한국 교회여성의 의식 분석과 한국 교회의 과제

Abstract

As the growth of membership in Korean churches slows down, the number of female believers has also been reduced. Historically, women have accounted for the majority of the church and contributed significantly to the growth of Korean Protestant Church. Therefore, the reduction of female church members not only has negative impact on church growth and mission, but also raises problems in the development of women's leadership. In such a situation it is crucial to ask how the lack of interest, especially among young women, can be interpreted. One of the major reasons in the lack of interest is that women have less time due to the simultaneous participation in the workforce and in the household. Moreover, the expansion of the leisure industry, the conscious cultivation of gender equality, the strong individualistic orientation and criticism on the undemocratic practices, and patriarchal tradition of the church contribute to the adverse development. This raises the need for a new recognition instead of evaluating women’s religiosity in terms of passivity and the theory of deprivation compensation. This research has analyzed the results of a survey conducted by the Korean Christian Feminist Association between March and June 2012 among 1,340 Church women with the title “Consciousness among young Church Women”. The survey has suggested the improvements of women associated with the church. The analysis of the Korean female church members’ consciousness focuses on the perception of the church, awareness of gender equality, women’s solidarity, and the results can be summarized as follows:-Church women see needs for church reform beyond gender stereotypes, including participation in the church activities, transparent church finances, and creation of a church community satisfying the individual spirituality. -Church women are aware of the need to improve gender awareness education in order to actualize gender equality in churches. They evaluate that there is a lack of education and sermons about gender equality. -Church women has reservations of creating unity outside the church, but they expect the church to create a bond with the female solidarity mission so that it can become more active in social mission.