Parents’ warning after students run away from home, quit uni to attend Shincheonji Church

A South Korean church operating secretly in Melbourne’s universities has told students devote more than 120 hours a week to a “God-sent messenger”.

A South Korean church operating in inner-city Melbourne is telling Victorians they’ll become immortal if they run away from home, spend all their money and devote their lives to a “God-sent messenger” based overseas.

Three Melbourne parents, who the Herald Sun chose not to name, are urging others to be vigilant after the Shincheonji Church of Jesus (SCJ) “tore their families apart” and at times allegedly endangered their daughters’ lives.

More than 1000 Victorians follow SCJ, which was established by Korean religious leader Lee Man Hee in 1984.

Members believe the self-proclaimed messiah has Jesus’ spirit “dwelling inside him” and are awaiting “Judgement Day” where only 144,000 believers will be immortalised.

Members are allegedly required to kneel for several hours at bible study.

Former members said SCJ infiltrates Melbourne universities, shopping centres, train stations, social media and dating apps in a bid to grow their following by striking up conversation with Victorians before inviting them to a bible study.

“They ask you to go to an event organised by SCJ – not mentioning that it’s church related – where you’ll meet a bible teacher who makes you agree to attend bible study twice a week,” one ex-member said.

SCJ is based in North Melbourne where new members attend up to nine months of bible study before they “graduate” and are told they’ve been indoctrinated into the Shincheonji church.

One mum said her 20-year-old daughter volunteered at the church for over 120 hours a week after two members approached her through Instagram in 2019.

“More and more my daughter’s behaviour started changing a lot. She slept for only three hours a night because she’d get home at two in the morning and then leave again by 5.30am,” she said.

Students at their graduation after completing months of bible study.

The mum said SCJ “instilled a lot of fear” into their followers by telling them the “devil acts through their parents”.

“I remember one day my daughter came home with a big injury on her knee and later found out it was because she was kneeling in the same position for five hours,” she said.

Since joining the church, sleep deprivation has contributed to the female member having two car accidents.

She’s also more than $10,000 in debt because the church allegedly told her to not pay parking fines and her mental and physical health has deteriorated rapidly.

“This is the reason we don’t call SCJ church because from our experience, God restores families but this cult is destroying families and is destroying the future of our kids,” the mum said.

Members of the Melbourne SCJ branch. They're required to sit in rows and can only wear white shirts and black slacks on some occasions.

Two other parents hired a private investigator to find their 20-year-old daughter after she disappeared for four months to secretly attend the church.

“She won’t let us know where she lives and to this day we still don’t know where she lives,” the distressed mother said.

The parents said they are scared to leave their daughter with her younger siblings when she visits as they think she might try recruit or pass her beliefs onto them.

“We respect all religions … it’s just very unfortunate my daughter fell into a trap this time,” the member’s father said.

Another former member, who wished to remain anonymous, said there were a raft of measures in place to control those who joined SCJ.

“They control everything from the way you dress, who you talk to and even ask about your schedule,” they said.

“In some cases, they will arrange marriages or if you have your own partner, you can only marry them if the branch church leader approves.”

The students gather several times a week for their bible study classes.

The parents and former members called on the state’s universities to be more proactive in managing the church group on campus, particularly RMIT which is considered their “most-visited university” because it’s close to the city.

Footage obtained by the Herald Sun captured the group hosting an event in an RMIT lecture theatre, where members danced, played music and ate food.

Several ex-members and parents said they contacted RMIT with their concerns about SCJ on campus, however the Herald Sun was told the tertiary institution had received no official complaints.

“RMIT counsels and cautions students about unsolicited groups recruiting near campus,” a spokesperson said. The university’s student union also said it was unaware of the group.

Students gathering at an RMIT lecture theatre for an event.

Several other universities and student unions were contacted for comment but didn’t respond before deadline, except for the University of Melbourne which said it had “not received any formal complaints from students in relation to this matter” despite it’s student union warning others about the group 14 months ago.

“Our universities and the government need to do something because I worry if this group isn’t stopped more families will be torn apart,” one parent said.

The Herald Sun made multiple attempts to contact Melbourne-based department leaders at SCJ for comment, however they didn’t respond prior to publication.