English Bible Recitation School Empowers 1,400 Participants in South Korea

The Shema English Bible Recitation School (SEBRS) is a unique and creative initiative of one of the conferences in the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Korean Union Conference aimed at spiritually equipping children.

Rooted in the Word of God, the SEBRS program was initially developed by theology professor Lee EunSup, who also serves as a local church pastor in the West-Central Korean Conference (WCKC), leaders of that church region recently shared.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it became increasingly difficult to maintain active children’s ministries. However, Yi JinHyun, the children’s ministries director of WCKC, was determined to create something meaningful for the church’s children. After careful consideration, regional children’s ministries leaders decided to launch SEBRS, and a team of young pastors was assembled to lead the initiative.

The first term began in 2021. As of October 2024, the 12th session has been completed. “Over the course of these 12 sessions, 1,403 participants joined the program. While the primary target audience was children, many of their mothers and also middle school students took part,” church leaders reported.

Program organizers explained how, thanks to SEBRS, hundreds of children, parents, and teachers dedicated their time to memorizing more than 150 Bible verses. “Each session concluded with a graduation ceremony, where participants recited the verses they had memorized,” they shared.

The program aims for participants to use the Bible verses they have learned in their future mission work. “Deeply engraved in their hearts, these verses are expected to support their spiritual growth and help them become future leaders in God’s church,” they said.

Yi shared, “The SEBRS began with the hope that Bible memorization would foster faith growth and revival within families and strengthen and restore relationships between parents and children. I hope the 150 Bible verses memorized over the past three years will serve as a spiritual foundation for every family. I expect the verses memorized in childhood will be engraved in their hearts, helping them continue their faith journey.”

Looking ahead, Yi mentioned that they are planning Season 2 of SEBRS. “[We aim] to expand it beyond a single-department project and make it a conference-wide initiative that continues to grow,” he said.

The WCKC is one of five conferences and two missions that comprise the territory of the Korean Union Conference in the church’s Northern Asia-Pacific Division. Based in Seoul, as of June 2023, WCKC reported 164 churches and 87,455 baptized members, in a population of more than 20 million.

The original version of this story was posted on the Northern Asia-Pacific Division news site.