EMPAC 2023
This past April, a number of English Ministry Pastors from across the country convened in the Oregon Coast for the annual EMPAC meeting.
EMPAC, short for English Ministry Pastor Advisory Council, is a number of things. It is a support group for pastors serving in the Korean-American church, it is a resource network, it is a think group, and it is an official entity that represents the English Ministry and Youth Ministry Pastors to the larger Korean Church Association.
Once a year, all English Ministry pastors who do ministry at Korean American churches are invited for a 3 day meeting. This year we had pastors from both west and east coasts as well as seminary students and international students from Korea attend the EMPAC meeting.
The main purpose of these meetings is to share. Pastoral Ministry is a very isolating profession. Despite the fact that most of our time is spent with and around people, it is often a lonely experience because there are not many people that we are able to share our burden with. In that sense, EMPAC serves as group therapy. Pastors are able to share their struggles, their doubts, their feelings and their experiences both positive and negative to the only group that we can honestly and openly share them with.
EMPAC is also a place to share ideas and resources. There are pastors who have been in ministry for decades and pastors who have just started their ministry. One of the mainstays of the EMPAC meetings is ministry sharing time. Pastors share different ministry ideas that have been successful or failures at their churches in the hopes that other pastors can replicate or build on these ideas at their local church.
This is the bedrock principle of EMPAC: that we are all in ministry together. We may serve at different churches with different cultures in different parts of the country, but ultimately we are all ministers of the Kingdom of God, and as such, we must support each other and carry each other as we do ministry together. One pastor’s success is everyones success and one pastor’s burden is everyones burden.
The second purpose of the EMPAC meetings is to discuss the future and direction of the Korean American Church. This year specifically, a significant amount of time was spent answering a very important question: What is the future of the Korean-American Church?
Obviously there is no single answer for this question; the question itself is too broad and nuanced for it to be answered simply and succinctly. The question, and more importantly, the discussion that followed, helped us to understand to scope of the issue.
Here is the current situation: there are around 160 Korean churches in the United States and Canada. Within those 160 churches, there are close to 20 full time English Ministry pastors. If we include part time, bible workers, and lay leaders hired as English/Youth ministry coordinators, the number can be as high as 40. There is clearly a shortage of pastors and lay leaders for our churches. Here is the issue: as of this writing, there is only one student studying theology at an Adventist university with the intent to enter pastoral ministry in the Korean church. One.
One student to fill the many openings for youth pastors in the US and Canada. One student to fill the openings for full time EM pastors that have been left unfilled for years. One student to fill the openings left behind as the very first wave of English Ministry pastors approach retirement.
This is a significant issue.
Through discussion, the pastors came to one conclusion: the principle that EMPAC holds as one of its core must also be held by the churches. We are one church. We may exist in different parts of the country and the world, but ultimately we are one church with one vision and one goal: to build the Kingdom of God. To that end, the solution to this problem also lies in that principle.
In the Bible there is the familiar story of the Tower of Babel. Humanity to that point was a single community speaking the same language and sharing the same culture. In their hubris, they wanted to build a tower that would reach God. God, in response, scatters this community by creating different languages and cultures.
Why would God do such a thing? Is God so insecure in HIs power that He would feel threatened by this idea? God gives His people one instruction: to share the message to the world. Throughout the Bible, the word used is scatter or spread. God wants His people to go into the world to share the message. This was the instruction for this early community, it was the instruction for the Israelites, it is the instruction today. Go and make disciples.
This early community had one goal when it came to building the Tower of Babel. We can read it in Genesis 11:4: ‘…so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the earth’. They wanted to make a name for themselves. Instead of building the Kingdom of God, they wanted to build their Brand.
The church suffers from a similar issue today. Instead of building the Kingdom of God, churches want to build up their Brand. Instead of cooperating and pooling resources to help address issues, each church wants to do their own thing, under their own banner, under their own Brand.
This is the mentality that we must escape from if there is to be any hope of sustained success in the future. Churches must understand that we have a common goal and a common vision, and that the success of one church is success for the Kingdom of God. Instead of fighting among ourselves for credit and for The Brand, we must not just coexist but come together and unify.
The pastors who attended EMPAC have left with this as our mission: To help unify churches. To not just view ministry within the prism of our local church and the church we serve at, but as a collective entity. To think about and worry about the churches around us in addition to our own.
This is the direction that EMPAC feels our churches and our pastors must walk towards, given the current situation.
In the coming months and years, the leadership at EMPAC, as well as the member pastors will continue to brainstorm, continue to discuss, and continue to pray about the future of our churches. We ask that all of you do the same. The message of the Gospel and everything that it contains is needed today more than ever. It is up to all of us to come together, and instead of building up our own Brand, we must build up the Kingdom of God. Together.
Jason Kim was born and raised in Maryland. He studied History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Seminary at Andrews University. He served as the English Ministry Pastor at Chicago Unity SDA, Garden Grove Korean, and L.A. Central Korean churches. He is currently the Media Director at Yorba Linda SDA Church. He lives in Orange County California with his wife, two sons, and two dogs