Pastor Kiwon Suh has been serving the English congregation at New Life Vision Church (NLVC) for almost five years. However, his experience with the Korean American church goes beyond his pastoral experience. He has served in Korean American churches as a worship leader previous to becoming a pastor, and as a part of the 1.5 generation – those who had lived in Korea for during childhood and moved to grow up in the U.S. – he himself has grown up in the Korean American church as well. While a seminary student, he also researched and wrote about the issues of the Korean immigrant church. Pastor Kiwon shared his thoughts and experiences with Korean American church.
What does it mean to be a part of the “1.5 generation” for you?
People say that I’m part of the 1.5 generation, but I actually like to call myself the “bridging” generation,” between the first and second generations, spiritually, relationally, and culturally. I think for me, having the kind of background that I have is special because I’m able to relate with both generations, and in that way, be a bridge for them. I try to help our EM to understand the first generation a little better by doing small things like translating our senior pastor’s letters, which are written in Korean, into English for them. I even call our English congregation “The Bridge” because my hope for them is that they will also become the bridge for the first and third generations.
Out of your own experience with English ministries, what do you think are some challenges as well as strengths of the second generation?
I think a great strength of the younger generation is that I’ve seen many of them being willing to teach and serve at church. In my English congregation, almost half of them are teaching. This shows me that EM members are finding joy and value in cultivating the next generation. I also saw that their hunger to grow is genuine – that’s why they love preachers and pastors who actually speak what they do, and live out what they say, like Francis Chan or David Platt.
I think some challenges, though, include that they have this tendency to be comfortable in how they are living. I would receive prayer requests about how people want to read the Bible more, pray more, and grow more spiritually, but attendance in Bible studies or prayer meetings would stay very low. It seems like they don’t want their walk with God to disrupt their comfort – but when comfort is breached, there’s actually a deeper sense of peace in Christ.
Do you have any leadership system within the EM?
No, we don’t. I actually used to be hesitant in asking people to be on leadership because they were people who were already teaching in youth or children’s ministry – I was afraid of burning them out. But these days I’m realizing that I may have been over-sheltering them, and I’m thinking of ways I can raise a leadership within EM.
What do you mean by “over-sheltering”?
I just realized that no one can really avoid burnout – it’s inevitable in life. I learned that I have to equip people to be able to overcome burnout. And I think one way that people can overcome burnout is by taking time to intentionally rest – not just sitting and doing nothing, but actually taking time to reflect on what aspects they need to renew or restore. Resting has to be a commitment as well, and there has to be a growth and learning from it.
Does your EM have small groups or life groups?
We used to, but we stopped that for a while. These days I lead discipleship programs in separate groups.
Describe the discipleship meetings for me.
It’s a very focused program where everyone that is involved is mutually committed to the program. This commitment actually worked to foster more belongingness within the group. I also try to bring about more vulnerability within discipleship groups by asking hard questions about their insecurities and fears, so that they can dig deeper in themselves through the questions. Allowing this to happen totally changed the atmosphere of the entire group – it benefits the person who is sharing, and those who are listening as well.
How is your experience with other pastors at church?
We have about ten to eleven other full-time pastors at our church, and we all have a great relationship with each other. The other pastors really appreciate my relationship with them, because it shows them that EM is not just a separate identity, but that we’re one church.
I also respect our senior pastor, Reverend Choon Min Kang. Something I especially respect about him is that he really values respecting and honoring people around him.
What’s some advice you would give to other EM pastors?
I would just encourage them to have a posture of humility, and remember that every pastor is a servant of God. When we grow in humility, and show respect to the first generation by submitting to them and entrusting the church to them, we also earn their trust. And once you earn their trust, you also gain more freedom in ministry.
I would also encourage them, when they’re looking for potential churches to serve in, to not just look only at the EM, but look at the church as a whole, and consider the senior pastor as well. What can I learn from him? What do I respect about him? EM pastors often say that they want to be mentored by the senior pastor, and I think the best way to help senior pastors to mentor them is by sincerely respecting them as well.
This is one in a series of interviews with southern California pastors who either serve in English ministry (EM) or have a heart for the intergenerational relationship within the Korean church. As the generation of the Korean church leadership is shifting from the first to the second generation, what are the obstacles that are hindering the English ministry from flourishing? How can EM and KM pastors work together to build up the second-generation church? These are among the many questions that these pastors grapple with, and that Christianity Daily is hoping to wrestle together with through these interviews.
