Tanhyeon-dong Catholic Church

Overview

Tanhyeon-dong Church is a church of the Diocese of Uijeongbu located at Tanhyeon-ro 119-11 in Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do. It was established by separation from Ilsan Church on September 2000 and held its dedication ceremony on October 27, 2013 in a building with a site of 635.25 pyeong and a total floor area of 877.25 pyeong. Its patron is the Korean 103 Martyrs.

History

[Foundation] The parish history on the Tanhyeon-dong Church website states that this church separated from Ilsan Church on September 24, 2000 and celebrated its first Mass, and under the entry for the year 2000 it records separation from Ilsan Parish on September 16, appointment of the first pastor Father Peter Kim Si-yong on September 19, and the first Mass on September 24. The address book of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea lists the establishment date as 2000.9.16. The patron saints page states that the parish establishment date is September 16 and that the day of the first Mass was Sunday September 24, the transferred feast of the 103 Korean Martyrs.

[Early church building and priestly vocations] The church building was completed on April 20, 2001 and construction of the education center began on October 15. On July 5, 2002 Father John the Baptist Kim Hyeong-geun and on July 4, 2003 Father John the Apostle Park Jae-beom came from the parish. On October 5, 2003 Monsignor Francis Kim Byeong-do blessed the education center and the church building, and on October 19 the first Confirmation since the parish foundation was celebrated by the same Monsignor.

[Division and district adjustment] On February 27, 2004 Unjeong Parish was divided off, and on June 7, 2005 Gajwa-dong Church was divided off. On April 19, 2009 a farewell Mass was held for transferring part of Deogi-dong to Gajwa-dong Church, and on September 26, 2010 a farewell Mass was held for the Deogi-dong area (divided to Yadang Malgeunyeonmot Church). On February 11, 2004 the Council of Priests of the Gyeonggi Western District was held in the parish for the first time, and in the same year the enthronement of the Bishop of Uijeongbu (establishment of the Diocese of Uijeongbu) on October 11 is listed in the history.

[2005–2010] On June 7, 2005 the 2th pastor Father Paul Choe Geon-bong took office (the pastors page marks his tenure as 2005.5–2009.9). On May 17, 2006 the parking lot site was purchased, on October 15 Father Michael Kim Dong-hun, dean of District 7, blessed the altar cross, and on October 22 the diocesan bishop administered Confirmation. On July 2008 the history notes that it was “designated as a mission parish by the Regia of the Diocese of Uijeongbu.” On October 26, 2008 an all-parishioners pilgrimage to holy places (Veron) was made for the 8rd anniversary of the parish foundation, and on September 8, 2009 the 3th pastor Father Isidore Jo Byeong-gil took office. On October 16, 2010 a Parish Day event of 1 nights and 2 days was held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the parish foundation, and on December 12 Bishop Lee Ki-heon’s circuit Mass is recorded as the first visit to the parish.

[Promotion of new church construction] On October 31, 2010 13 building committee members were appointed. On March 1, 2011 ‘Ongodang’ was selected by majority vote as the winning design competition entry, on June the architectural review for church construction was passed, and on September 27 a church building permit was applied for. On November 1 a group petition was submitted to Goyang City and on November 11 the church building permit was obtained from Goyang City. On September 6, 2011 Father John the Baptist Lee Mun-hwan took office as associate pastor.

[Church construction and dedication] On January 7, 2012 Hankeon General Construction Co., Ltd. was selected as the builder (recorded as comprehensively considering construction performance and financial condition), and on January 15 the parish moved to a temporary church. On February 11 Bible transcription and chain prayer for the dedication of the new church began, and on April 28 a Mass for gratitude and fundraising for construction at Seoul Gajwa-dong Church (thanksgiving Mass for the donation of stained glass) was celebrated. On May 7 a Mass was celebrated to enshrine a wish time capsule in the new church, on August 10 city gas connection and sewer piping work was done, and on November 11 a Mass for blessing the topping-out of the new church was celebrated. Fundraising Masses for construction were held at Juyeop-dong Church on October 20, 2012, at Deokso Church on December 15, and at Hugok Church on April 27, 2013. On September 22, 2013 the parish moved to the new church and celebrated the entrance Mass on September 29, and following the eve concert on October 26 (Effata Choir), the dedication ceremony was held on October 27 at 3 p.m. presided over by Bishop Peter Lee Ki-heon.

[2014–2020] On September 14, 2014 the farewell Mass of Father Isidore Jo Byeong-gil (sabbatical year) and on September 16 the installation of Father John the Baptist Lee Mun-hwan as pastor are listed. On August 16, 2014 parishioners participated in the beatification Mass for the 124 Korean Martyrs at Gwanghwamun. On July 4, 2015 the 14 Stations of the Cross were blessed on the parish outdoor stairs, and on May 17 the 15th anniversary all-members sports festival was held. On February 16, 2016 Father Yun Gwan-yeong took office as assistant priest and on February 24 the Eucharistic adoration room remodeling and blessing were done. Following the farewell Mass of Father Lee Mun-hwan (overseas mission) on September 3, 2017, the 5th Father James Kim Jong-seong took office on September 5. On February 19, 2019 Father Mark Kang Myeong-ho took office as assistant priest and on October 22 Bishop Peter Lee Ki-heon made a pastoral visit. On September 20, 2020 the 20th anniversary ‘Good Samaritan fundraising campaign’ and the 20th anniversary Parish Day event were held.

[After 2020] The pastors page states that after the 6th pastor Father Timothy Im Yong-hun (2022.2–2026.2), Father Fabian Jeong Seong-hun took office as pastor on February 2026. As assistant priests, Father James Kim Hyeon-gyun took office on February 2023 and held a farewell Mass on February 2025, and Father Vincent a Paulo Kim Min-jun took office on February 18, 2025 (parish history).

Related places and people

• Patron, the 103 Korean Martyrs: The patron page states that the parish establishment date (September 16), the feast of the 103 Korean Martyrs (September 20), and September 24 on which the first Mass was celebrated (transferred feast) are connected, and gives as reasons that ‘Tanhyeon’ in Korean means ‘Charcoal Pass,’ recalling the faithful of the village who baked charcoal and lived the faith during the persecution era. The same page explains that in 1984 Pope John Paul 2 canonized the 103 Korean Martyrs.
• Ilsan Church: It is the mother parish from which Tanhyeon-dong Church was separated on September 2000 (parish history, address book).
• Unjeong, Gajwa-dong and Yadang Malgeunyeonmot parishes: The Tanhyeon-dong history records the division of Unjeong Parish in 2004, the division of Gajwa-dong Church in 2005, and the transfer/division of the Deogi-dong area in 2009–2010 (parish history).
• Successive pastors: the 1th Peter Kim Si-yong (2000.9–2005.5), the 2th Paul Choe Geon-bong (2005.5–2009.9), the 3th Isidore Jo Byeong-gil (2009.9–2014.9), the 4nd John the Baptist Lee Mun-hwan (2011.9–2017.9), the 5th James Kim Jong-seong (2017.9–2022.2), the 6th Timothy Im Yong-hun (2022.2–2026.2), current pastor Fabian Jeong Seong-hun (took office 2026.2). This is the notation on the parish pastors page (the history states that Father Lee Mun-hwan took office as associate pastor on September 6, 2011 and as pastor on September 16, 2014).

References and sources

1. Tanhyeon-dong Church website, parish history. History of 2000–2025 (division, first Mass, new church promotion and dedication, appointments of pastors and assistants, commemorative events).
   http://thsd.or.kr/bbs/page.php?hid=bd_history
2. Tanhyeon-dong Church website, patron saints. Reasons for choosing the 103 Korean Martyrs as patron.
   http://thsd.or.kr/bbs/page.php?hid=jubo_saint
3. Tanhyeon-dong Church website, parish pastors. Current pastor and tenure of the 1th–6th pastors.
   http://thsd.or.kr/bbs/page.php?hid=bd_priest
4. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Korean Catholic address book (list of parishes of the Diocese of Uijeongbu) “Tanhyeon-dong”. Establishment date 2000.9.16., location.
   https://directory.cbck.or.kr/OnlineAddress/SearchList.aspx?cgubn=g&char=all&gubn=4&gubn2=all&gyogu=201000020&paged=100&sort=0&start=1&tbxSearch=