Gwangtan Church

Overview

Gwangtan Church is a parish of the Catholic Diocese of Uijeongbu in Gwangtan-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do. It was established on September 8, 2009, and the parish introduction highlights the church building with its green roof and red-brick exterior.

History

According to the church history on the parish website, the parish was established on September 8, 2009, and the first Mass was offered at the Simon House volunteers’ shelter. The first Sunday Mass was celebrated at Jeonjin Church on September 13 of the same year. The first Sunday Mass was celebrated at House Church on November 15, and the community moved into House Church on December 24.

Groundbreaking for the church building took place on April 7, 2011, the first Mass in the newly built church was celebrated on November 22, 2011, and the dedication of the church building followed on April 15, 2012. It is recorded that thereafter Father Jang Gwang-hun (Andrew) took office as the 2 parish priest in September 2014, Father Kim Jun-dong (Martin) as the 3 parish priest in February 2019, and Father Han Jong-un (Simon) as the 4 parish priest in February 2023.

The establishment date is also listed as September 8, 2009 in the address book of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea.

Architecture and Space

An excerpt from the article “The Father’s House, In Search of Beautiful Churches” quoted in the parish introduction mentions the green roof and red-brick exterior of Gwangtan Church, and describes it as a liturgical space that can accommodate about 100 faithful, decorated with a wooden ceiling and pews, light-colored interior brick, and white marble flooring.

References and Sources

1. Gwangtan Church, Diocese of Uijeongbu, Church History. Confirms establishment in 2009 and the first Mass, groundbreaking, first Mass and dedication of the church building, and records of successive parish priests taking office.
   https://sd.uca.or.kr/kwangtan/default.aspx?mnucd=20003329
2. Gwangtan Church, Diocese of Uijeongbu, Introduction. Confirms the description of the church exterior and liturgical space.
   https://sd.uca.or.kr/kwangtan/default.aspx?mnucd=20003328
3. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Korean Catholic Directory (parish search ‘Gwangtan’). Confirms the establishment date of Gwangtan Parish in the Diocese of Uijeongbu as September 8, 2009.
   https://directory.cbck.or.kr/OnlineAddress/SearchList.aspx