International and domestic sources of religious movements: the growth of Protestant foreign mission movements in South Korea
Why do some local religious organisations, particularly Christian foreign mission groups, dispatch missionaries beyond their geographical boundaries despite personal risks and negative political outcomes? Using quantitative data from the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) (Tonghap) and archival reco...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2026
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| In: |
Religion, state & society
Year: 2026, Volume: 54, Issue: 1, Pages: 44-63 |
| Further subjects: | B
Discourse
B South Korea B Muslim countries B Foreign missions B Christianity B international network |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Why do some local religious organisations, particularly Christian foreign mission groups, dispatch missionaries beyond their geographical boundaries despite personal risks and negative political outcomes? Using quantitative data from the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) (Tonghap) and archival records related to global religious networks, this study investigates what drove Korean churches to enthusiastically send missionaries overseas from 1970 to 2010. The results highlight that these religious groups’ goals and motivations are driven by their involvement in international religious networks. I use a world polity theory and assess the influence of an international religious network, the Lausanne Movement, and its discourse on local religious actors’ motivations. The shared idea of the need to preach the gospel was a strong motivation for foreign missions via continuous interactions among domestic actors, national entities, and international networks. No strong evidence links religious groups’ organisational interests, sending overproduced seminary graduates overseas because they could not find domestic jobs, with the growth of foreign missions. |
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| ISSN: | 1465-3974 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion, state & society
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/09637494.2025.2529628 |
