The United Methodist Church will observe Jan.12 as Centennial Sunday for Korean American Ministries, honoring the arrival of the first Korean Christians in Hawaii in 1903.

Celebrations will culminate in an April 24-27 celebration in Hawaii. Bishop Hae-Jong Kim, leader of the church’s Pittsburgh Area and chairman of the planning committee for the celebration, asked the Council of Bishops to support the event in a resolution. The bishops are encouraging local churches to observe the Jan. 12 anniversary.

"It is our wish that it should not be just a ‘Korean’ celebration but a churchwide one, for it is the Mission Board of the Methodist Church that began the mission first, before any other denomination was involved," Kim said.

The National Association of Korean American United Methodist Churches and the denomination’s Board of Global Ministries are working together with other boards and agencies of the church to plan the celebration.

The theme of the celebration is "To Remember the Past, Celebrate the Present and Envision the Future," said the Rev. Jong Sung Kim, executive director of the Centennial Planning Council.

"This celebration will be the most significant event in the life of Korean-American ministries through which the contribution and partnership of Korean American United Methodist churches can be recognized in the U.S.," he said.

In commemoration of the centennial, the Korean United Methodist community has committed to raising $60,000 for a mission center in Mongolia in partnership with the Board of Global Ministries.

Last April, 21 Korean-American United Methodist clergy and lay leaders went to Ulan Bator, Mongolia, where they visited mission sites, participated in programs and discussed ways to help the church in that part of Asia.

Regional celebrations were held in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Detroit and San Francisco between May and October. The celebrations enabled local Korean-American communities as well as annual conference leaders to join together to celebrate the centennial.

The first group of Korean Christians in Hawaii came from Inchon Naeri Methodist Church. They arrived in Honolulu on Jan. 12, 1903, after a 17-day journey from the port city of Inchon. A celebration commemorating that event was held at Inchon Naeri Methodist Church Nov. 16-17, and a special sculpture was commissioned for the church in appreciation of its contribution.

The Korean Christians became laborers in sugar cane fields. After hearing that the immigrants were meeting in small-group gatherings, Inchon Naeri Methodist Church sent Soon Hwa Hong, a missionary pastor, to minister among them. With his leadership, the small groups became a church.

The Hawaii mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church took the opportunity to serve the immigrant population, and it established the first Korean-speaking church in Honolulu in November 1903. The church became the center for the Korean community, providing a place for spiritual development as well as education. It also was a focal point of support for Korea’s independence from Japan, a cause that church members funded from their own wages. In so doing, they helped lift their native country out of the ashes of colonization. That first congregation is known today as Christ United Methodist Church, one of the largest in the denomination’s California-Pacific Annual (regional) Conference.

Since 1965, when the United States lifted its prohibition of Korean immigration, many Koreans have moved to the mainland and settled around major cities. New congregations have been born, and most of them are Methodist churches because of the influence of the Korean church in Hawaii.

Since its beginning in 1903, the Korean-American United Methodist church community has grown to more than 420 congregations with 100,000 members. More than 540 Korean-American clergy – including more than 100 women – serve in Korean-speaking and cross-racial appointments, as well as the church’s boards and agencies.

	See Also... Topic: Education |  Evangelization |  GBGM programs |  Mission opportunities |  Missionaries |  United Methodist Church |  Geographic Region: North Korea |  South Korea |  Korea |  United States |  Source: United Methodist News Service
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Date posted: Dec 17, 2002