Church History

By the grace of God, Songtan Central Baptist Church has served the the Lord and reached the Songtan community since 1974. SCBC was founded on April 21as a 송탄중앙침례교회 and has had only three pastors in her long heritage. The church was founded  by Pastor, Kim Soon Myong, who oversaw the church initial years, serving as senior pastor for the first four.  He identified God's calling on a young member named Bae Kook Soon, who very quickly was ordained by the church to the Gospel ministry and became the senior pastor on January 1, 1979. Pastor Bae faithfully served as Pastor of 송탄중앙침례교회 for 44 years, retiring in 2021. He was followed by Pastor Park Gil Ho, who is carrying on the work of Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel in the Songtan community.

​

Beginning in a small church building, 송탄중앙침례교회 outgrew the capacity and in July of 1983 moved to its current location which was yet without a building; thus began a season tent services. Church members faithfully worshipped the Lord in those tents through the heat, cold, rain, and snow for almost three years. In 1986, the congregation moved into the not yet completed main sanctuary building of present day (only the first floor was completed). By March 1989, the current main sanctuary building was fully completed and dedicated.

​

By the providence of God, the church experienced an explosion of growth in the next decade. The church reached five hundred members in 1995 and then grew to one thousand by 2000.  During this time the education building was completed (1997). Also, the preschool and kindergarten was started in 1998.

​

송탄중앙침례교회, in response to needs of the growing congregation, expanded and renovated the worship center in 2019. The final campus consist of approximately 2 acres of city space with 4 building and a parking lot that is consistently packed tight every time the church family assembles.

​

Since 1974, SCBC has been a lighthouse of truth, established to shine the bright light of the Gospel into the darkness of an unbelieving world. With the glory of God as her chief aim, SCBC has strongly defended truth, equipped believers and sought out the lost for 50 years and counting.

​

English Ministry History

The English Ministry began as a missional outreach of the Korean church to the English speaking community of Songtan. The Korean congregation saw they were in close proximity to a large number of American military and government personnel in the area (Osan Air Force Base and Camp Humphreys) who needed to be reached for Christ. Further, because of growth in the area, there were other foreign expats who spoke English who needed to be reached with the Gospel. This led to the church beginning public worship services in the English language in the Spring of 1988.

​

Those public services began with Pastor Bae leading one American man in the worship of the Lord at his office desk. It did not take long for the number of worshippers to outgrow that office. Over the years, the English congregation has grown into a full, international church body. 

​

In 2005, SCBC called Pastor Nelson Chapman to be their first full time English Pastor, serving as the only dedicated English stay for five years. In 2010 the church called Steve Houser to be the second full-time staff dedicated to English ministry, who was ordained by the Church as an Elder summer of 2014 and would begin serving as the lone English Pastor in 2017, as Nelson moved stateside.

 

SCBC is officially part of the Southern Baptist Convention (USA) through the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention (state level), and is affiliated with the Asia Baptist Network (local level). As a result, SCBC is a testimony to God’s glory and grace that transcends ethnicity, culture, and language. To God be the glory!