

The Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia records that, as of December 2013, the pastoral staff were 1 pastor, 1 assistant priest, 2 evangelizing sisters, 1 pastoral council president, and 1 office manager; that its jurisdictional mission chapel was the Changwon Seongsimwon mission chapel; and that its jurisdictional districts were Sodap-dong, Jung-dong, Buk-dong, Seosang-dong, Dongjeong-dong, Dogye-dong, and all of Buk-myeon. This source states that devotional groups and sponsoring associations were active, including the Mothers’ Association, the St. Monica Association, the St. Anna Association, the Marian Association, Ultreya, the Altar Society, the Association for the Deceased, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Related Places and People

• Gaeum-dong Church - A parish elevated to Yongji-dong Parish and later moved to its present site and renamed, continuing from the Yongji-dong mission chapel (the former Sangnam mission chapel) that was under the jurisdiction of Jung-dong Parish in the parish history.
• Myeongseo-dong Parish - Established on June 29, 1991, by division from Banseong Church and Jung-dong Church.
• Pallyong-dong Parish - Established on January 2, 2007, by division from Jung-dong Parish and Myeongseo-dong Parish.
• Yongjam Parish - A parish in Yongjam-ri, Dong-eup, Changwon-si, elevated in 1999 after the dedication of Yongjam Chapel in 1996.
• Changwon Seongsimwon Mission Chapel - A mission chapel under the jurisdiction of Jung-dong Parish, approved on November 16, 2001.
• Yun Cho-sam (Luke) - Led the mission-chapel services in 1953 and served as the first pastoral council president.
• Father Lee Jong-chang (Bartholomew) - The first pastor of Changwon Parish.
• Successive pastors - Fathers Lee Gun-hyeong (Peter), Kim Jae-seok (Joseph), Seo Jeong-sul (Francis), Ji Dae-geon (James), Kim Seong-gil (Augustine), Choe Dong-o (Athanasius), Kim Han-ju (Mark), Heo Seong-hak (Abraham), Nam Gyeong-cheol (Ludovico), Lee Won-tae (Clement), Lee Gang-hae (Stephen), Jeong Jung-gyu (Claro), Je Chan-seok (John), and Kim Hwa-seok (Dominic) took office in turn from the 2 to the 15, and thereafter Fathers Gu Byeong-jin (Peter), Gang Yun-cheol (John Bosco), Kim Jong-pil (Gabriel), and Yang Tae-hyeon (Gregory) took office as pastors.

References and Sources

1. Jung-dong Church, Parish History (Since 1953). Checked the parish elevation from the mission-chapel period, the construction of the church, successive pastors, and major events by year.
   http://jd.cathms.kr/xe/page_khZt36
2. Masan Diocese, Jung-dong (Since 1971). Checked the parish elevation process and the church construction process in 1972.
   https://cathms.kr/E_3/6117?listStyle=viewer
3. Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia, Jung-dong Church. Checked the mission-chapel establishment and parish elevation, renaming, Parish Day, and the status as of 2013.
   https://changwon.grandculture.net/changwon/toc/GC02201463
4. Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia, Church. Checked the division and establishment process of parishes in the Changwon area.
   https://changwon.grandculture.net/changwon/toc/GC02201460
5. Digital Changwon Culture Encyclopedia, Catholicism. Checked the incorporation into Masan City in 1973 and renaming, and changes after the launch of Changwon City.
   https://changwon.grandculture.net/changwon/toc/GC02202030