wfn.org | Korean-American task force seeks enlarged ministries

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

March 1, 2000  News media contact: Joretta Purdue ·(202) 546-8722·Washington
10-33-71B{106}

NOTE:  For related coverage of the Commission on Religion and Race's
meeting, see UMNS stories #099 and 105.

ARLINGTON, Va. (UMNS) - A study of United Methodist Korean Americans points
to a need for bilingual pastors and ministries geared to keeping young
people involved in the church, according to Bishop R. Sheldon Duecker. 

Studies show that the generations that follow the adult immigrants have
different cultures and different needs, said Duecker, a member of the
General Conference Task Force on Korean American Ministries. Most
conspicuously, they often are quite American and some do not speak the
Korean language. 

Duecker spoke to the Commission on Religion and Race at its Feb. 23-27
meeting. He presented key features of "Advancing United Methodist Ministries
Among Korean Americans," a proposal that will be brought to the
denomination's highest legislative assembly when it meets May 2-12 in
Cleveland.

The task force, created in 1996, is recommending a $3.2 million program for
the coming four years. Of that, $1.1 million would be for fostering and
expanding next-generation ministry, including 20 new congregations and 15
campus ministries. Other suggested allocations within the proposal are
$422,000 for leadership development, $930,000 for congregational development
and $753,000 for program support services and administration.

Duecker was joined in the presentation by three other task force members:
Bishop Hae Jong Kim of the New York West Area, task force chairperson; the
Rev. Kyunglim Shin Lee, Wesley Seminary vice president for church relations
and student development, and the Rev. K. Samuel Lee, professor of pastoral
care and theology at Wesley.

The task force found that 95 percent of the more than 500 Korean-American
pastors were born in Korea, and 41 percent were ordained in the Korean
Methodist Church. Only 20 of the 360 Korean American congregations are
English-speaking. Of the 90 Korean American clergywomen, fewer than 10
percent serve Korean-language churches.   

Many of the first-generation immigrants and pastors have little connection
with the United Methodist Church beyond the Korean-American community, the
task force noted. Even the polity resembles the congregational model of the
Korean American Church.

"We are still getting lots of immigrants at the same time the younger Korean
Americans want English worship services and Bible study," Duecker observed.

Through a questionnaire sent to clergy and laity, and through 12 focus
groups involving clergy, laity, mission congregations and established
churches, the 24-member task force identified several needs.

"The first generation of Korean immigrants is aging," the task force noted
in its report. "At the same time, many in the next generation are leaving
their home church community with no sign of significant numbers returning.
This is one of the mission challenges facing Korean-American United
Methodists."

Both the laity and the clergy surveyed by the task force said they want
clergy to be bilingual. Both also want the laity to receive more training
for lay ministry and to achieve a better understanding of the United
Methodist Church, Duecker said.

The Rev. K. Samuel Lee said that although the 18- to 35-year-olds make up
the second-largest age group in the Korean-American community, recruiting
ministers is hard. Many people in this group become involved with Campus
Crusade for Christ or other organizations while in college, and they do not
return to the denomination, he said. The United Methodist Church has not
provided much ministry for the next generation, he added.

When such a ministry is provided, it seems to thrive. Bishop Kim reported
that in a Korean-American church he had founded years ago, the pastor -
Kim's son -- has created a second congregation for English-speaking Korean
Americans. The young adults bring friends of all ethnicities, so that
congregation is very integrated, Kim said. They are drawn not because they
identify themselves as Korean Americans but as young adults, he said.

The next generation is usually thought of as English-speaking, but the need
exists for programs for both groups, said the Rev. Kyunglim Shin Lee. The
church where her husband is a pastor has two youth programs, each including
worship and study, because one group needs English and the other needs
Korean, Lee said.

She reported that the plan gives structural support to Korean-American
congregations "so so many don't leave."
# # #

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org