Q&A on Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)-5

Q&A on Shincheonji Church of Jesus

Regarding the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)-5

□ On False Notices

Notices coming from the headquarters office of Shincheonji Church of Jesus are drafted and published in the form of a formal letter. The church clearly states that any other format of notification is not an official notice coming from Shincheonji Church of Jesus. Any circulation or syndicating of falsified messages posing as a formal note from the church in chatrooms or on social media will lead to legal charges.

1) Shincheonji Church of Jesus encourages its members to hide that they attended service at a Shincheonji church and to continue activities for evangelism?

Not true. On the morning of 18 February, the church was made aware of the 31st confirmed case of COVID-19, which was found to be a member of a Shincheonji church in Daegu. The Headquarters of Shincheonji Church of Jesus immediately sent an announcement to all branch churches in Korea prohibiting any gathering, service, and ordered to close church spaces and all services to be made online.

As soon as the church was made aware of the confirmed case at 9 a.m. the same day, the Shincheonji Church in Daegu also closed the church and mission centers and forbade any meetings, activities for evangelism, or any personal contact among church members. Immediately after that, the church started an epidemiological survey with the guidance of the KCDC and Daegu city government. Meanwhile, all members of Daegu Shincheonji Church went in self-quarantine, and those who presented symptoms tested for infection.

The church headquarters office sent text messages to all members of Shincheonji Church to notify them of the situation. It provided strict guidelines to self-quarantine for those who have visited Daegu church, also guiding the entire congregation of all Shincheonji churches to try to remain at home and contact local public health offices in case of fever.

The so-called “Deceptive Response Manual,” rumored to be a part of a “Notice from the Ministry of Liaison of Daegu Church,” is nothing like the actual guidelines provided by either Daegu Church or the headquarters of Shincheonji Church of Jesus. Shincheonji Daegu Church shared the instruction messages with the KCDC when the officials arrived at the church at 9 am, and the church is in close cooperation with the KCDC.

The message in question was a text composed by an individual member of the Daegu Church and sent to fellow members. The church looked into the matter, immediately made corrections to the texted contents, and brought disciplinary measures to the person responsible.

Additionally, on 19 February, the headquarters sent a formal notice to all Shincheonji churches in Korea to prevent similar events from happening. The notice instructs all members to follow the headquarters' guidelines, not to take actions arbitrarily, and to cooperate with and accommodate the requests of the public health department.

Shincheonji Church of Jesus has publicly announced multiple times that it will actively follow government policies on this matter, and it is currently bringing its full capacity to work closely with public health officials. We pray for the swift recovery of church members and all patients struck by COVID-19. Shincheonji Church of Jesus will put forth its utmost efforts to help resolve the current national health threat.

2) Shincheonji church gave out secret orders to its members not to come to service but, instead, go to other churches so they could spread the virus and make the epidemic everybody's problem?

It is entirely false. The headquarters office has closed down all Shincheonji churches from 18 February and guided members to have service online from home. The church also currently prohibits all types of meetings, activities, and encounters among or within the congregation. All members of the church conform to instructions from health officials. In response to such fake news spreading on social media, Shincheonji Church of Jesus will seek strict legal measures on the grounds of publicly alleging false facts.

※ Updates will keep coming. The flood of inquiry calls is hampering church administrative work at this time. We ask journalists to kindly send their inquiries via text message. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.