Scandal at World’s Largest Church Causing South Korea’s ‘Crisis of Evangelicalism?’

If the building didn’t have a giant cross out front, it could easily be mistaken for a sports arena.

But this is Yoido Full Gospel Church, a Pentecostal congregation belonging to the Korean Assemblies of God — a household name in South Korea. The institution is also known as the largest megachurch in the world, with a congregation approaching 800,000 people, according to church officials.

Protestant megachurches, defined as those with at least 2,000 people in attendance every week, don’t just operate all across the United States. This is a global phenomenon.

Successful megachurches are operating in South America, Africa and Asia as well. And yet, no city has more of them than Seoul. The South Korean capital has 17 megachurches in all.