|
Written by Leslie Scanlon, OUTLOOK national reporter
|
|
Monday, 11 January 2010 16:38 |
|
| | |
Jin S. Kim, founding pastor of Church of All Nations (cando.org/main/index.asp) in Minneapolis, Minn., will stand for moderator of the 2010 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which will meet in July in Minnesota.
On Jan. 9, the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area unanimously endorsed his candidacy. Kim, who currently serves as moderator of that presbytery, becomes the second candidate announced so far, along with Cynthia Bolbach an elder from National Capital Presbytery.
Church of All Nations, a multicultural congregation with no ethnic majority was founded in 2004 with a largely Korean base — but by the end of 2007 had become roughly one-third Asian and one-third Anglo, with a mixture of African Americans, immigrants, and Latinos as well, according to the congregation’s Web site.
Kim often speaks on the need for racial reconciliation, calling himself a racist during an address last summer at the Multicultural Church Conference and saying he encourages all in his congregation to admit that about themselves as well.
Kim, born in Korea in 1968, moved to the United States in 1975 with his family, and grew up in South Carolina and Georgia. He earned an undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech University, a Master’s of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a doctorate in ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary.
Kim has been involved in conversations about racial reconciliation and ecumenical relations as a member the Jewish-PC(USA) Dialogue; a PC(USA) delegate to the National Council of Churches; and a member of the special General Assembly committee that is considering whether the PC(USA) should amend its Book of Confessions to add the Belhar Confession from South Africa.
He and his wife, Soon Pac, have a son and a daughter.
In a 2009 interview with the Faith & Leadership program at Duke University, Kim spoke of his efforts to build community in his diverse congregation: “We do a lot of eating together, a lot of potlucks,” Kim said. “It's delicious — the best food from all over the world. My pastoral style is to invite as many people as possible to my home. Most of the members of our church — about 300 — have been inside my home and have eaten Korean food at my table. And we have broken bread and rice, so that this person is not a project or an instrument. This is not a power lunch. Diversity is not a project for us.”
Trackback(0)
 |
|
|
| Join Our News Alerts Mailing List |
|
|
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed