Models of Second-generation Korean Diaspora Churches
A
ny community of people that maintains their cul-
The
strengths
of
ture while living outside of their ancestral nation
model is that the church
is called a “Diaspora”. The Korean church in America is
feels like a tight knit fam-
a Diaspora church. The first generation of Korean Di-
ily. EM members teach
aspora are quite different from the second generation.
Sunday school to
Over the past twenty years or so, there has been a trend
children of the first-gen-
for many 2nd generation Korean Americans to leave the
eration
Korean diaspora church after graduation from High-
many of the first-gen-
School. I hope that things can turn around with FKBC’s
eration members’ chil-
next (and current) generation. Currently, we have around
dren speak English as their
120 adults (over the age of 18) in EM Sunday service. We
primary language. Also, the EM does not have to worry
have grown quite a bit and we continue to grow. I truly
about financial matters.
Korean,
this
the
since
Rev. Jacob Park
believe that God is still working in the hearts of 2nd and
1.5 generation Koreans within the ethnic Korean church
The weakness of this model is that the there is no true
while bringing in other ethnicities.
autonomy.
Not everyone agrees with me (Jacob, the author of this
article). In the world of academia, there currently are
three models for second-generation ministries for Korean
The Townhouse Model
Diaspora Christians: dependent, interdependent, and in-
A townhouse model involves two distinct congregations
dependent.1 Sharon Kim refers to the models as English
sharing the same building. At times, the language for this
Ministry (EM), Townhouse, and Independent.2
model is confusing, because many people from the Korean speaking church will refer to the second-generation
The EM Model
church as the “EM” and the second-generation church
English Ministries (EM) are ministries within the Korean
often calls the Korean speaking church the “KM”. Con-
church that are held in English. There are varying degrees
of autonomy in this model, but ultimately the EM model
is dependent on the Korean Ministry (KM) of the church.
Most EMs have an autonomous worship service on Sunday mornings. Some EMs have their own budget (which
is treated like an item on the overall church budget) and
deacon or two on the deacon board (which is predominantly Korean speaking).
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Pilgrim's Fountain
2016 Fall