[1][2] Founded by David Yonggi Cho and Choi Ja-shil in 1958, the church is presently led by Young Hoon Lee.

Apart from the two pastors, only Choi Ja-shil's three daughters (one of whom later married David Yungi Cho) and one elderly woman, who had come in to escape from the rain, attended the first service.

The two pastors began a vigorous campaign of knocking on doors, providing spiritual and humanitarian help to the poor, and praying for the sick.

Inspired by his message of hope and monetary wealth, many previously uncommitted people joined the church, and by the beginning of 1961, membership had grown to a thousand.

[7] Cho continued to be plagued by ill health, and he suffered a physical collapse while leading a baptismal service one Sunday.

Believing that he had heard from God, Cho and the other leaders of the church decided to purchase a plot of land on Yoi Island, directly across from Korea's National Assembly.

[11] Economic problems, including the 1973 "oil shock," which led to spiraling inflation and the loss of jobs for many church members, delayed construction of the new auditorium.

A special worship service was held to celebrate this milestone, with Demos Shakarian, President of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International as the guest speaker.

[26] A pastor from Yoido Full Gospel Church named Seong vandalized the Dharma hall of Donghwasa Temple on 20 August 2012.

"[30] Young Hoon Lee, who has served as the senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church since 2008, sparked controversy on May 16, 2023, when he attended the opening ceremony of the Liberty Korea Party's headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.

During the event, he urged attendees to support Jeon Kwang-hoon in his call to "eradicate communist reds," a phrase now regarded as outdated propaganda.

The controversy is heightened by the fact that Jeon, whom Pastor Lee supported, has previously made statements like "God, Freeze!"

The incident has drawn criticism, as it appears that the leader of Korea's largest church is publicly endorsing a figure deemed heretical by many within the faith.

In January 2014, Jeong Gwi-sun claimed that the controversial book was fictional and unrelated to Cho, and sued six elders from the prayer meeting.