Another 100,000 graduates from Zion Christian Mission Center establishing the largest seminary graduation in the world

Chicago, Illinois Nov 21, 2022 (Issuewire.com) - The Zion Christian Mission Center, a bible education institution of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, holds the 113th Zion Christian Mission Center graduation ceremony at Daegu Stadium on the 20th of November. The number of graduates of the day is 106,186, making it the world's largest as a theology education center.

For safety reasons, the number of participants in the graduation ceremony in Korea is limited to 80,000, and over 300,000 participate in the graduation ceremony both online and offline through live streaming on YouTube and broadcasting worldwide in 9 languages simultaneously. 

The graduation ceremony was thoroughly prepared with meticulous caution against safety accidents considering the high level of concern on safety issues recently. The Shincheonji Church of Jesus announced, "More than anything, in order to hold the graduation ceremony safely, we prepared the event with safety as our utmost priority." "We established a partnership network with local governments in preparation of safety accidents and checked the quarantine, transportation and maintenance of order several times. On the field, we will operate a situation room monitoring situations with the police, fire department, Daegu City and Suseong-gu Office safety officials." In addition, the church included safety measures to prevent crowds and keep all in attendance safe. 

The event consists of two parts, an opening ceremony and a graduation ceremony. Part 1 begins with a worship service, followed by congratulatory messages, a representative prayer, and a commemorative speech by Chairman, Man-hee Lee. Part 2 includes a video broadcast of the graduation ceremony from all around the world, including the United States, Nigeria, Ukraine, Madagascar, and many more. In all, more than 80 countries were represented. This was followed by a congratulatory performance with impressive coordination, and a congratulatory speech by president of the Zion Christian Mission Center, Young-jin Tan. The graduation ceremony concluded with awarding certificates, tassel turning, giving awards to representatives, graduation speeches, and special performances.

The graduates of the class of 113 have significantly increased the proportion of ministers among its alumni in comparison to previous years. A total of 522 ministers, 37 in South Korea and 485 globally, graduate as part of the class of 113. During the Covid-19 pandemic, with the release of elementary, intermediate and advanced level courses including the book of Revelation (advanced) on YouTube, pastors were able to participate in online education without being conscious of others which bolstered the increase in pastoral graduates more than any previous years.

In fact, Jeong-wook Heo, who gave his speech at the graduation ceremony as a representative of South Korean graduates, is a practicing pastor, serving as a second-generation minister. Having been a pastor for 20 years, he shared the testimony stating, "I only learned traditional Theology at seminary, but I didn't know much about the Book of Revelation. I have been teaching only words that are easy to convey to the saints, excluding difficult words. I repent that I was a sinner who added to or subtracted from the word of God," he said. "I put down everything I had and came forward to the truth. I learned the true Theology that leads to heaven, not men's teaching, and am able to graduate. I thank God for giving me an opportunity of life." 

Ms. C. Benjamin gave her testimony as a representative of North America, having done ministerial work for several years. She shared, "For over 7 years I was in ministry, and I thought I was doing God's work, but I noticed in the last year of my ministerial work, I was lacking God's word. So I started seeking God's truth through His Word. I was like the Ethiopian eunuch. Then my friend called me out of the blue, told me about bible study - and of course I said yes. Now I'm here today. I give all the glory to God. I give all the glory to Jesus, and also to the promised pastor."

Mr. Djackson, who was chosen as the representative of oversea graduates, is also a pastor in India. After taking an online Bible class of Shincheonji Church of Jesus in October of last year, he signed an MOU and changed the name of the seminary he was running to "Hepto Zion Christian Mission Center." Currently, 294 members, including head pastors of two churches belonging to the denomination, have completed the entire course of the Zion Christian Mission Center and are listed as the 113th graduates.

Interested viewers can watch the graduation directly on Shincheonji's official YouTube channel : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvMYH7sg0hg

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