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Bethany held its first Sunday worship service on November 30, 1941, in a storefront with 35 adults and 19 children with Rev. William H. Neebe as the first pastor. The church building was completed in 1947. At its height, the membership numbered 350. After more than a generation of growth and faithful service, the congregation began to decline in numbers until only about 15 members gathered on Sundays. Then in 2002, a conversation began between Bethany and the Korean United Presbyterian Church (KUPC), also in Bloomfield, N.J., of the possibility of the merger between Bethany and the English Speaking Ministry (ESM) of KUPC. With the helpful liaison works of Rev. Dr. Paul Huh, then the pastor of Bethany (who is now a faculty member in Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea) the Presbytery of Newark, and lots of planning and prayer, and with the blessing of the KUPC session, about 50 mostly second generation Korean American English speaking members joined Bethany by transfer of membership. The first service with the new members was held on Easter Sunday, 2003 with the vision of intentionally becoming a multi-cultural church. Rev. Dr. Kevin Park was ordained and installed as a designated pastor of Bethany in December 2003, and was installed as pastor in February 2006.
The challenge was readily apparent soon after the first joint worship. There was awkwardness between the two congregations trying to become one, especially since the newer members were younger Korean American members used to being part of a larger Korean speaking church, and since the original Bethany members were mostly elderly white Americans — neither congregation had much experience with the other community. It was difficult for the newer members, who had been relying on the first generation Korean speaking ministry for many years to all of a sudden learn how to run a church in a hurry, with the level of administrative and financial responsibilities that were previously unknown to them. It was also difficult because such a model of two communities, different in culture, tradition, and in generations, becoming one, was unknown to us. So Bethany was headed for uncharted territory without a map. Another challenge was that, since the newer members joined Bethany through transfer of membership and could not be part of the Bethany session right away, the session of Bethany did not represent the “all of a sudden change” in the congregation. Although selected new lay leaders sat in the session meetings with voice but without vote, it made for an awkward leadership until elders were elected among the newer members.
Inevitably, a few members from Bethany have left within the first year of the merger and more members from KUPC ESM left the congregation. The first two years were marked with surprises, joys, disappointments, lots of learning, growing, getting to know each other, as well as turbulence that comes with such a significant and sudden change for both congregations.
The third year was marked with more consistent direction and growth that came with the two congregations really experiencing becoming one community of God. More and more, there was less usage of the terms “us” and “them” when describing Bethany, and more usage of the phrase “our church” from both communities were evident. Also, new members from the neighborhood joined Bethany. We have been intentionally reaching out to the community by holding community events such as carnivals, lawn sales, BBQs, Vacation Bible School, Christmas tree lighting ceremony, special worship services and seminars, and our latest event, a new playground dedication ceremony ($35 000 was raised in four months within the congregation for the project) where many new families came.
Our vision is to reach out to our neighborhood which is increasingly becoming multi-cultural with the gospel of Jesus Christ marked by the radical hospitality that Jesus demonstrated through his life, death, and resurrection and become a community of God that reflects the kingdom of God where the “People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.” (Rev. 21:26)
Our present membership is about 60 adult members worshipping on Sundays with about 40 children. Ethnic make-up of the church is as follows: 40 Korean American, 20 Caucasian, 3 Hispanic, 1 African American, 1 Chinese American, 4 multi-racial families. The session is made up of 4 Korean Americans and 1 Caucasian. The board of deacons is made up of 6 Korean Americans, 1 African American, 1 Caucasian, and 1 Chinese American. We have a very strong children’s ministry known as the BPCCM (Bethany Presbyterian Church Children’s Ministry) in which 14 teachers are engaged in this ministry, including a Korean language school offered on Sundays for those families desiring such education for their children. As the church grows in numbers and diversity, we hope to add on other language schools as the need arises.
Bethany has been intentionally multi-cultural for three years and we look forward to continued growth in faith in diversity. Because we have had consistent outreach through mailing ministry, community events, and inviting friends and neighbors for the past three years, the community has been “noticing” the revival of the church and a regular comment that we would hear from new members or from the community is, “We have been noticing that something is happening at your church!” Recently, we have been blessed with members with appropriate gifts who have been engaging in the ministry with energy and creativity that has added to the immediate and future growth of the church.
The church has been growing in numbers, in spiritual growth and energy. We are thankful that God has been faithful in training us to become God’s multi-cultural community that witnesses to the glory of God in Jesus Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit. We have a long way to go but we know that God is with us and will continue to guide us and shape us and that is good enough for Bethany.
Bethany Presbyterian Church
293 West Passaic Ave. Bloomfield, N.J. 07003
(973) 338-8737
e-mail: revkevinpark@yahoo.com
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