wfn.org | Korean-American bishop cites need for roots

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

May 3, 2004 GC04-047

By Jackie Campbell*

PITTSBURGH (UMNS) - The first Korean-American bishop in the United Methodist
Church emphasized the importance of racial and ethnic churches in spreading
the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Bishop Hae-Jong Kim preached at the May 3 morning worship service of the
denomination's top legislative assembly, General Conference. Kim leads the
church's Pittsburgh Area.

"Finding one's ethnic and racial identity is so important to one's
well-being," the bishop said. "That's why it's so important that racial and
ethnic churches are there -- because people find their identity in their
churches."

Kim likened ethnic churches to the early church in Antioch, which he said
first was made up only of Jews, but later encompassed Gentiles and spurred
the growth of Christianity.

"Antioch is the mother of all missionary churches," Kim said.

As immigrant and ethnic mission churches help people find their identity and
become rooted in Christianity, they find wings to reach out and spread the
gospel, he said.  As younger generations take over, the congregations often
become inclusive, multicultural Christian communities like the church in
Antioch.

"The Antioch church was a church of roots, but it began to give wings to the
people," he explained.

The bishop noted that the United Methodist Church also has roots in an ethnic
church, the Evangelical United Brethren Church, which initially was made up
of German congregations.

Kim survived the Korean War as a refugee with his mother, brother and two
sisters, and he worked as a U.S. Army chaplain's interpreter to support his
family after his father died. During that time, his mother converted to
Christianity and offered her four children to God.  

After coming to the United States, Kim was ordained in the United Methodist
Church, served as a pastor in New Jersey and was the first Korean-American
elected a bishop.  His brother, the Rev. Joon Urn Kim, is pastor of First
United Methodist Church in Flushing, N.Y., a large Korean-American
congregation whose choir sang during the worship service. 

The bishop acknowledged that U.S. military forces that helped liberate South
Korea during the Korean War are one of the reasons "that we have hope on the
Korean peninsula today."

Lack of roots can promote an identity crisis in individuals, he noted. He's
particularly concerned with helping adopted Korean children in the United
States to get to know their roots, he said.

But, the bishop said, "Sometimes there is a danger in going back to the
roots.	Fundamentalists go back to the Old Testament roots and stay there."

He noted, "Christ gave us an identity ... beyond a national identity. The
roots of the cross reach to heaven," he said. "We have not only ethnic or
national roots, but roots to God."

Our roots give us wings; "we mount up with wings like eagles," he added.

General Conference, too, brings United Methodists back to their Wesleyan
roots and gives them wings to reach out, he said. "It is where we come to
energize ... to give us power to go into the world to serve God."

# # # 

*Campbell is a staff writer for the United Methodist Church's Western
Pennsylvania Annual Conference.

News media contact: (412) 325-6080 during General Conference, April 27-May 7.
After May 10: (615) 742-5470. 

 
 

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