A Korean cult known as Providence or Christian Gospel Mission (CGM), which recently made headlines worldwide after a shocking exposé documentary on Netflix, has a branch in Singapore, according to a report published on Mothership today (October 2).

The local news outlet began looking into the background of Great Glory Church (GGC) in early July 2023, after a former Singaporean member reached out to share her story on condition of anonymity.

At the time, the church’s relationship to Providence had not yet been made public on the church’s website, reported Mothership, though there were several hints of a connection, such as a line in its Instagram bio that read: “We rest in God’s providence.”

However, after Mothership started contacting GGC, which has reportedly been operating in Singapore for over 20 years, the church made its affiliation to the cult group public and updated its website to say that it is “doctrinally affiliated to Christian Gospel Mission (Providence)”.

What is Providence?

The Korean cult was cast into the spotlight earlier this year following the release of Netflix series In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal.

The exposé documentary interviewed former members on the alleged crimes of its 78-year-old founder, Jung Myung Seok, and detailed how he used young female cult members to gratify his sexual desires.

According to the documentary, Jung abused his power and influence to sexually groom and assault many women, some of whom said he convinced them to send him photos and videos of themselves in the nude or scantily clad. 

They agreed to his requests as they were manipulated by the group to believe that Jung is the Messiah and should be obeyed, said former Providence members in the Netflix series. 

The controversial leader was convicted of sexual assault charges in 2008 and jailed for 10 years after some time on the run. Even while in prison, Jung reportedly continued to request his female followers send photos of themselves in bikinis.

After being released in 2018, he faced fresh sexual assault charges and was arrested again last October. Legal proceedings against him are ongoing in Korea.

Great Glory Church “respects” Jung

After trawling through videos of online services, web pages and letters provided by ex-members of GGC, Mothership found mentions of “veiled references to a significant figure” such as “mentor”, “our Bible teacher”, “the preacher” and “SSN”.

Mothership said it understands “SSN” to be an abbreviation of “seonsaengnim”, which means “teacher” in Korean.

GGC confirmed to the news outlet that these references refer to Jung. “GGC respects him as a religious teacher as he is the founder and teacher of CGM’s doctrine, which GGC has adopted,” the church told Mothership.

According to ex-GGC members interviewed by Mothership, many from the church in Singapore have met Jung either in person or virtually, but there are no claims of sexual assault by Jung.

However, Mothership viewed over 150 digital files including letters written between Jung and female Singaporean members, with some including pictures of themselves in bikinis at Sentosa. 

Some letters sought Jung’s approval for personal decisions, such as where to study, while others had a more intimate and sexual nature, reported Mothership, which published two screenshots of the letters.

When asked by Mothership, GGC acknowledged the practice of letter-writing to Jung but added that it is done “purely at the members’ own volition and request” and denied knowledge of any intimate letters.

When asked how members are encouraged to view Jung, GGC told the news outlet: “GGC teaches and believes that Jesus is the Messiah. Pastor Jung Myung Seok is not God and not Jesus. He is fully human, like us. GGC teaches members to focus their faith in God, and not on man.”

It added that it does not condone any form of abuse or sexual harassment.

A former member speaks out

One ex-member told Mothership that she joined GGC while she was trying to apply for university and needed emotional support and acceptance, which church members readily provided.

For example, she was assigned a “buddy” who would pray with her over the phone each day.

“I was so convinced and I felt so blessed, because after I had the Bible lessons I start writing to sunsaengnim and I told him about my uni application,” she told Mothership.

“Even though I never had any responses from him, I managed to get into (name of university) with my stupid, average (tertiary qualification) grades, so I thought this was really God’s will.”

(Details redacted to protect the former member’s identity.)

She said she became more and more involved in the group and started to get cut off from friends and family members who did not attend the church.

After leaving the cult, she was diagnosed and treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and also lodged a police report, according to Mothership.

Life has been better after leaving the church, she added.

Acknowledging that being a member of the church met a lot of emotional needs, she told Mothership that there are many other churches who can provide that too.

“I hope that the people who are inside – not because they truly believe ‘the word’, but because they need all this social support – they can start to realise that there are other churches that can support them.”

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