wfn.org | UMNS# 04564-Leaders seek to revitalize Korean United Methodist

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

Leaders seek to revitalize Korean United Methodist Church 

Dec. 2, 2004	 News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470* 
Nashville {04564}

NOTE: A photograph of the Rev. Sang Yean Cho is available at
http://umns.umc.org.

By United Methodist News Service

A task force of United Methodist Korean church leaders will meet Dec. 6-8 in
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to discuss ways to revitalize church growth.

Church leaders recognize growth in the United Methodist Korean churches has
become stagnant since 2000, says the Rev. Sang Yean Cho, editor of United
Methodists in Service, a Korean-language magazine published by United
Methodist Communications.

"In the 1980s-1990s, the Korean United Methodist church was growing," he
says. "In the late 1990s, there were 420 churches across the U.S. But since
2000, the growth has become stagnant." The United Methodist Church has
100,000 Korean members in the United States.

The task force will examine why the trend has changed. Cho points out that
the Korean Methodist Church has established 280 churches in the United States
that are not associated with the United Methodist Church. 

Participants will hear from leaders in small, medium and large membership
churches about the strengths, strategies and programs in each setting, and
they will discuss ways to revitalize the Korean United Methodist Church.
After the meeting, participants will produce a paper on the study for use as
a resource by the Korean church.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service