Lee Dong-hwan was banned from preaching sermons, giving blessings, and holding prayers in 2019
South Korean Methodist pastor Lee Dong-hwan is facing a trial for allegedly sympathizing with homosexuality. (Photo: Facebook via Korea Herald)
A South Korean Methodist pastor who was suspended from duties by his church for two years for blessing gay people at a queer festival is now facing a trial for allegedly sympathizing with homosexuality.
Reverend Lee Dong-hwan was banned from preaching sermons, giving blessings and holding prayers on behalf of the Korean Methodist Church (KMC) after he sprinkled flower petals on LGBTQ Christians and others attending a queer festival in Incheon in August 2019, the Korea Herald reported on June 20.
The KMC is affiliated with the US-based United Methodist Church. As of 2021, the KMC has 1.2 million members across 6,659 churches in the country.
After he was banned, Lee filed a lawsuit against the KMC with the Seoul Central District Court, claiming that the church’s suspension was invalid.
While that litigation has made little progress due to the lack of response from the church, the church has again set the stage for another trial to further punish Lee, saying the pastor has continued to support LGBTQ people despite the disciplinary measures, according to the Korea Herald.
On June 8, a six-person judicial committee of the Gyeonggi Province branch of the church unanimously indicted Lee for violating three articles of the Book of Discipline – a collection of the KMC's laws – including one that bans “agreeing or sympathizing with homosexuality.”
As the church law stipulates that those indicted cannot serve as pastors, Lee is barred from performing his duties until at least the church ruling is finalized. The ban was officially finalized in October last year.
The indictment came as eight pastors and elders of the KMC filed a complaint against Lee in March, pointing to the fact that Lee led a blessing ceremony again at a queer festival in Incheon in December 2020, and participated in the Seoul queer festival in June 2021 and July 2022.
They also mentioned that Lee founded a Christian advocacy group for sexual minorities called “Q&A,” calling it “pro-gay.”
“Not only has Rev. Lee attended a number of queer festivals, but he has also disparaged the doctrine and the Book of Discipline, slandered the Methodist Church, and created a pro-gay group,” the complaints said, adding that he has disrupted the order of the church as a result.
They also accused Lee of “entrapping the Methodist Church and spreading vile propaganda against it” by criticizing it in a forum or media interviews.
Lee has publicly said that the church was going down due to its own internal moral problems, and instead of reflecting on its faults, has set homosexuality as its enemy.
Lee confirmed that he did, in fact, make those statements, and told Weekly Kyunghyang magazine that he was expressing what many have already said about the KMC.
In the interview, Lee insisted that the phrase “agreeing or sympathizing with” in the Book of Discipline is vague, and that he did not violate the article.
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