James Noble Mackenzie's Ministry in South Korea : a Missiological Exploration from a Minjung Perspective

Abstract

This research is into the ministry of J. N. Mackenzie in Korea from a Minjung perspective. Minjung theology grew out of the context of the military government which took power by a coup d'état and which amended the Constitution for long-term power. A large number of people were sacrificed in the name of economic construction. During this time a worker‘s suicide prompted a nationwide demonstration against the government‘s oppression. It was the contextual theology of Korea which set the direction of the Church in this situation. Minjung were an absolute majority of the population and they were politically oppressed, and economically deprived, poorly educated, socially dominated, and religiously neglected. Yet they sacrificed themselves to right the injustices in the society. This study of the ministry of Australian missionary J. N. Mackenzie, who served in Korea from 1910 to 1938, is based mainly on the data from his materials left to Helen Mackenzie and then to Dr John Brown. Mackenzie served in the time of the Japanese colonisation. Mackenzie travelled as an itinerant missionary in rural areas and devoted himself to educating children and women who had been ignored in the culture which accepted the dominance of men over women. His ministry also involved a remarkable service to the lepers who had been abandoned by the state, society, and family. His devotion affected his children and during the Korean War two of them entered ministry and worked for pregnant women and orphans. Mackenzie‘s ministry was certainly a sublime dedication. Since then, many people have contributed greatly to the flowering of Korea by devoting themselves to the renewal of their homes and society. They have truly shown the spirit of the Minjung in Minjung theology. The Japanese imperialists forced Shinto-worship on Korea. Most Presbyterian missionaries and Korean churches sacrificially resisted this. Surprisingly, Mackenzie actively advocated it. This left a stigma of his being part of a pro-Japanese group which has led to his not being fully respected in Korean church history. This study has the task of studying the right direction of the separation of church and state by the unjust power, and on the mission policy of the Australian Presbyterian Mission.