Rev. Kim Chang-in, founder of Chunghyeon Church in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, passed away on Tuesday afternoon. He was 95.

Kim was born in Euiju, North Pyeongan Province in today’s North Korea, in 1917 and started his ministry as a pastor of Shineuiju Jeil Church.

He was jailed by the Japanese colonial government for refusing to pay respects at Shinto shrines. He fled to South Korea in 1948 and established Chunghyeon Church, which became one of the most influential Presbyterian churches here with former President Kim Young-sam serving as an elder, in 1953.

The church made headlines in 1997, 10 years after Kim’s retirement, when the senior pastor appointed his son, Seong-kwan, as the church minister. The familial succession is said to have opened doors for ministers of large churches to bequeath the leadership to their children rather than openly recruit successors.

Fierce opposition from congregation debilitated the operation of the church.

At a meeting of senior clergymen in June, Kim apologized for his action saying, “Appointing the unqualified son as a minister against many people’s will was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Kim is survived by his wife and four children. A wake is being held at Asan Medical Center in Seoul through Saturday morning.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)