Kil Sun-joo
A Presbyterian elder at Pyongyang whom the missionaries called their most gifted Korean preacher. He preached during the revival of January 1907 and afterwards in Seoul, and was one of seven Korean ministers ordained that September.
The missionaries’ reports of 1907 call him Elder Kil or Mr. Kil. W. B. Hunt writes that at the end of the men’s meeting on 6 January, after a time of prayer and confession, Kil stood and asked everyone to sing the doxology, saying that the Spirit had come (The Korea Mission Field vol. 3 no. 3 (March 1907), p. 37 (W. B. Hunt)). Graham Lee, who calls him the mission’s most gifted Korean preacher, says that he gave the address on the Tuesday night of the revival (The Korea Mission Field vol. 3 no. 3 (March 1907), p. 34 (Graham Lee)) and preached the following Sunday, acting out a sinner bound by a rope who breaks free and runs to God (The Korea Mission Field vol. 3 no. 3 (March 1907), pp. 36–37 (Graham Lee)).
He then preached in the churches of Seoul (The Korea Mission Field vol. 3 no. 3 (March 1907), p. 41). On 17 September 1907 the new Presbytery of Korea ordained him with six others, who had completed a five-year course in theology (The Korea Mission Field vol. 3 no. 11 (November 1907), p. 163). See the Pyongyang Revival.
The sources cited here are missionary reports in English. No writing of his own is cited.
In the timeline
- 14 January 1907, firm dateThe Pyongyang Revival
At a winter Bible class in Pyongyang in January 1907, hundreds of Korean Presbyterian men pray aloud together and confess their sins in public through two nights. Those who were there carry the revival to churches across Korea.
Primary sources
The Korea Mission Field
- The Korea Mission Field vol. 3 no. 3 (March 1907), p. 37 (W. B. Hunt)archive.org
- The Korea Mission Field vol. 3 no. 3 (March 1907), p. 34 (Graham Lee)archive.org
- The Korea Mission Field vol. 3 no. 3 (March 1907), pp. 36–37 (Graham Lee)archive.org
- The Korea Mission Field vol. 3 no. 3 (March 1907), p. 41archive.org
- The Korea Mission Field vol. 3 no. 11 (November 1907), p. 163archive.org