Joel Kim was appointed to serve as the fourth president for Westminster Seminary California.
Westminster Seminary California’s board of trustees has announced that Joel Eunil Kim will be the next president following current president Robert Godfrey’s retirement.
“The Presidential Search Committee has worked diligently since September 2016 to find the man whom the Lord has prepared for this time of leadership in the life of Westminster Seminary California,” said Ronald Prins, the chairman of the board of trustees, in a statement released on May 9.
“Through the careful and prayerful process of considering many candidates, with the Lord’s blessing, we are pleased with this selection of Rev. Kim for the future of WSC.”
Kim has worked at Westminster as an assistant professor of New Testament since 2005 and is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles; Westminster Seminary California; and Calvin Theological Seminary. He also serves as the chair of the Candidates and Credentials Committee of the Korean Southwest Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
“It is my deep honor and privilege to serve as the next president of Westminster Seminary California,” said Kim in a video statement.
Godfrey, who plans to retire by the end of July, said that Kim “brings many gifts to this new role along with his passion for and experience in pastoral ministry.”
“WSC has become a seminary not only for the west, but for the nation and the world,” he added.
Kim, who immigrated to California from South Korea at the age of nine, currently also serves as a teaching elder in the PCA and is a member of New Life PCA in Escondido.
Westminster Seminary California (WSC), known for its commitment to Reformed theology, first enrolled students in 1980, and was initially a branch of Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. WSC became an independent seminary in 1982.
