Despite the pandemic, Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji Church of Jesus for short, headed by Chairman Lee Manhee) has seen a growth of 20,000 members this year.
This is particularly remarkable since Shincheonji Church of Jesus has taken everything—worship services, meetings, etc.—online up until now since the outbreak of COVID-19 which is drawing the attention of the religious world.
Shincheonji Church of Jesus announced on the 20th that there will be an online graduation ceremony for class 112 on the 26th with a total of 18,838 graduates (of which 11,162 are from Korea and 7,676 are from overseas).
The graduation ceremony to take place on the 26th will be available from noon on Shincheonji’s official Youtube channel for viewing and can be live-streamed from anywhere in the world. The graduation ceremony will be led by Chairman Lee Manhee, salutations from the general director, followed by an award ceremony for the graduation certificates, the evangelism award, and perfect attendance award, as wells as graduation speeches.
The Zion Christian Mission Center is a Bible education institute of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, that provides free Bible courses. Graduates are given the option of officially joining Shincheonji Church of Jesus after graduating.
Classes at the Zion Christian Mission Center have all been online since the outbreak of the pandemic. Last year, a total of 18,383 people graduated.
Even after all face-to-face religious activities were suspended due to COVID-19, 37,220 people completed the Bible course online and officially became members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus. Shincheonji Church of Jesus attributes their continued growth in membership to their Bible-focused evangelism methods despite the vast majority of churches seeing a huge decrease in the number of their congregations due to COVID-19.
Shincheonji Church of Jesus said: “In an environment where people can access various teachings online due to the pandemic, many people have taken interest and started studying the high-level Bible course that Shincheonji Church of Jesus provides,” and added, “Through the graduation ceremony that is to be broadcast via Youtube on the 26th, everyone will be able to see why Shincheonji Church of Jesus is growing amidst the declining religious communities.”
