This volume interweaves contributions from a group of scholars brought together for the 2022 Korean Studies Center Symposium at Fuller Theological Seminary. The collection provides a forum for scholars of Korean American Protestant churches to address key challenges concerning the sociocultural and theological formation of identity and mission as these churches continue to navigate their place in society in relation to others, including Korean churches in South Korea, mainline churches in the US, other ethnic churches, and multiethnic churches. The chapters address the following issues: who the Korean American churches are; God's vision for the Korean American churches; how to interpret Korean Americans' journey in immigrant church history; how heritage sustained them and will keep them; what the immigrant church should know in this post-pandemic time; and the hopes of the next generation.
Enoch J. Kim joined the School of Mission and Theology in 2014 after sixteen years of ministry in China. He is the chair of the Doctor of Global Leadership Program and leads the Korean PhD in Intercultural Theology Program at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is a board member of the American Society of Missiology and president of the Institute of Asian Mission. He teaches courses in urban ministry, intercultural communication, and ministry strategy. His research and publications explore urban ministry, urban anthropology, and Chinese Muslims. Sebastian Kim is Robert Wiley Professor of Renewal in Public Life and academic dean for the Korean Studies Center at Fuller Theological Seminary. Kim is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and former editor of the International Journal of Public Theology. Kim's research interests include public theology, world Christianity, Asian theologies, and peace building. He has authored five books: A History of Korean Christianity (CUP, 2015), Theology in the Public Sphere (SCM, 2011), In Search of Identity: Debates on Religious Conversion in India (OUP, 2005), Christianity as a World Religion (2008 & 2016), and Public Theology and the Church (CLSK, 2021). Kim has edited fifteen books, including A Companion to Public Theology (Brill, 2017); Cosmopolitanism, Religion, and the Public Sphere (Routledge, 2014); and Christian Theology in Asia (CUP, 2008).
Introduction In-between Korean Immigrant Identity Formation and the Positionality of Asian Immigrants: Reconstructing Leadership of the Korean Immigrant Church Cooking Bahb and Missional Christian Education in the Korean North American Churches Korean Christianity and the Korean War Ascetic Spiritual Formation for the Mission of Korean Immigrant Churches in the Post-pandemic Era The Situational Role of Korean American Church in the History of the Korean American Society: From Community Centers to Bridges The Paradigm of Diaspora Missiology and Missiological Implications for Korean Immigrant Churches in the USA Race and the Korean American Church Immigration and US Congregation: Contemporary Trends and Issues A Todas las Naciones (To All the Nations): The Latin American Mission to North America and the Second Generation Concluding Remarks: Identity and Mission of the Korean American Churches
