호주에서 예배학을 공부하고 있는 주현신 목사님이 1999년에 제출한 레포트의 주제가 "The Liturgical Space of the An-Dong Church"이다. 주목사님은 우리교회가 예배폐회 때 부르는 "주님의 평화" 작곡자입니다. 주를 생략한 전문을 영어로 여기에 옮깁니다.
The Liturgical Space of the An-Dong Church
1. Introduction
The An-Dong Church, located in Seoul, was established 90 years ago as a member of the Presbyterian Church of Korea. The church, founded on the tradition of the Reformed Church, has been a leader of the ecumenical movement in Korea. In spite of its nickname- the Yang-ban Church, the church has been trying to be the People's Church.
The church is famous for its well balanced liturgical
space; theological and prophetic sermons; and organ-
centric music in worship.
While I studied theology in Korea, I attended a few services and pipe organ concerts, as well as youth group meetings at the church. This report is based on information collected from a personal interview with Rev. Kyung-Jae Rhyu, the senior pastor of the church, and subsequent follow-up correspondence.
2. Architecture — a Hexahedron for the Holy Meetings
Nestled in the middle of a neighborhood full of traditional Korean houses, the present church building was built in 1979, and slightly modified in 1994 when the pipe organ was installed.
The worship area is a square of about 660 square metres. The height of the ceiling is about 4 fifths of the length, but due to the absence of pillars, it feels like you are inside a regular hexahedron. ☞ This might give worshippers a feeling of security which seems to be a prerequisite for a good meeting.
The nave has pews to seat 400, with an additional 150-seat capacity on the balcony, arranged in a semi-circle towards the southwest corner, where the chancel is. It provides the benefit of focusing the congregation's attention on the chancel, while allowing visual contact among the congregation. ☞ worshippers can meet their fellow creatures during worship.
The chancel, elevated about 90 Cm from the floor, has a one-piece, carved wooden cross in the middle of the corner wall, and an altar underneath the cross. The sun shines on the cross through a small stained glass above. Even the carpet and lighting have been designed in such a way that the congregation's attention is directed towards the cross and the altar. The red carpet in the middle aisle continues on to the chancel and the ceiling lights are grouped in-line towards the southwest corner. ☞ Supported by these architectural emphases, the congregation meets Jesus on the cross and at His table — the core of Christian worship.
On the both sides of the cross are granite pillars that remind one of Boaz and Jachin in the Solomon's temple. They stand for Words and Praxis, two pillars of the Christian faith. On the south wall, to the left of the pillars, is the pipe organ, which was manufactured using Baroque-era techniques, but has a faceplate that is decorated in traditional Korean patterns. Engraved on the west wall is a Alpha & Omega symbol.
To the front left of the chancel is the pulpit, and to the right a reading stand which has been in use since the beginning of the church history, and is much valued by the congregation. Next to the pulpit is a 1.2 meter high ceramic baptismal font which is made by a Korean potter.
The stained glass windows on the sidewalls were designed by a Korean artist, and manufactured and installed by a German firm. There are four windows on each side. The south wall windows, in a bluish tone, depict the life of Jesus.
The west wall windows, in a reddish tone, have God the Father, and the Holy Spirit represented by a dove and fire.
☞ By all these symbols, the front of the worship area becomes the Verba Visibilia which invites the congregation to meditate on the essence of the Christianity.
Exhibited on the north and east walls are pictures showing the history of the church. Also exhibited on the second floor are pictures of eastern and western church icons from the 8th to the 16th century.
☞ The congregation meets the past through Baroque music, Gothic architecture, traditional Korean culture, and items of historic significance such as the reading stand and the pictures. The worship must be a meeting of the past and the present.
3. Music
The pipe organ, manufactured and installed by Kögler of Austria in 1994, is considered a treasure because it is the only one of its kind in Korea. It was made using Baroque-era processes and techniques.
The organ consists of 1,620 pipes and 25 registers, specially designed and optimised for performing Baroque music, and is made of mechanical (not electronic) components. The faceplate is decorated with a pattern of traditional Korean screens, and most pipes are hidden from view. The brick walls were modified to improve the acoustics, achieving a 1.7 second reverberation. The shape of the hall, being a cube, is also believed to improve the acoustics.
The worship area almost gives an impression that it was created for a fat composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. Music from the Romantic through to the Modern eras is also performed, but much less frequently. To commemorate the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, the church is holding a series of concerts to perform the complete work of organ and chorale music. The church's love of Bach music is not only due to the fact that Bach is a major composer of Protestant music. (While the An-Dong congregation admittedly prefers traditional and classical music, one should not mistake them for Bach-maniacs who shout "Go back to Bach".) Rather it must be that they want to contribute to improving the quality and the standard of church music in Korea through a vision of the revival of Baroque music.
The main audience for many organ concerts is very often the Sunday congregation. During worship, listening to the organ, they might think back to the Bach music which they met at a concert before. In this sense, 'the organ of Bach' leads worship music in the church. A grand piano is occasionally used for the choir, and less frequently, some pipes and strings are also employed, but it is clear that the worship music is organ centred. Preludes and postludes are often Bach compositions selected according to the church calendar. The organ fulfils a role of a friendly accompanist to the congregation's hymn singing and a partner performer of the choir. When accompanying hymn singing, an interlude is performed before the last verse so that people can reflect on the words.
The choir plays an important role in the church worship as demonstrated by the high standing of the choir within the church organisation. The choir, boasting about 55 well-trained members, leads the worship with the organ. Choir members have a command of various techniques, such as descant during hymn singing, and they perform doxologies and short responses, with the organ, or a-capella. The choir is to the right of the chancel, and faces towards the congregation. The location of the choir reflects its role during the worship. The choir is expected to fulfil a dual-role of a presider who leads the worship music and a preacher who proclaims the Word.
The church uses the hymn book which was published in 1983, referred to as Tong-il Hymn Book that is in common use throughout most denominations in Korea. Jing is struck three times at the start of the service, and it signifies the presence of the Trinity. To end the service, people sing "As We Meet" which is one of the compositions of the writer of this paper.
4. Text and Movement
☞ A service order of the church
(1) Prelude (18) Old Testament Reading
(2) Hymn of Access (19) Response by Choir
(3) Call to Worship (20) New Testament Reading
(4) Response by Choir (21) Anthem by Choir
(5) Prayer of Approach (22) Preaching of The Word
(6) Gong of Presence (23) The Apostles' Creed
(7) Hymn of Praise ☞ The Sacrament of The Lord's Supper
(8) Prayer of Confession (24) Hymn
(9) Declaration of Forgiveness (25) Word of Mission
(10) Doxology (26) Blessing
(11) Intercession (27) Response by Choir
(12) The Lord's Prayer (28) Fellowship
(13) Hymn (29) Song of Dismissal
(14) Offering (30) Postlude
(15) Dedication of Offering
(16) Prayer of Thanksgiving
(17) Response by Organ
(1) Prelude － In the music room, 10 minutes before the opening, the Worship Leader prays for the service with persons who are in charge of the day's service, and the choir members. They arrive at the entrance while the organist is performing the Prelude.
(2) Hymn of Access － When the music of the hymn starts, the congregation stands up. Singing the song with the congregation, the Worship Leader and his assistants process towards the chancel through the central aisle.
(6) Gong of Presence － Just after the Prayer of Approach, an assistant pastor in the balcony strikes the Gong three times.
(10) Doxology － All worshippers, including the Worship Leader and the choir members sing facing the cross, which is not a common movement in the liturgy of Korean churches.
(11) Intercession － The congregation sits down. An elder prays in front of the altar table directing himself to the corner wall.
(14) Offering － While the congregation is singing the last verse of the hymn before the Offering, three deacons, with collection boxes, process towards the chancel and stand before the pulpit.
(15) Dedication of Offering － Worship Leader: Beloved in Christ, we dedicate our offering to the Lord. Response: Lord God, all we have is yours. Accept these, our offering, which we give with thanksgiving. Help us fully to dedicate our lives, our whole beings, in your service. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
(16) Prayer of Thanksgiving (17) Response by Organ － After the Dedication of Prayer, the congregation sits down. The Worship Leader, holding the Thanksgiving envelopes in his hands, offers the Prayer of Thanksgiving, followed by the Organ Response. Two readers approach the reading stand before the organist ends the Response.
(18) Old Testament Reading (19) Response by Choir (20) New Testament Reading (21) Anthem by Choir － The congregation responds to the first reading with "Amen", which is followed by an a-capella response sung by the choir. After a senior deaconess reads the New Testament, the choir stands up and sings the anthem for the day, selected in accordance with the church calendar.
(25) Word of Mission － Worship Leader: You are witnesses to Christ. Go out into the world, to your homes, to your work, to where you meet with people, and be faithful witnesses to the Gospel. Response: Lord, be with us.
(28) Fellowship － Members of the congregation greet each other by saying, "I love you", and by shaking hands. Especially, new members are warmly welcomed by the congregation waving their weekly bulletins. And then, notices and concerns of the church are announced.
(29) Song of Dismissal － "As We Meet", this last song is sung at every Sunday worship. While singing it, each person takes his/her neighbour's hands as a sign of being one body in Christ.
(30) Postlude － While listening to the Postlude, most worshippers are going down to the basement to share in a meal, which is considered a part of worship.
☞ The Eucharist is taken nine times a year － Advent, Christmas, the first Sunday of the year, Lent, Maundy Thursday, Easter, Whitsunday, Korean Independence Day and Thanksgiving Day. The church has its own book for these nine Eucharists, which texts are based on the Lima Liturgy.
The Bread and Wine are homemade by two senior deaconesses, and during Communion, are distributed in turn to the congregation by twelve people. Members who received the bread are asked not to eat it before the bread is delivered to all. The congregation eats the bread simultaneously, and in like manner, the wine.
5. Conclusion
In my opinion, the An-Dong Church could be a model of what a liturgical space ought to be in Korea. In the hexahedral space, we can see, hear, feel and touch the Verba Visibilia which harmoniously represented many historic heritages including those of the Korean church and culture. It must be a good surroundings which offer the holy meetings to worshippers.
What I have learned from this work is a simple fact that a church building is basically the space for the holy meetings and is full of suggestions in relation to the church's liturgy. This becomes an adequate reason why we should consider the language of the space more carefully.
I don't think that I had fully understood the architectural significance of the An-dong church. Neither had I a good eye to evaluate it. It is apparent, however, that the An-dong church is worth visiting at least once, especially to the people who are interested in the church's liturgy of Korea.
