The Korean Pastors Association of Eastern Region of L.A. wrote, signed, and sent a letter to the San Gabriel Presbytery last week expressing concern and disappointment on the delay of the dismissal of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church from the PCUSA, and requesting that the church be dismissed swiftly according to the Gracious Dismissal Policy that the Presbytery has established.
"We are ... confounded by PCUSA's unwillingness to comply with the very policy that it officially adopted," the letter states. "The current impasse has been truly disappointing. We are very concerned and worried over whether the Administrative Commission of San Gabriel Presbytery has unintentionally caused, fostered, or condoned dissension and conflicts by inexplicably delaying its implementation of the Policy and the finalization of GSPC's severance from the PCUSA."
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church held a vote in March of 2014 whether to leave the PCUSA, and 91 percent of the members voted in favor of leaving the denomination. However, the church has not been dismissed from the denomination, and the San Gabriel Presbytery instead determined that there is a conflict within the church due to a lack of agreement between the majority who voted to leave, and the minority who voted to stay. The Presbytery then established an Administrative Commission over Good Shepherd, and appointed Aidan Dongwoo Lee as the Moderator over the Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church Session.
"If the decision by the vote of an overwhelming majority of GSPC's congregation is not respected because of a vociferous minority, then PCUSA's decision to accept homosexuals will not be respected and followed," the letter states. "Both the decision of a majority of PCUSA members and the decision of a majority of GSPC members must be respected and followed. Otherwise, the credibility and integrity of PCUSA and the Administrative Commission will be seriously questioned, and the seed of distrust and anger will be planted."
"If GSPC continues to experience the difficulties leaving under the Policy, and, as a result, its membership decreases and its leadership is disparaged, our members will be forced to question PCUSA's integrity, which is more serious than the issue of homosexual ordination and the change of the definition of marriage."
Jae Ho Song, the senior pastor of First Southern Baptist Church of Walnut; Sinyil Kim, the senior pastor of Union Evangelical Church; Seunghee Ko, the senior pastor of Beautiful Church; Jun Woo Choi, the senior pastor of Emmaus Presbyterian Church; and Paul S. Park, the senior pastor of East Sarang Community Church were among the pastors who signed the letter.
The members of the Association also expressed their desire to meet with the members of the Administrative Commission and other leaders in the denomination to discuss the matter in person.
Some 300 members of multiple Korean American churches in the Eastern region of Los Angeles -- around Rowland Heights, CA -- have held early morning prayer meetings on April 28 and 29, during which they prayed on behalf of Good Sheperd's peaceful and formal dismissal from the denomination.
