NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Southern Baptist seminaries and the North American Mission Board played major roles in the development of Korean churches in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Even today, Presbyterians comprise the largest Christian denomination in Korea. And until Billy Graham preached in Seoul in 1973, Baptists were little known.
“They may be a Presbyterian when they come to America, but when they study they may become Baptist,” said David Gill, second vice president of the SBC, pastor at Concord Korean Baptist Church in Martinez, Calif., and an adjunct faculty member at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif.
“When they come, they don’t know anything about the Cooperative Program,” the channel by which churches support missions and ministries at the state and national level, “but the Cooperative Program helped them get seminary training,” Gill said. “Many pastors of these Korean churches in America became Southern Baptist when they go to seminary here.”
Today, among the perhaps 3,000 Korean churches in the United States, 761 are Southern Baptist; 420 are United Methodist; 190 are Presbyterian Church of America; and 56 are Christian and Missionary Alliance.
In addition to offering lower-cost tuition than at most graduate schools, Southern Baptist seminaries make a concerted effort to provide curricula that meet the unique needs of Korean immigrants.
GGBTS
Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary finds itself geographically positioned on the West Coast for ministry to Koreans.
With campuses just north of San Francisco and in Orange County, Calif., as well as Vancouver, Wash., and other western U.S. cities, GGBTS has four Korean faculty members, an intercultural school, a D.Min. track in Korean, and eight courses on two campuses taught in Korean, with future plans to offer a complete M.Div. education and music degree in Korean.
“The Association of Theological Schools recognizes Golden Gate’s conscientious movement to meet the need of our ethnic congregations,” said associate professor Kon Yang and coordinator of the D.Min. track for Korean students. “The demand has been there all along, and now we have four trustee-elected faculty members who are Korean-American, the largest in the U.S. The ATS has commended our efforts in this direction.”
Twenty years ago, Golden Gate opened the Ethnic Leadership Development Program to offer theological training in languages other than English, said Rick Durst, vice president for academic affairs. The name was changed to Contextualized Leadership Program in 1998. Five of 32 centers offer training in Korean.
The seminary’s David and Faith Kim School of Intercultural Studies opened in 1996 in part to train students to develop contextualized churches in urban environments and to assist churches with multilingual congregations and ministries among second and third generations. The school is “committed to helping students develop the skills, knowledge and character necessary for global mission and ministry in the 21st century,” according to the seminary’s website, www.ggbts.edu.
Years ago, the seminary realized the importance of providing Korean role models and mentors, Durst said. Today, four Koreans with Ph.D. degrees serve as faculty at three GGBTS campuses: Faith Kim, Joe Kim, Jay Noh and Kon Yang, plus several adjuncts. Of its 124 Korean students, 60 are Korean nationals; 64 immigrated as children or young adults.
Services for Korean family members at the Northern California campus include English as a Second Language for Korean wives; a weekly Bible Study in Korean for Korean Women in Ministry; and a Korean lunch each week sponsored by the Korean Student Fellowship.
Most recently, two pilot projects for a Korean Bilingual Transition Program have been completed, at the Brea campus and in Silicon Valley.
SWBTS
More Korean national students are enrolled at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary than any of the others: 203 for the spring 2005 semester, up from 176 in fall 2004, and 150 in spring 2004. Jonathan Kim, Ph.D., is the seminary’s only Korean-born faculty member, though four students are teaching fellows.
The Council for Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America took note of the numbers, and met Aug. 11, 2004, with seminary leaders to discuss developing Korean-language courses using Korean pastors as adjunct professors. The Korean council leaders also asked for pastors of Korean churches to speak at seminary chapels.
SWBTS responded by offering an intensive, one-week, three-credit course in Baptist history in Korean last January taught by Hyung Min Kim, senior pastor at Denton (Texas) Korean Baptist Church.
“Korean students have been an important part of our seminary life for a number of years,” said Brent Thompson, associate director of public relations. “We hope our ties to Korea will continue to be strengthened in the years to come.”
Some D.Min. seminars will be offered in Korean in the fall 2005 semester, in a program that involves 79 students who live in Korea. They do half the program at the Korean Baptist Theological Seminary and half at Southwestern.
Southwestern also has an active Korean Student Fellowship.
SBTS
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has 148 Korean-born students at its Louisville, Ky., campus, plus about 40 at an extension center in Silver Spring, Md., that was designed specifically to develop leaders of Korean ancestry who were born in the United States or who immigrated as children.
Associate professor Jae K. Lee is the seminary’s sole fulltime Korean faculty; several adjuncts teach at the extension center. Lee is coordinator of the Korean M.Div. program. Two courses are taught in Korean each year at the main campus; four at the extension center.
Southern’s student life office maintains a storage facility of donated household items for incoming Korean students and their families. A thriving Korean Student Association provides fellowship and worship opportunities.
Other seminaries
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has 80 students who were born in Korea; Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, 10; and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, six. Canadian Baptist Theological Seminary has 16 Korean students and a part-time faculty member, Steve Lee,
“We are grateful for the wonderful Korean students God has sent to our seminary,” said Lou Leventhal, vice president for institutional advancement at the Canadian seminary. “Whether they go to Korea, stay in Canada or go to some other mission field upon the completion of their studies, we are blessed by their passion to serve God wherever He may call them.”
NAMB
For 33 years Dan Moon helped develop Korean Southern Baptist churches across the United States through the North American Mission Board and its predecessor, the Home Mission Board. Robert Kim today serves in that role.
In addition, six men serve similar roles in associations or state conventions: Andrew Hong in Nashville, Tenn.; Gihwant Shin, Metro Seattle; James Sok, Illinois; Song Sik Kim, Fullerton, Calif.; Timothy Park, Maryland; and John Yi, Huntsville, Ala.
Kim works with these six and with the entities that do not have a Korean strategist to identify church planting opportunities. Jason Lee works in the cross-cultural team in NAMB’s ministry evangelism section. The volunteer mobilization unit also has a Korean who speaks to individuals and churches about volunteer missions opportunities in North America.
“Koreans are one of the very responsive groups in not only reaching in the Korean community but also to reach other groups like Anglo or Native American,” Kim said. “Every single year we have 45 to 50 churches that we plant in the Korean community.
“We are very aggressive in reaching Koreans because Koreans are quite receptive to the Gospel,” Kim continued. “In most cases, if we find two or three families and a leader, most likely a church will be formed.”
Montgomery, Ala., is an example of a city with a rapidly emerging Korean population, in part because a Hyundai plant is being built there, Kim said.
“We need to be proactive in reaching this community,” Kim said. “The Lord is doing something special like we haven’t seen Him doing in other groups, so we need to capitalize on this and just reach out in every way we can to help evangelize and also congregationalize the community everywhere pockets of Koreans come.”
NAMB provides several resources in Korean, such as One Day One Hour and the NET, as well as cultural sensitivity training for Anglos to learn about Koreans. A ministry evangelism strategy manual for Koreans will be unveiled at the annual meeting of the Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America preceding the SBC’s June 21-22 annual meeting in Nashville.
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