| Activity | The Anglican diocese of Korea was established with the consecration of Charles John Corfe as its first Bishop in 1889. Before leaving England in 1890, Bishop Corfe founded the Korean Mission. The work of the Mission was funded by an annual grant of £600 from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and for many years the diocese depended on this block-grant for the salaries of its European workers. To help train priests for the Mission Corfe founded the Korean Missionary Brotherhood, which provided some of the first priests for Korea. In 1892, the Sisters of the Community of St. Peter, Kilburn [later at Woking], accepted an invitation to work amongst women in Korea. In 1925 they helped to establish an indigenous Community, the Society of the Holy Cross. The Mission's medical work was supported by the Navy through the 'Hospital Naval Fund', until 1941.
Bishop Corfe arrived at In'chon [Chemulpo], Korea, in 1890. By 1891, a hospital and the first Anglican Church had been built at In'chon, and a year later a church at Seoul. The first Korean baptisms took place in 1897, including Mark Kim of Kanghwa, later to be ordained as the first Korean Anglican priest (in 1915). In 1910, Korea became subject to Japanese rule, and Bishop Mark Napier Trollope returned to Korea after his consecration to find himself Bishop of the Japanese Christians in his Diocese as well as of the Koreans. At this time Japanese-speaking priests and lay-workers were added to the staff. In 1922, Trollope began the composition of a Korean liturgy. In 1925, a cathedral for Seoul, the Church of St Mary & St Nicholas, was consecrated. At the time of Trollope's death in 1930, there were 20 native priests in Korea. During the Second World War, hostility towards the British meant that by early 1941 most of the foreign staff of the Mission had been withdrawn from Korea. However, the Anglican Church in Korea survived and Mission staff gradually returned at the end of the War in 1945. However, the Diocese had been divided at the 38th parallel, with the USSR in control of the North and the USA military government in control of the South. Communications with North Korea were severed after the 1950-1953 Korean War, although some Korean priests were permitted to continue their ministry.
Diocesan Bishops of Korea between 1889 and 1965 have included Charles John Corfe (1889-1904), Arthur Beresford Turner (1905-1910), Mark Napier Trollope (1911-1930), Alfred Cecil Cooper (1931-1954), and John Charles Sydney Daly (1955-1965). The Diocese was divided in 1965, when Paul Ch'on-Hwan Li [Paul Lee] was consecrated Bishop of Seoul and John Charles Sydney Daly was translated to the newly created Diocese of Taejon. The Diocese of Busan was created in 1974, out of the south-eastern part of Taejon. On the 16th April 1993, after 103 years as an extra-provincial church under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Korea became an autonomous province within the Anglican Communion. The Korean Mission was renamed The Korean Mission Partnership.
At home, the Bishop of Korea was represented by his commissaries. By 1900, Home Organisation had evolved a more formal structure with the creation of the Central Committee, which met annually. The Executive Committee met monthly, reporting to the Central Committee. Various sub-committees handled area such as finance (1909-) and education. From its foundation, the work of the Korean Mission was supported by associated organisations, including the Association for Prayer and Work in Korea, the Hospital Naval Fund (1889-), the Children's Fund, the
Education Fund, St Peter's Association for Foreign Missions (1891-). |