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God, amazingly, has blessed my life and ministry through multicultural Pasadena Presbyterian Church (PPC). As a white American man, I had lived most of my life comfortably in my hometown of Washington, D.C. Two years ago, God called me to relocate to a culturally diverse community in Pasadena, California, to attend Fuller Seminary. When I first attended worship at PPC, an Asian woman with a heavy accent asked me to be a volunteer by offering a dinner and fellowship for two international students. I said “no,” and took a flyer. I did not know at the time that her request was actually my call from God to enter multicultural ministry, and that God has just introduced me to my future wife.
Jeongju (Grace) came to study in Los Angeles, from Korea, five years ago after finishing the Master in Divinity program at Hanil Presbyterian Seminary. When she arrived in Los Angeles she saw how much our communities and churches were segregated. While looking for a church that welcomed Koreans and Americans she found PPC. Through this church she developed a strong desire to help diverse people come together.
Pasadena Presbyterian Church is pioneering multicultural church in our denomination. Several years ago the church began a process to make the church truly multicultural and inclusive by starting congregations for those who speak Spanish and Korean. These groups were not nested congregations. Rather they were “quilted” together with members of each language group belonging to one church, but worshiping their own language. All of this was a response to the church’s mission statement where they state the desire “to witness to our oneness in Christ by bridging boundaries of age, language, race, class, culture, gender and sexual identity.
Last spring, Grace recruited me to be a Bible study leader for an international student small group that was to meet in her apartment. Grace and I recruited international students from area language schools, and offered dinner, English conversation, and Bible study. I had difficulty, at first, entering into conversation with the students. One day I found the answer. At dinner I was the only one using a fork. So I picked up some chopsticks and asked the students to teach me how to use them. They became the teachers and loved the fact that an American wanted to learn this skill. This one act was the most important thing I did to create trusting friendships with international students.
One of my roles in this group was to drive the students to their homes. This was very challenging given their limited English skills. I discovered when driving them home that Koreans rarely use names of roads. Rather they rely on landmarks which are sometimes hard to see in the dark. Since I was new to the area I had no idea where I was going. Once I had to stop the car and teach the phrase “turn right at the next corner” and “turn left at the next corner” just to (get) them home. I discovered that patience is needed when working with new immigrants. However, Grace and I showed God’s hospitality to them continually. The students felt safe and belonged to a community. This group quickly grew and in the fall of 2005 we moved it into the Parish House at the church.
We call this ministry CrossRoads because our participants’ roads cross from so many diverse countries, but we are united on one road leading to the cross of Jesus Christ. PPC provides a room and money for food. We organized a leadership team that consists of international students and Americans. Daniel, a talented musician pastor from Korea leads our music. June, a psychiatrist from Korea, organized transportation. Rachel and Ester, American students, Fuller, Steven, an American language teacher, and Thu, a Vietnamese seminarian at San Francisco Seminary, lead small groups. CrossRoads has members from Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Taiwan, Mexico and the United States. Many are learning about Christ for the first time. We are united by our love of Christ and a desire to learn English.
This year Grace, Dr. Mark Smutny and I developed a Bible study curriculum for multicultural groups using a technique called “mutual invitation.” The Bible study was based on the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50 and explored sin and forgiveness in families. We called it “Coming Together as the Family of God.” Over sixty members from the English, Korean and Spanish congregations of the church participated in seven small group sessions for Lent. Our hope was to continually develop close relationships across economic, language, and ethnic barriers in God’s family and to train new leaders for this multicultural church.
Last December, Grace and I were married at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. Although we had only worshiped there for two years, over 150 attended. Associate Pastor Hyun Sung performed the ceremony in both Korean and English. Co-Pastor Barbara Anderson gave the benediction. Luis Madrical, Parish Associate for Latino/a Ministries, blessed our meal. Our CrossRoads music team led us singing. Dr. Ray Heer, Coordinator of the International Student Ministry Team, played the piano. And we ate a delicious Korean mean followed by entertainment from a local magician. Grace and I were dressed in traditional western wedding attire for the ceremony, but we changed into traditional Korean hanboks for the reception. The wedding and reception was our way of thanking the church for their love and support for our multicultural ministry.
Pasadena Presbyterian Church
585 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, Calif. 91101
626-793-2191
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