Key points:
- The Korean Association of The United Methodist Church celebrated its 50th anniversary with 315 clergy and lay leaders.
- Those gathered explored ways to nurture the next generation’s leadership.
- They also strengthened partnerships across communities.
Korean United Methodist clergy and lay leaders returned to the San Francisco area, where their national association began, to celebrate 50 years of ministry and consider the church they will leave to the next generation.
A record 315 people registered for the Korean Association of The United Methodist Church’s anniversary convocation, held Oct. 5-8 in Burlingame. The theme was “Encounter, Engage, Empower.”
The Rev. Gyu-Hyun Kim, the association’s top executive, said participants represented Korean congregations, cross-racial and cross-cultural ministries, younger generations and denominational agencies. Worship, lectures, mission reports and fellowship offered opportunities to understand one another’s ministries and find renewed strength.
At the welcome banquet, the Rev. Hyok-In Kwon — association president —urged participants to honor their predecessors by building for those who follow. Kwon is also pastor of Santa Clara Korean United Methodist Church in California.
“Fifty years ago, someone planted seeds for us,” Kwon said. “Now, it is our turn to plant.”
Kwon reflected on the pandemic and disaffiliations that separated longtime colleagues. Those losses made enduring relationships more precious. Having people with whom to worship and colleagues who pray for one another across distances remained reasons for gratitude, he said.
Four bishops attended: Hee-Soo Jung of the Ohio Episcopal Area; Dottie Escobedo-Frank of the California-Pacific Conference; Sandra Olewine of the California-Nevada Conference; and Carlo A. Rapanut of the New Mexico and Desert Southwest conferences. Bishop Julius C. Trimble, top executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, sent a video message.
Staff from United Methodist Communications, Global Ministries, Church and Society, and Religion and Race joined the celebration.
Jung recalled how Korean churches became spiritual homes for immigrants. Communities built on their predecessors’ prayers should remain rooted in Korean identity while reaching toward other racial communities and generations.
“We must stand with those who are struggling,” he said, calling for solidarity in pursuing justice and peace.
In her banquet prayer, Escobedo-Frank remembered those who planted, harvested, cooked and served the food. She prayed that fellowship would bring renewal and inspire care for people experiencing hunger.
Rapanut said the gathering resonated with his immigrant experience. He connected the anniversary to the biblical Jubilee — a time of return, restoration and reconciliation.
He invited participants to release past hurts and embrace a new season with courage, grace, forgiveness and love. Recalling St. Francis, San Francisco’s namesake, he prayed that they would become instruments of God’s peace.
The following morning, the Rev. Hanna Ka invited worshippers to try something new, even when uncomfortable, because God’s call does not always lead to familiar places.
The Rev. Steve Kim prayed on behalf of NEXUS, a ministry for the next generation of Korean American clergy and laity. He thanked predecessors who crossed oceans to establish churches and prayed for courage to respond to migration and racism with compassion and solidarity.
Preaching on Luke 5:1-11, Olewine connected Jesus’ invitation into deeper water with the church’s call to enter people’s lives and suffering. To “engage,” she said, is to offer one’s whole life to God and practice discipleship alongside others.
“We need each other,” she said.
She thanked Korean congregations for enriching the denomination and remaining United Methodist through disaffiliations. She urged new ministries responsive to changing immigration patterns, full recognition of Korean women clergy’s leadership and support for younger NEXUS leaders discerning their callings.
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The offering supported Native American ministries in the California-Nevada Conference. Dorothy Kim, president of the National Network of Korean-American United Methodist Women, prayed that immigrant hardship would deepen empathy for Native Americans’ suffering and that the offering would become a bridge of healing and reconciliation.
During Communion, Escobedo-Frank urged participants to carry Christ’s love into everyday encounters.
“Love them by looking them in the eyes and showing them that they matter,” she said.
A smile, noticing someone’s name or saying thank you could offer encouragement.
“So, turn on your light,” she urged.
Dana Lyles, executive director of multi-ethnic ministries for Global Ministries and the Board of Higher Education and Ministry, affirmed the agencies’ partnership as congregations change and young people ask new questions.
“You do not walk this road alone.”
The Rev. Judy Chung of Global Ministries reported on a covenant established in 2025 to support 140 United Methodist missionaries for three years, marking 140 years of Christian mission in Korea.
Now in its second year, the commitment exceeded its first-year fundraising goal despite congregations’ financial challenges, she said, thanking Korean churches for their generosity.
Church historian Helen Jin Kim gave two lectures. Her morning presentation explored Korean War orphans’ migration and unequal power relationships within postwar mission between Korea and the United States. Mission must address social peace and vulnerable people’s rights alongside personal salvation, she said.
Her afternoon lecture examined Korean women’s Christian history and “hanpuri,” the working through of accumulated grief and suffering. She highlighted “red bag women,” whose visits, prayers and care sustained communities despite limited institutional recognition. Their voices and spiritual leadership deserve respect, she said.
On Oct. 6, participants gathered at San Francisco Korean United Methodist Church, where the association began.
In his video message, Trimble connected social holiness with public action.
“Social holiness invites us to encounter one another as beloved children of God,” he said.
He highlighted Church and Society’s advocacy for Korean Peninsula peace, support for South Korean survivors of sexual violence in U.S. military camp towns, immigrant justice and youth leadership development.
The Rev. Paul H. Chang, executive secretary of the Korean Ministry Plan, examined regionalization through the denomination’s discriminatory history, including the former Central Jurisdiction, which segregated Black annual conferences. Greater regional autonomy should preserve global solidarity and mutual responsibility across borders, he said.
Oct. 7 brought sightseeing and fellowship in San Francisco, followed by worship at Santa Clara Korean United Methodist Church.
During the Oct. 8 business session, the association adopted a resolution to strengthen partnerships with other Asian American United Methodists. As part of this commitment, it designated the Rev. James Lee to serve alongside the association’s president as its representative to the Asian American Language Ministry. The association also affirmed its commitment to actively participate in the New Federation of Asian American United Methodists.
Korean Church of Atlanta United Methodist Church in Duluth, Georgia, will host the 2027 convocation. Dates are yet to be determined.
At closing worship, James Lee, pastor of Hope Church in Voorhees, New Jersey, and a NEXUS leader, preached on 2 Timothy 1:5-9 and “the in-between.”
Many Korean Americans know what it means to belong fully in neither Korea nor the United States, he said. Those spaces can become places of calling.
Remembering the faith Timothy received through his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice, Lee urged participants to honor those who kept faith alive and open doors for others.
Christ stands with leaders serving between cultures, languages and generations, he said. God gives power, love and self-discipline, rather than fear.
The gathering that began by remembering seeds planted by earlier generations ended with an invitation to make room for the next generation and their neighbors.
“The in-between isn’t where God loses you,” Lee said. “It is where God uses you.”
Kim is director of Korean and Asian news at United Methodist Communications. Contact him at 615-742-5470 or newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.
