Geumsan Church (Gimje)

About this place

Geumsan Church is a hanok-style church built in 1908 by American missionary Lewis Boyd Tate of the Jeonju Presbyterian Mission. According to historical records of the Joseon Presbyterian Church, the first church was built in 1905 with five bays, then relocated to the current site in 1908. Today, a new church main building and manse built in 1988 stand next to the original church. The building is five bays from north to south, with two bays extending to the east — forming an inverted L shape. The interior is an open space, and the pulpit is placed where the north-south five-bay section meets the east-facing two-bay extension, with men seated to the south and women to the east — separated by the L-shaped layout. This was a unique feature of early Korean church architecture that resolved the major social issue of gender separation in traditional Korean society through an L-shaped building in which men and women could worship separately. This church, which harmoniously combines Korean traditional architectural style and Western church characteristics, is an important building for examining the process of indigenization of early church architecture in Korea, and its structural elements are in good condition, making it a designated cultural heritage.