Narae-ri Mission Station

History & origins

The Catholic community in Narae-ri was taking shape in the 1950s, before Janghowon Parish itself was established. At that time the area belonged to Gamgok Parish of the Diocese of Cheongju, and Catholics had to walk more than ten kilometers to attend Mass. They therefore gathered in the home of a local group leader, while Maryknoll priests serving Gamgok visited about once a month to celebrate Mass.

The faithful themselves prepared to build a mission station. After deciding in 1960 to create a permanent place, they collected rice each year to raise funds, received a donation of land from a local resident, and contributed their own labor. Parishioners made concrete blocks themselves and continued the work over many years, finally completing the mission-station building in 1975. The process shows that the decisive force behind the building was the offering and cooperation of rural Catholics rather than outside assistance alone.

As the original building aged, a wall collapsed during repair work, leading to the construction of a new building in 1998. Parishioners raised about 23 million won through day labor and personal offerings, with additional repair funds from Janghowon Parish. Sacred objects and other furnishings were also obtained through the community’s contributions, making the new building another space sustained by the hands of local Catholics.

Before the village had a separate community hall, the mission station also served as an open meeting place for residents beyond the Catholic community. As transportation improved and access to the parish church became easier, some of its earlier functions diminished. Even so, a 2014 account records that it was still used for neighborhood Catholic meetings, Legion of Mary activities, and confessions around Easter and Christmas. The history of Narae-ri Mission Station is thus a story of a rural community sustaining a nearby place of faith amid changing social conditions.