CGI marks 50 years with call for faith across generations

Church Growth International will hold its 50th anniversary conference in Seoul from Oct. 28 to 31, bringing together church leaders from around 50 countries. Hosted by Yoido Full Gospel Church, the gathering will focus on passing faith and ministry experience to younger generations amid social and technological change. The program includes worship, lectures, workshops and prayer services, culminating in a Grand Prayer Rally at Jamsil Students’ Gymnasium on Saturday.

Organizers expect about 7,000 registered conference participants, including 3,000 from overseas and 4,000 from Korea.

The conference will use Yoido Full Gospel Church’s main sanctuary, Jamsil Students’ Gymnasium and Osanri Choi Jashil Memorial Prayer Mountain in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.

The Grand Prayer Rally is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Jamsil Students’ Gymnasium and will be relayed live to Yoido Full Gospel Church’s main sanctuary.

Organizers expect about 6,000 people at Jamsil, split evenly between overseas and Korean attendees, and 10,000 congregation members at the sanctuary.

CGI says it has held 600 seminars in 100 countries over five decades, with cumulative attendance exceeding 12 million.

Published Oct 28, 2026 7:00 am KST

Global church leaders to gather in Seoul under theme 'The Holy Spirit Across Generations'

Lee Young-hoon, senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church and chairman of Church Growth International (CGI), delivers a speech during a 2024 CGI Conference held at the church in Seoul, Oct. 23, 2024. Courtesy of Yoido Full Gospel Church

Church Growth International (CGI), an international church growth research organization founded by the late Rev. Cho Yong-gi, will hold a four-day conference in Seoul starting Wednesday to mark its 50th anniversary, bringing together church leaders from around 50 countries.

The 2026 CGI 50th Anniversary Conference, running Oct. 28 to 31, is hosted by Yoido Full Gospel Church and organized by CGI. It will take place at the church’s main sanctuary in Seoul, Jamsil Students’ Gymnasium and Osanri Choi Jashil Memorial Prayer Mountain in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Organizers expect about 7,000 registered participants, including 3,000 from overseas and 4,000 from Korea.

Under the theme “The Holy Spirit Across Generations,” the gathering will examine how churches can pass on their faith and ministry experience to the next generation while responding to a changing social and technological environment.

Lee Young-hoon, senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church and chairman of CGI, identified leadership succession and the Christian response to the age of artificial intelligence as key issues.

“We must overcome the crises of our time together through a powerful Holy Spirit movement and solidarity in prayer,” Lee said in a message ahead of the event.

The conference aims to encourage cooperation among churches across national and cultural boundaries, alongside prayer for peace on the Korean Peninsula and around the world.

Participants will also share how churches have served their communities, including children’s food and education programs, addiction rehabilitation and support for the disadvantaged.

Pastors and church members from around the world sing praise during the opening worship of the 2024 CGI Conference at Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Oct. 23, 2024. Courtesy of Yoido Full Gospel Church

Four days of worship, lectures and prayer

The program begins at 10 a.m. at Yoido Full Gospel Church with an opening worship service led by Lee. James Marocco, senior pastor of King’s Cathedral & Chapels in Hawaii, and Bob Rodgers, senior pastor of Evangel World Prayer Center in Kentucky, will give welcoming remarks and Rev. Dominic Yeo, chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, will deliver a congratulatory message. Workshops featuring church leaders from different countries will follow in the afternoon.

Plenary sessions on Thursday will explore the experiences of churches worldwide, with speakers including Hendrik Vorster, president and founder of Cornerstone Ministries International; Satish Kumar, founder and pastor of Pakanati of Calvary Temple in India; Rev. Dishan Wickramaratne of People’s Church in Sri Lanka; and Rev. Edwin Alvarez of the Hosanna Apostolic Community of Panama. Prayer services will follow on Oct. 30 at Osanri Prayer Mountain and, in the evening, at Yoido Full Gospel Church.

Prayer rally to be relayed live

On Saturday, CGI’s Grand Prayer Rally will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Jamsil Students’ Gymnasium in Seoul, while also commemorating the 73rd anniversary of Hansei University.

The event will be relayed live to the main sanctuary of Yoido Full Gospel Church. Organizers expect about 6,000 participants at Jamsil, split evenly between overseas and Korean attendees, and 10,000 congregation members at the sanctuary. The official broadcasters are GoodTV and FGTV.

The morning begins with a celebratory performance by Hansei University. Its orchestra and concert choir will perform the finale of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, followed by the Hansei Musical Theater, which will present numbers from “Jesus Christ Superstar,” an original dance drama and “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman.”

The 2024 Church Growth International (CGI) Conference takes place at Yonsei University in Seoul, Oct. 26, 2024. Courtesy of Yoido Full Gospel Church

A worship service and rally will follow, with sermons by Marocco, Rev. John Milton Rodriguez of Colombia’s Mision Paz a las Naciones and Dag Heward-Mills, founder of the Ghana-based United Denominations. Lee will deliver a special message and lead a united prayer.

“I hope the scholarship of Hansei and the spirituality of CGI will combine to spark a flame of revival in a world church that has stagnated,” Lee said. “I earnestly pray that your prayers will become a work of healing that changes Korea and brings peace to the world.”

The rally continues a tradition that began on Oct. 3, 1987, when Yoido Full Gospel Church held a national prayer rally at Yoido Plaza that drew more than 1 million people.

The event has since been held regularly, with prayers for the nation’s stability and reunification, and has expanded into an international gathering for world peace with thousands of overseas participants.

Half a century of exchange

CGI was founded in November 1976 by Cho, who built Yoido Full Gospel Church into one of the world’s largest congregations. The organization shares the experience of Korean churches and supports exchanges among pastors worldwide. According to CGI’s own figures, it has held 600 seminars in 100 countries over the past five decades, with cumulative attendance exceeding 12 million.

The anniversary conference will bring those international exchanges back to Korea to consider how churches can work together for future generations and their communities.

国际教会增长协会将于10月28日至31日在首尔举办50周年庆典大会，届时将有来自约50个国家的教会领袖齐聚一堂。本次大会由汝矣岛纯福音教会主办，将着重探讨如何在社会和科技变革的背景下，将信仰和事工经验传承给年轻一代。大会内容包括敬拜、讲座、工作坊和祷告会，并于周六在蚕室学生体育馆举行盛大的祷告会。

组织者预计将有约 7,000 名注册参会者，其中 3,000 人来自海外，4,000 人来自韩国。

会议将使用汝矣岛纯福音教会的主圣殿、蚕室学生体育馆和京畿道坡州市的乌山里崔实实纪念祈祷山。

大型祈祷集会定于上午9点至下午1点在蚕室学生体育馆举行，并将现场直播至汝矣岛纯福音教会的主圣殿。

组织者预计蚕室将有约 6000 人参加，其中海外和韩国参加者人数各占一半；圣殿将有 10000 名信众参加。

CGI表示，在过去的五十年里，该公司已在100个国家举办了600场研讨会，累计参与人数超过1200万人。

发布于2026年10月28日 上午7:00（韩国标准时间）

全球教会领袖将齐聚首尔，主题为“圣灵跨越世代”。

汝矣岛纯福音教会主任牧师兼教会增长国际（CGI）会长李英勋于2024年10月23日在首尔汝矣岛纯福音教会举行的2024年CGI大会上发表讲话。图片由汝矣岛纯福音教会提供。

由已故牧师赵容基创立的国际教会增长研究机构“教会增长国际”（CGI）将于周三在首尔举行为期四天的会议，以纪念其成立50周年，届时将有来自约50个国家的教会领袖齐聚一堂。

2026年CGI成立50周年纪念大会将于10月28日至31日举行，由汝矣岛纯福音教会主办，CGI承办。大会将在首尔的教会主堂、蚕室学生体育馆以及京畿道坡州市的乌山里崔实实纪念祈祷山举行。主办方预计将有约7000名注册参会者，其中3000名来自海外，4000名来自韩国。

本次会议以“圣灵跨越世代”为主题，将探讨教会如何在不断变化的社会和技术环境中，将信仰和事工经验传承给下一代。

汝矣岛纯福音教会主任牧师兼 CGI 董事长李英勋认为，领导层继任和基督徒对人工智能时代的回应是关键问题。

李在活动前发表的讲话中说：“我们必须通过强大的圣灵运动和团结的祈祷来克服我们共同时代的危机。”

此次会议旨在鼓励教会跨越国界和文化界限开展合作，同时为朝鲜半岛和世界各地的和平祈祷。

参与者还将分享教会如何服务于他们的社区，包括儿童食品和教育计划、戒瘾康复以及对弱势群体的支持。

2024年10月23日，在首尔汝矣岛纯福音教会举行的2024年CGI大会开幕敬拜中，来自世界各地的牧师和教会成员齐声赞美。图片由汝矣岛纯福音教会提供。

为期四天的礼拜、讲座和祈祷

活动将于上午10点在汝矣岛纯福音教会举行，由李牧师主持开幕敬拜。夏威夷国王大教堂及礼拜堂主任牧师詹姆斯·马罗科和肯塔基州福音世界祷告中心主任牧师鲍勃·罗杰斯将致欢迎辞，世界神召会联谊会主席杨多明牧师将致贺词。下午将举行由不同国家教会领袖主讲的研讨会。

周四的全体会议将探讨世界各地教会的经验，演讲嘉宾包括：基石国际事工（Cornerstone Ministries International）总裁兼创始人亨德里克·沃斯特（Hendrik Vorster）；印度加略山圣殿（Calvary Temple）帕卡纳蒂（Pakanati）教会创始人兼牧师萨蒂什·库马尔（Satish Kumar）；斯里兰卡人民教会（People's Church）迪山·维克拉马拉特内牧师（Rev. Dishan Wickramaratne）；以及巴拿马和撒那使徒社区（Hosanna Apostolic Community of Panama）埃德温·阿尔瓦雷斯牧师（Rev. Edwin Alvarez）。10月30日将在奥山里祈祷山（Osanri Prayer Mountain）举行祈祷仪式，当晚将在汝矣岛纯福音教会（Yoido Full Gospel Church）举行祈祷仪式。

祈祷集会将进行现场直播。

周六，CGI将在首尔蚕室学生体育馆举行盛大的祈祷集会，时间为上午9点至下午1点，同时还将纪念韩世大学建校73周年。

此次活动将向汝矣岛纯福音教会主圣殿进行现场直播。主办方预计蚕室将有约6000名参与者，其中海外人士和韩国本地人士人数大致相当；主圣殿预计将有10000名会众参加。官方转播商为GoodTV和FGTV。

上午的活动以韩世大学的庆祝演出拉开序幕。该校管弦乐队和合唱团将演奏柴可夫斯基第五交响曲的终曲，随后韩世音乐剧团将带来《耶稣基督超级巨星》的选段、原创舞蹈剧以及《马戏之王》中的歌曲《这就是我》。

2024年国际教会增长大会（CGI）将于2024年10月26日在首尔延世大学举行。图片由汝矣岛纯福音教会提供。

随后将举行礼拜仪式和集会，马罗科、哥伦比亚“和平万国教会”的约翰·米尔顿·罗德里格斯牧师以及总部位于加纳的“联合教派”创始人达格·休沃德-米尔斯将分别布道。李将发表特别信息并带领大家共同祈祷。

李说：“我希望韩世大学的学术成就和CGI的精神内涵能够结合起来，在停滞不前的世界教会中点燃复兴之火。我衷心祈祷，你们的祷告能够化作治愈的力量，改变韩国，并为世界带来和平。”

此次集会延续了始于 1987 年 10 月 3 日的传统，当时汝矣岛纯福音教会在汝矣岛广场举行了一场全国祈祷集会，吸引了超过 100 万人参加。

此后，该活动定期举行，为国家的稳定和统一祈祷，并发展成为一个有数千名海外参与者的世界和平国际聚会。

半个世纪的交流

CGI由赵镛基于1976年11月创立，他将汝矣岛纯福音教会发展成为世界上最大的教会之一。该组织分享韩国教会的经验，并支持世界各地牧师之间的交流。据CGI自身统计，过去五十年间，已在100个国家举办了600场研讨会，累计参与人数超过1200万人次。

周年纪念会议将把这些国际交流带回韩国，探讨教会如何携手为子孙后代及其社区服务。