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The Christian Gospel Mission (CGM) is a Christian new religious movement founded by Jung Myung Seok. It began its ministry in June 1978, in Seoul, South Korea. In its formative years, CGM has also been called Jesus Morning Star (JMS), International Christian Union, the Morning Star Ministry (MS Ministry), Ae-chun Church (애천교회), and formally became CGM in October 1999.

CGM also calls itself “Providence”, with the meaning of “God’s will and history”. Globally, CGM proselytizes under different translations of the name "Providence" (Sheli (chinese/taiwanese), setsuri (japanese), sumni (korean)). Various churches under CGM have its own distinct name, but follow Jung’s teachings (e.g. Bright Moon Church, Nak-seong-dae Church, Seoul Church).

In 2005, the CGM had over 400 churches in Korea, and churches in over 50 others nations, with a total membership in excess of 200,000. Its headquarters and retreat center is located in Wolmyeongdong, South Korea.

The CGM believes in the authority of the Bible, that Jesus is the Christ. It emphasizes the importance of sincere faith in God and Jesus, by practicing the Bible’s teachings. The CGM’s teachings of the Bible divert from literal interpretations of the Bible and traditional Christian views, because it believes that the Bible is full of parables and symbols. CGM’s 30 lessons are said to bear resemblance to the "Divine Principle" of the Unification Church.

CGM conducts various religious practices including giving glory to God, Holy Spirit Movements, prayer meetings and evangelism events. It is also active in peace and culture activities such as various sports and arts events. The CGM's public service arm is also active in over 50 community service activities internationally.

CGM has been criticized for teaching its founder, Jung, to be the messiah. CGM has refuted this allegation and stated that CGM and Jung teach Jesus as the Messiah, and that all Jesus’ followers should strive to become the body of Jesus on earth by doing His work.

CGM has also been widely referred to by the media as a cult. The CGM responded that Jung and the CGM teaches a life centered on Jesus, although its Biblical interpretations may differ from some traditional Christian views.

In April 2009, CGM's founder Jung was sentenced by the Supreme Court of South Korea to 10 years imprisonment based on four charges of sexual assault and molestation, following media allegations since 1999. In 2010, the South Korean Court ruled that the 1999 media report was biased and CGM was compensated for the damages. After Jung was sentenced, investigative news reports emerged claiming that the judgment against Jung was unjust and without proper evidence.

History
The Christian Gospel Mission (CGM) was founded by Jung Myung Seok, and began its ministry in June 1978, in Seoul, South Korea. In 1980, the Aechun Church was founded with the early members of the CGM.

In 1982, Jung established the Korean College Student MS Ministry. In 1983, the organization was registered with the Korean Jesus Presbyterian Methodist Order. In 1986, Jung set up and became an appointed director of the Korean Jesus Presbyterian Methodist (Truth) organization.

In 1989, the organization was restructured as the World Youth College Student MS Union. In 1990, the World Youth College Union opened its own seminary school. In 1996, it was reorganized into the International Christian Union after having been expelled from the Methodist Order. In October 1999, the International Christian Union was reorganized into the Christian Gospel Mission, which is the present day organization.

Structure and Membership
In 2005, the CGM had over 400 churches in Korea, and churches in over 50 others nations, with a total membership in excess of 200,000.

CGM also calls itself “Providence”, with the meaning of  “God’s will and history”. CGM stated that the term was derived from theologians and Christian leaders throughout history, who mostly viewed the term “Providence” as either God’s administration of nature, history, church and people's lives, or as the immediate provision and concrete concern that God has toward world advancement. Globally, CGM proselytizes under different translations of the name "Providence" (Sheli (chinese/taiwanese), setsuri (japanese), sumni (korean)).

Various churches under CGM have its own distinct name, but follow Jung’s teachings (e.g. Nak-seong-dae Church, Seoul Church).

Headquarters and Retreat Center
In 1989, Jung and CGM members began to redevelop the mountain village of Wolmyeongdong, which to date, has became a natural temple and where the headquarters for CGM is located. Wolmyeongdong consists of various facilities and buildings on a tract of land of about 991,735square meters in size. Wolmyeongdong houses a statue of Jesus that stands in a prominent location. Its rock landscape is inscribed with the words, "All these has been designed by God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, protected by the Lord Jesus Christ, and we have worked as their hands and as their feet."

In the early 1900s, Wolmyeongdong was a desolate mountain village where few people visited. Currently, hundreds of thousands of people visit Wolmyeongdong annually. It was reported that CGM also hosted various local and overseas VIPs in Wolmyeongdong, such as Han Wha-Gab, the President of the Foundation for East and West Cooperation, the former member of the Peace and Democracy Party and the Democratic Party; So Won-Sook, the President of the head office of the International central association for law; Choi Young-Wook, the former Professor of Sungkyul Christian University, Oh Gyo-Han, Professor of Danguk University; Jung Myeong-Ho, the President of the institute of Deoknan Cultural Heritage Studies; Yi Young-In, the head of the Beijing Museum in China.

Wolmyeongdong hosts festivals, performances, activities and sporting events all throughout the year. In summer, summer retreats are held for the elderly, families, college students and children. In autumn, rock festivals are held for exhibiting natural rocks. In spring, flower festivals are held to celebrate the blossoming of spring flowers. In winter, people ski and sled down the mountain slopes of Wolmyeongdong.

CGM (Japan)
The CGM expanded to Japan in 1985. As of 2010, CGM (Japan) has more than 3000 members.

According to the official CGM (Japan) website, the ministry teaches about Jesus Christ, and seeks to convey Christ’s love and gospel. The ministry conducts Bible meetings, prayer meetings, sunday services and revival services. In addition to that, CGM (Japan) encourages young people to participate cultural exchanges and international exchanges, and contribute to society’s social welfare needs through volunteering programs. CGM (Japan) established various volunteer programs, international cultural exchanges and sports exchange conferences.

CGM (Taiwan)
The CGM established its first Taiwanese church branch in 1988. In the late 80s, the CGM spread the gospel throughout Taiwan while actively participating in various social works. The organization was also known as Jesus Morning Star Church (JMS), (Chinese: 晨星會; Hanyu Pinyin: chéngxīng huì; Tongyong Pinyin: chéeng sīn hùei; literally: "Jesus Morning Star Church", 攝理教/攝禮教 (shè lǐ jìao)) or 攝理教會 (Providence Church).

With its growing membership, CGM (Taiwan) first established the Chinese Christian Youth Association (CCYA) (中華基督教新時代青年會) through Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior, a governmental organization, in November 1993.

The CGM (Taiwan) was formally established on August 4, 2013 and is affiliated with Christian Gospel Mission (CGM). The CGM(Taiwan) reported an active membership of over 4,000, with almost 30 CGM churches throughout Taiwan. News media reported that Taiwan’s membership includes Chen Ming-Jun (陳明俊), who is the Chairman of Taiwan’s largest education chain, Chen-ri Education Foundation (陳立敎育), with 700 employees, 31 branch offices, and about 30,000 members.

CGM(Taiwan) has also maintained a variety of social groups, including medical teams, professor associations, legal fellowships, soccer and basketball teams, orchestras, praise teams, drama teams, and public service groups.

CGM (Hong Kong)
CGM has been reported about in Hong Kong, where it is known as The Bright Moon Church (月明教會), with about 100 core members in Hong Kong, including many medical graduates and assistant professors (circa 2006). Providence in Hong Kong created an organisation to run community volunteer activities, known as the United Culture and Arts Network (UCAN).

CGM (Australia)
In 1997, CGM first established in Sydney, Australia. CGM actively recruits new members at the Australian National University.

Basic Teachings
The CGM believes in the authority of the Bible, that Jesus is the Christ. It emphasizes the importance of sincere faith in God and Jesus, by practicing the Bible’s teachings. The CGM believes that the bible is important because without truth in the form of God’s words between God and people, there can be no relationship between God and people. Without God’s truth, people live in chaos and ignorance. Therefore, CGM believes that freedom comes when mankind unites with God, who is the origin of truth, and upon that all people can unite within God’s absolute truth.

CGM emphasizes that religion is not theory but practice, and focuses on teaching its members to live a righteous life, to strive to actualize the teachings of the Bible, and to become the salt and light in families and the society.

Following Jung’s teachings, the CGM believes that God is not only a God of religion, but a God of science, philosophy, literature, arts and culture and everything else. Hence, the Bible has to make sense, not only from a religious standpoint, but also science and philosophy.

CGM’s core beliefs are set out in the 30 Lessons / principles, which is a series of Bible lessons founded by Jung over a period of 30 years. Jung later organized the 30 Lessons into 120 visual charts. The 30 Lessons cover a diverse range of Biblical stories and themes, as well as the history of the Bible. The key emphasis of the 30 lessons is the importance of thorough faith in God and Jesus, as well as the need to put teachings to practice.

One of the 30 Lessons, called the ‘Seven Steps of Law’, teaches that the universe operates absolutely according to these laws. The laws are about: the mineral veins of the mineral kingdom, physiology of the biosystem, physics of the physical world, geography of the earth, astronomy principles of the universe, psychology of human beings, and the truth between God and mankind.

Bible interpretation
The CGM’s teachings of the Bible divert from literal interpretations of the Bible and traditional Christian views. The CGM believes that the Bible is full of parables and symbols. Therefore, it should not be interpreted literally. The CGM criticizes the traditional literal interpretations of the Bible that have made the Bible mythical.

The CGM teaches that the reason Jesus was persecuted was because the Jewish teachers of the time, did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah because they interpreted the prophecies in the Old Testament, which were written in parables/symbols, literally. The CGM believes that the prophecy of the Messiah coming on the clouds to the Earth is not literal, rather the cloud is a symbol or parable. Clouds are vapors that are evaporated from water through the heat of sunlight. Hence, ‘clouds’ are symbols for people, purified by the ‘sunlight’ of God.

Another example of a Biblical symbol is ‘fire’. Biblical prophecies of the Advent state that the messiah comes to bring fire to the Earth. The CGM interprets the prophecies of ‘fire’ to be not literal ‘fire’, but rather ‘fire’ is a symbol for the words of God. Therefore, they teach that there will be no fiery destruction of the world, but that the Messiah comes with God’s words that can destroy life’s problems and difficulties.

The CGM also teaches that the end times is not the end of the world, but the intersection between the old and beginning of a new era. It teaches that resurrection is not the dead coming back to life, but the spirit coming from death to life through the person believing in God’s words.

Comparison with Unification Church Teachings
CGM’s 30 lessons are said to bear resemblance to the "Divine Principle" of the Unification Church. According to one researcher, nine of the 30 lessons exhibit a "considerable level of resemblance" with the Divine Principle. Like the Unification Church, the CGM preaches the advent of the "Completed Testament Era". The CGM furthermore allegorizes the relationship between God and man to that between the groom and bride, or two lovers. CGM stated that this refers to a spiritual, not physical relationship.

According to CGM’s publicity director, while there are similarities, there are significant differences when examined closely. Providence teaches that God is male but the Unification Church teaches that God is both a male and female at the same time (androgynous). Also, the CGM teaches about the Holy Trinity, differently to the Unification Church. Unlike the Unification Church, the CGM does not teach that the Holy Spirit is the counterpart of Jesus. The CGM also distances itself from Unification Church’s secularism, superstitions, and vague understanding of Jesus.

Giving Glory to God
Annually, CGM and its members dedicate the first 15 days of the year to give glory to God. Starting from dawn, members from all over the world and all age groups give thanks to God through singing praise songs. During this period, CGM organizes a festival of giving glory through arts, orchestra and choir performances in its retreat center, Wolmyeongdong.

Holy Spirit Movement
The CGM has held Holy Spirit Movement assemblies which focuses on repentance, receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit, becoming the salt and light of this world, praying for the nation, and putting Jesus first in one's life.

Prayer Meetings
Annually, CGM conducts a March 1st movement (Samil Movement, Korean Independence Day) prayer meeting in Wolmyeongdong that gathers middle and high school students to pray for their nation. This prayer meeting allows the students to build their faith and also, a sense of patriotism for their nation. In 2014, on the 95th anniversary of the Samil movement, CGM conducted a nationwide prayer assembly to pray for its leaders who died for the country, followed by a sports festival to give glory to God. CGM also held a prayer meeting on the 63rd anniversary of the 6.25 war (the day the Korean war started) in Korea to pray for peace and the future of South Korea.

In 2014, CGM held a prayer meeting in the Wolmyeongdong training center to commemorate the victims of the Sinking of MV Sewol and to pray for the survival of its victims. During the prayer meeting, CGM also to commemorated the 4.19 democracy movement (April Revolution), which was the cornerstone of Korean democracy. Thereafter, prayer meetings for the victims of the Sinking of MV Sewol continued daily in CGM churches throughout the world.

Evangelism
The CGM regularly organizes events for bringing new people to the church, such as the 2011 Festival of Joy, the 2012 Hope of Youth Festival, and the 2013 ‘Rock Gems, Life Gems’ festival. It was reported that these ministry activities have drawn attention from the public because of their diverse contents, such as cultural activities and volunteerism.

CGM's goal is to spread the gospel throughout the world. The CGM conducts a ministry leadership program to train people who wish to lead a life of ministry and service. For that, the CGM set up the World Mission Center, the headquarters for international ministry, which hosts meetings, seminars, research and development and the hub for all administrative matters.

Peace and Culture Activities
The culture and peace exchange programs set up by the CGM are for breaking down walls between the secular and religious, and to share understandings of God. Representatives or cultural ambassadors are sent throughout the world to introduce Korea to people. These programs are also expressions of thanksgiving, and offering of glory to God.

Soccer
CGM organizes regular soccer and sports events, such as the 2006 Asia Peace Cup, the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Global peace soccer and arts festivals, and the 2011 Asia Soccer Meet.

CGM also conducts annual soccer camps for children under the “Milky Way Soccer Club”, for children to learn and play soccer, develop their faith and learn about teamwork.

In 2016, CGM (Taiwan)'s Soccer League organized the “Love and Peace Soccer Tournament National Finals,” in which 17 men’s teams and 4 women’s teams participated. Arts performances such as aboriginal dances and honor guard performances were combined with the soccer league. It also involved Yung-cheng Chen from Chinese Taipei Football Association, ROC (CTFA) to give guidance to the competition.

Volleyball
CGM organizes regularly volleyball competitions, such the Campus Elite Cup Volleyball Competition (CECVC) in Taiwan. On May 17, the 2nd CECVC was held at National Tsing Hua University and involved 26 teams from various universities, including the National Taiwan Ocean University and the National Sun Yat-sen University.

Rock Festivals
Beginning from 2011, CGM held annual Rock Festivals in its retreat center, Wolmyeongdong, to showcase its large rock landscapes and to teach visitors about the value of life. In 2011, CGM’s first Rock Festival attracted more than 40,000 visitors.

In 2013, the third Rock Festival was held in conjunction with a national soccer tournament with over 53 teams and 1,000 soccer players. Various cultural activities were held following the soccer event, including a dance competition, an orchestra performance, a concert and traditional music festival.

Flower Festivals
CGM organizes annual flower festivals in spring when flowers, including cherry blossoms, bloom in Wolmyeongdong. During the 2015 flower festival, proverbs about God were featured, alongside soccer tournaments, and arts performances. The director of Wolmyeongdong opened the 2016 flower festival with a message that flowers should not lose their fragrance, and in the same way, people of faith must not lose the fragrance of the Trinity in their lives. The public, especially local residents, were welcomed to the event. In 2016, there were almost  21,000 visitors in total.

Bright smile movement
CGM, through its affiliated Global Association of Culture and Peace, organized the Bright Smile Movement during the 2002 World Cup in response to then-President Kim Dae-jung’s call to his citizens to welcome visitors warmly. CGM believed that this campaign helped to show foreigners that Korean are happy people, in order to change a 500-year long South Korean history of not expressing friendliness through smiling.

Concerts and Theater Performances
CGM holds theater performances to teach about faith, such as the performance about Jesus, heaven and hell held in the Jangchung Gymnasium in 2009.

In December 2016, CGM’s Peace Symphony Orchestra collaborated with the Heart Road Foundation to organize a charity concert at Chung Hsing Hall in Taichung City, Taiwan. The concert involved traditional music, Aboriginal folk songs, Hokkien songs, Hakka songs and other language elements. The Taiwan Aboriginal Youth Cultural Society and Milky Way Choir were invited as special guests to participate and perform. Aside from donating part of the proceeds to charity, CGM also raised awareness for those in need and those with mental disabilities through an introductory video.

Public Service and Charity Activities
The public service arm of the Christian Gospel Mission was established to practice the teachings of Jesus who cared for the sick and the poor and healed them through giving the word. CGM pursues programs that strive to put the love of Christ to practice.

CGM focuses on nurturing the youth because it believes that proper guidance to the youth is the key to guaranteeing society’s future. CGM also advocates another aspect of “Peace in the family” with the philosophy of arming the young people with a healthy mentality will enable them to create healthy families in the future. CGM also strives to provide for the needs of neighbors in order to foster attitude of social responsibility and instilling a sense of belonging to the society.

CGM grounds these public service activities in faith, by teaching people the mind of Christ who also served people freely. Each affiliated church runs at least one public service program.

In total, CGM is involved in more than 50 community service programs including the aforementioned movement for family peace, campaigns aimed at creating a healthy society (e.g. anti-suicide campaigns), activities for cleaning up the environment, youth guidance and cultural activities, children’s charities , restoration of facilities and equipment, blood drives, relief for victims of natural disasters, cost-free medical clinics, assistance for farmers, charities for the poor, assistance for the elderly and disenfranchised, international charities, sponsoring marathons, choir performances, etc. Each month, more than a thousand people are involved in such public service activities throughout the nation as well as numerous activities throughout the 50 member nations.

During the Taean oil spill in 2007, 4,000 CGM members volunteered their services and received a plaque of appreciation from the Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

In 2014, news media reported CGM (Taiwan)’s Lord's Light of Hope Church in Zhongli, Taiwan, held free medical consultations. The event gathered medical staff, doctors and pharmacists who belong to churches from all over Taiwan. Consultations for various diseases, psychotherapy and orthopediatrics was provided.

In 2014, CGM’s Hualien’s Lord’s Love Church held the “CGM Health Education Seminar” in the community center of Yongxing, Hualien, Taiwan. Physical therapist Yue-ying Wu of GuorTaih United Clinic was invited to give a special lecture at the event; free hairdressing services were also provided. An arts proverbs exhibition was set up beside the venue of the seminar, which discussed physical and mental health and the wisdom of life. The exhibition curated proverb-artworks painted by professional artists.

In 2016, the CGM and World Vision Taiwan (WVT) collaborated to form the Mini Scientific Camp, which invited university students to the Kiwit Tribe, Ruisui Township in Hualien County, Taiwan, to teach hundreds of middle and elementary school students about science in their daily life.

In 2016, volunteers from CGM’s “Morning Light Youths Voluntary Group” spent mother’s day at the “Care Home for the Women and Young” in the Wen Shan region, Taiwan, to take care of over 60 stateless children.

Self-proclaimed messiah
A japanese sociology professor, analyzed and summarized the CGM’s beliefs relying on documented testimonies as well as interviews with ex-members. He also obtained notes from ex-members which were used in the "bible study", as instructions in the 30 lessons were conventionally called within the "sect". He critiqued CGM’s teachings and wrote that CGM’s 30 principles imply that those who do not "meet" Jung will not go to Heaven, and that those who betray him are committing a grave crime. News reported that the lessons are based on a numerological interpretation which identifies the sect's leader as the Second Coming of Christ. Sakurai also wrote that during the instruction of the advanced level of the 30 Lessons, Jung is taught to be the Messiah, proven through the numerological interpretation of prophesied dates and times in the book of Daniel.

In 2006, CGM’s publicity director refuted claims that the CGM teaches Jung to be the Messiah. He said that Jung lived centered on Jesus as the Messiah and struggled to live righteously before the Trinity.

In 2010, CGM’s Pastor Park Sung-wook said that CGM and Jung taught members to put Jesus first in their lives, and that the public can dispel misperceptions caused by the media when they witness for themselves the lives of members. Jung was reported to have taught and practiced a life centered on Jesus for over 30 years.

In a 2012 news report, a senior member in the CGM stated, ‘we do not treat President Jung as the messiah. He has been teaching that Jesus is the messiah for over 30 years. There have been misunderstandings about this in the past. However, such is not the case now.’ He attributed such misunderstanding to the misinterpretation of the word (doctrines) by people’s own perspectives, thus failing to see the whole picture, but only interpreting a small portion of the word. Also, CGM said that people interpreted what is meant to be spiritual in a physical way. The doctrines that caused this misunderstanding include the doctrine that salvation that is achieved through loving God and Jesus. However, this love is not the same as the love of the body that the world generally considers love to be. Jung Myung Seok realized about the love between God and man, and he took action to love God first. This is why CGM members call him ‘teacher’. He teaches that everyone who believes in God, just as he does, should love Jesus as their priority in life and should live as a bride of Jesus and also the body of Jesus, putting to practice His will.

In 2014, statements from a representative also refuted the claim that Jung is a self-proclaimed messiah by stating that Jung is not the messiah but a human being and has never claimed otherwise. Instead, CGM believes in Jesus as the Messiah and that all Jesus’ followers should strive to become the body of Jesus on earth by doing His work.

Media Allegations, Charges, and Conviction of CGM's President
(See full article: Media Allegations, Criminal Charges, and Conviction of Jung Myung Seok)

In 1999, a South Korean media company, the Seoul Broadcasting Station (SBS), made sexual allegations against Jung Myung Seok, President of Christian Gospel Mission (CGM). He was accused of ‘fleeing’ the country because of these allegations. Following SBS, the media from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan also made other similar allegations against Jung. However, in 2010, in a lawsuit between the SBS and the CGM, the South Korean Court ruled that the 1999 media report was biased and CGM was compensated for the damages. Additionally, in 2015, it was also reported that Jung did not ‘flee’, but travelled overseas lawfully for missionary work, because at the time, the sexual assault charges were dismissed by the prosecutors involved. Jung even returned to Korea several times during his travels and was investigated by the prosecutors about his travels.

In 2001, formal charges were made against Jung. In 2006, additional accusations were made against Jung for alleged sexual assault in China. The Chinese authorities investigated and found that there was no evidence to support criminality. In 2007, Jung was arrested in China, after being on interpol’s wanted list.

In 2008, Jung was extradited back to South Korea where he faced five charges of sexual assault and molestation from 5 different women. During the trial, one of the female accusers confessed to falsely accusing Jung of alleged crimes, and dropped her charges with prosecutors. The judge found Jung to be guilty on three out of five charges and sentenced him to 6 years imprisonment in August 2008. Jung maintained innocence appealed the original decision to the high court. However, the court upheld the sentence, and added an additional count (making it four out of five charges) against Jung, thus increasing the sentence to 10 years. After Jung was sentenced, investigative news reports emerged claiming that the judgment against Jung was unjust and without proper evidence.

It has been claimed that while both Unification Church and CGM teach that Original sin was caused by Eve intercourse with the fallen angel turned Satan, Providence teaches this can be redeemed by having sex with Jung Myung-seok. The reports stated that the Korean court had deemed that Jung had forced female followers to have sex with him "as a religious behavior meant to save their souls". Former members have stated or testified that young and attractive women were presented to Jung as "sexual gifts", with whom he forcibly engaged in sexual act, which was explained to them as a purification rite. Apart from allegations, there has been no evidence found in Jung’s sermons and teachings that claim that salvation can be redeemed through sexual union with him. Jung’s sermons teach that people should be chaste until marriage, and make loving God as their first priority.

In 2012, ‘anti-JMS’ groups brought new charges against Jung, while he was imprisoned. Those charges were completed dismissed by the Korean court.

In 2013, allegations were made about Jung receiving preferential treatment in prison. Those allegations were also dismissed by the Justice Minister.

Heretical Cult
The CGM has been widely referred to by the media as a cult.

The CGM responded to these allegations and said, ‘the concept of heresy is extremely relative and always changing. In the past, many people of God were unwelcomed by their generation and considered heretics. But yesterday’s heretics have become today’s orthodoxies. Therefore, history has authority to label whether a group is heretical or not. Jung is a man who does his best to follow God’s words, and the CGM members do so likewise.’ The CGM also said that Jung and the CGM teaches a life that is centered on Jesus, although its Biblical interpretations may differ from some of the traditional Christian views.

Recruitment
Initiates into the sect are initially approached by being invited into an "activity circle", i.e., sports or music clubs in school; the inductees learn only later when taken to "bible study" that religion constitutes part of the "circle" activity. In this manner, Providence forms non-religious organisations for the purpose of attracting young people without initially revealing the religious nature of the group or their real motives,  a practice ruled "fraudulent" under law by the Japanese Supreme Court. {{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Front groups for Providence/Christian Gospel Mission includes: Bright Smile Movement (BSM), China Christian Youth Association (CCYA), Global Association of Culture and Peace (GACP), International Cultural Exchange (ICE), International Culture Interchange Association (ICIA), IOCA, IOCA Modeling, Korean International Cultural Society (KICS), Peace Model Korea (PMK), Peace Model USA (PMUSA), Providence Vision Project (PVP), Sky Soccer, United Culture and Arts Network (UCAN), VIA 3, World Peace Model, Youth Developer Group (YDG)

Exclusivity
In 2006 the national newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported that Providence is "causing serious social problems in Japan", labeling it as a "cult" and "sect". It also reported that the organization was pressuring members to live together, make regular donations, marry within the organization, and follow the strict guidance of its founder.

The group's church usually consisted of a single apartment room, where their religious studies occurred. Sometimes the church was where some of the faithful cohabitated. There were some 40 such churches across Japanese cities as of 2006. Members as students working part-time jobs were expected to contribute a minimum of ¥1000 at weekly church service, and as full-salaried wage-earners, monthly tithes and bonus-time donations. Believers were instructed to live frugally on cheap food and never indulge in alcohol. They were forbidden from dating, but at a suitable time married within the group in mass ceremonies. Although the Supreme Court of Japan in 1996 ruled mass weddings performed by the Unification Church were invalid, more than 300 Japanese members of Providence were wed in six mass ceremonies held between 1996 and 2006 modeled on the Unification Church. While being wanted on rape charges, Jung at a July 2003 mass wedding urged the couples via a big-screen Internet connection to have babies to increase the number of Providence members.

Police raided eight Providence facilities in Chiba on suspicion a senior member illegally obtained residence status. They also searched a facility in the city's Chuo Ward. The senior member, a Korean, was arrested for overstaying her visa. It was alleged that Providence recruited "high class, high income" men and selected women for "style and looks".

In 2005, the CGM publicly explained that it teaches people to live centering on God’s words, rather than to center on money, fame, alcohol, smoking and sexual immorality. In 2010, Pastor Park Sung-Wook of the CGM spoke about the emphasis on living a righteous life, and repenting for corruption, decadence and greed. In 2010, Pastor Park Sung-Wook of the CGM spoke about the emphasis on living a righteous life, and repenting for corruption, decadence and greed. Jung teaches that people should remain chaste until marriage, and always love God as their first priority. Also, it was reported that Jung respects individual free will and embraces those who are defiant towards him and guides them with care.