Doksan 1-dong Church

Overview

Doksan 1-dong Church, a parish belonging to the 15 Yeongdeungpo-Geumcheon District of the West Seoul Region of the Archdiocese of Seoul, was established on October 5, 2001 by separating from Doksan-dong Church and Guro 3-dong Church. Its patron is the Holy Family, and it has jurisdiction over all of Gasan-dong and all of Doksan 1-dong in Geumcheon-gu. On October 15, 2006, the church dedication ceremony was celebrated with Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk presiding.

History

[Separation and Establishment] According to the parish history in the General Status section of the parish website, Doksan 1-dong Church was established on October 5, 2001, and its mother parishes were Doksan-dong Church and Guro 3-dong Church. At the time of the separation, 442 households (1,188 persons) from Doksan-dong Parish and 320 households (936 persons) from Guro 3-dong Parish transferred, for a total of 762 households and 2,124 persons. On the same day the first pastor, Father Joachim Jang Gwang-jae, took office, and the first Mass was offered on October 7 at 10 a.m. On December 11, the parish building committee was launched and held its 1th meeting.

[Early Pastoral Care (2002-2005)] On May 5, 2002 the first First Communion (31 persons), on May 13 the installation of the Marian grotto, and on August 15 a Baptism ceremony (24 persons) took place, and on October 5 a sports festival commemorating the 1th anniversary of the parish establishment was held. On February 16, 2003 the 1th Pastoral Council (Council Chair Simon Jeon Yong-sik) was launched, followed by the pastoral visit of Monsignor Raphael Park Sun-jae on May 9, the appointment of the 2th pastor, Father Joseph Lee Jun-seong, on September 16, and Confirmation (officiated by Monsignor Park Sun-jae, 115 persons) on October 12. On March 6, 2004 and on the 7th, the elementary and middle and high school Sunday schools held their first classes, and on November 21 Bishop Lucas Kim Woon-hoe officiated Confirmation (29 persons). On December 26, 2004 the parish held Holy Family Day to proclaim its patron, the Holy Family.

[Church Expansion, Renovation and Dedication] The chronology records the groundbreaking ceremony for the church renovation and expansion officiated by Bishop Andrew Yeom Soo-jung on October 2, 2005, and the dedication of church bricks and the signing of building pledge cards on November 20. From 4 to the 5th and from 11 to the 12th of February 2006, special brick-offering days for Sunday school students (one brick 1,000 won) were held, and on June 11 a one-day bazaar was held to raise the church building fund. On September 11, 2006 the convent of the Sisters of the Assumption was opened, and on October 15 the church dedication ceremony was celebrated with Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk presiding. A concert commemorating the church construction was held on November 14, and the chronology notes that on December 22 the parish building was selected as the Best Building in Geumcheon-gu for 2006.

[Change of Pastors and Devotional Groups (2006-2010)] On November 21, 2006 the 3th pastor, Father Raphael Choi Il-gwang, took office, and on December 24 Father Peter Joo Su-uk took office as acting pastor and then took office as the 4th pastor on February 8, 2007. On January 28, 2007 the founding general assembly of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was held, on August 15 the dedication ceremony for the parish website (addresses Doksan1dong-church.kr, ds1sd.kr) was held, and on October 14 Korean-language classes for foreigners were opened. In 2008, Peace Broadcasting televised the Sunday Mass live on March 30, the Vocation Support Association was founded on April 13, and there were an all-parishioners pilgrimage (539 persons, to Galmaemot Shrine in Boryeong, Chungnam) on October 5 and the dedication Mass for the Geumcheon-gu Office Complex on October 24. The parish seminarian Lucio Jung Seong-won was ordained deacon on June 26, 2008 and ordained priest on June 26, 2009, according to the chronology. On June 27, 2010 the blessing of the altar crucifix (a work by Sister Marie-Vita Kim Mi-young of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters) took place, and on August 17 the 5th pastor, Father Samuel Kim Ji-young, took office.

[10th Anniversary of Establishment and Church Facilities (2010-2017)] On October 3, 2010 the community Mass for the 9th anniversary of the parish establishment was celebrated at Gasan Middle School, and there were an all-parishioners train pilgrimage for the 10th anniversary (to Nabawi Shrine in Jeonbuk) on April 10, 2011, the blessing of the outdoor Way of the Cross on May 29, the community Mass and fellowship event for the 10th anniversary on October 9, and the blessing of the outdoor clock on November 27. The blessing of the stained glass in the 1th-floor lobby on August 19, 2012, the blessing of the entrance doors on June 16, 2013, the dedication of the Space Evangelization facility work on July 7, the dedication of the gathering space Agape (Agape) on August 4, and the dedication ceremony for the completed restoration of the church exterior on September 29 followed. On August 16, 2014 parishioners took part in the beatification Mass for 124 Korean Martyrs with the Pope. The chronology records the blessing of the Pastoral Council meeting room on June 14, 2015, the dedication of the religious articles shop on August 2, the appointment of the 6th pastor, Father Thaddeus Kim Won-gyeong, on September 1, the opening of the Peter Library on November 1, 2016, the founding of the Eucharistic Adoration Group on January 3, 2017, approval for elevator installation and cafe use on March 13, and the blessing of the Marian grotto and elevator officiated by Bishop Peter Chung Soon-taek on April 2.

[After 2018] On February 13, 2018 the first assistant priest, Father Luke Jung Chan-ung, took office, and on December 24 the Parish Pastoral Operations Committee was launched. On February 18, 2020 the 2th assistant, Father John Kim Dae-yong, and on September 1 the 7th pastor, Father Paul Lee Seung-tae, took office, and on November 29 the Parish Pastoral Evangelization Committee (Representative Nicesio Park Yong-woo, 12 members) was launched. In 2021, marking the 20th anniversary of the parish establishment, 100 ten thousand decades of the Rosary were offered each month from April 11 to December 19, and at the anniversary Mass and dedication ceremony on December 26 a total of 1,080,389 decades were offered and a Holy Family icon prayer frame was dedicated. On February 8, 2022 the 3th assistant, Father Peter Choi Chi-young, took office, on March parish synod small-group meetings (14 teams, 100 persons) were held, and on June 18 a concert commemorating the 20th anniversary of the establishment was held. On November 5, 2023 the 9th Pastoral Council (Council Chair Alena Yun Hwa-seon) was appointed. On September 2, 2025 Father Andrew Bae Do-dong took office as the 8th pastor.

[Buildings and Size] The General Status page on the website lists the land as 557.5 pyeong and the building as 801 pyeong. The address is 19, Dusan-ro 5-gil, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul (Doksan-dong), and the number of parishioners is shown as 1,473 households and 3,213 persons as of 2023. The directory of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Korea lists 3,029 parishioners and 0 Catholic mission chapels.

[Patron the Holy Family and the Parish Symbol] According to the symbol commentary on the parish website, the overall image of the logo represents the Holy Family church. The C shape in the design is the C of Catholic, the O shape in the center represents the parish community, and the left figure represents Joseph, the center Jesus, and the right Mary. The same page explains that the Feast of the Holy Family was instituted in 1921 and was kept on the first Sunday after the Epiphany of the Lord and then, from 1969, on the first Sunday after Christmas, and that when there is no Sunday it is kept on December 30.

[Successive Pastors] The successive pastors listed on the priests page of the parish website are the first Joachim Jang Gwang-jae (2001.10.05-2003.09.16), the 2th Joseph Lee Jun-seong (2003.09.16-2006.11.21), the 3th Raphael Choi Il-gwang (2006.11.21-2006.12.24), the 4th Peter Joo Su-uk (2006.12.24-2010.08.16), the 5th Samuel Kim Ji-young (2010.08.16-2015.09.01), the 6th Thaddeus Kim Won-gyeong (2015.09.01-2020.09.01), the 7th Paul Lee Seung-tae (2020.09.01-2025.09.02), and the 8th Andrew Bae Do-dong (2025.09.02-present). The successive assistants are Luke Jung Chan-ung (2018.02.13-2020.02.18), John Kim Dae-yong (2020.02.18-2022.02.08), and Peter Choi Chi-young (2022.02.08-2025.09.02). The page notes that Father Bae Do-dong was ordained priest on February 7, 1991.

Jurisdiction and Affiliation

The online directory of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Korea lists the diocese as the Archdiocese of Seoul, the region and district as the 15 Yeongdeungpo-Geumcheon District of the West Seoul Region, the English name as Doksan 1dong Catholic Church, the date of establishment as 2001.10.05, and the patron as the Holy Family. The jurisdiction given on the parish website is all of Gasan-dong and all of Doksan 1-dong in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul.

Related Places and People

• Doksan-dong Church and Guro 3-dong Church: the mother parishes from which Doksan 1-dong Church was separated in 2001.
• Geumcheon-gu Office Complex: the parish chronology records its dedication Mass on October 24, 2008.
• Galmaemot Shrine (Boryeong, Chungnam): listed in the chronology as the destination of the all-parishioners pilgrimages in 2004 and 2008.
• Bishop Andrew Yeom Soo-jung and Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk: officiated respectively at the groundbreaking ceremony in 2005 and the church dedication ceremony in 2006.

References and Sources

1. Doksan 1-dong Church, General Status. Date of establishment, mother parishes, dedication date, land and building areas, jurisdiction, parish history (2001-2023).
   Parish website
2. Doksan 1-dong Church, Priests. Successive pastors and assistants and their terms of office.
   Parish website
3. Doksan 1-dong Church, Symbol. Commentary on the logo and explanation of the Holy Family.
   Parish website
4. Online directory of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Korea, Doksan 1-dong. Affiliated diocese and district, date of establishment, patron, number of parishioners.
   https://directory.cbck.or.kr/OnlineAddress/Catholic/DetailInfo.aspx?cgubn=c&char=all&code=201000081&gubn=4&gubn2=all&gyogu=201000011