Is There a Future for the Korean American Church?
Korean pastors talk about cultural differences and what to do about them
The challenges of ministering and serving in a multi-generational Korean American church, or any Asian American church for that matter, are often exasperated beyond merely languages and generations. These differences often result in misunderstandings, conflicts, and even people leaving the Christian faith.
This 2014 Christian Today article concisely summarizes key insights about how to a Korean American church’s Korean Ministry and English Ministry can work amidst the differences and grow together—
“The KM and EM both have areas to grow in, and instead of the KM passing on the baton to EM, they both must go down a parallel path of growth,” Pastor Jim-Bob [Park] remarked. “Instead of independence from each other, there must be an interdependent relationship in which they both depend on each other and grow together.”
Additionally, Pastor James Kim summarized his dissertation research and posted this in the Facebook group, Korean-American Ministry Pastors—
During my research, I learned that KM and EM pastors who were engaged in effective bicultural ministry were the one who were engaged in ongoing dialogues with other pastors, being willing to be vulnerable and open to hearing from the other side in love and truth. But that dialogue as we know from our own experience is a difficult reality in the high power distance culture like the Korean church.
According to the GLOBE study, “One element of high power distance is clearly dysfunctional as it preempts the society from questioning, learning, and adapting as there is a little opportunity for debate and voicing of divergent views. Asking questions may be interpreted and regarded as criticizing and blaming, and therefore may be prohibited.”
If you are interested in reading my dissertation on “Effective Bicultural Team Leadership Practices in the Korean American Churches,” please email me at pastorjameskim@cox.net. I will be happy to send you a pdf.
Is there a Future for Church?
Now post-pandemic, though we’re not out in the clear yet, the questions have surfaced about the viability of the church at all. Here’s a recent sermon from Pastor Jim-Bob Park, speaking to the statistics of declining church attendance—
