The Rise of the Jesus Community: Fall FAMBAM 2025
What a great time we had at the Fall FAMBAM of 2025! If you’re thinking that we already had a FAMBAM in the spring this year, you’re right. Normally, FAMBAM is an annual event, but this year we had the special privilege of holding another one in the fall because our invited speaker, Pastor Chris, had an opening in his schedule.
Chris Chong—senior pastor of RoC (Oregon Central Korean) Church, president of the EM Pastors Council, and vice president of the Korean Church Association—is a very busy and highly sought-after speaker. It took years to coordinate his visit to New York, so when the opportunity arose for him to come in mid-November, we seized it, and we certainly do not regret it!
For those unfamiliar with FAMBAM, it is a gathering of the New York/New Jersey Korean Seventh-day Adventist churches. FAMBAM stands for Families Building a Movement, and that is exactly what we aim to do. The program is geared especially toward English Ministries members, but we have intentionally made it a joint event with the Korean ministries so the entire group can be blessed by the guest speaker and fellow attendees.
This year, FAMBAM was held at the Westchester Korean Church. Its retreat-like setting, tucked away from the city with ample parking, emphasized the feeling of stepping out of daily routines and entering a special place and time.
Friday Evening
The weekend began Friday night with an intimate gathering at the church parsonage. A lovely dinner was prepared by Junsik and Grace Kim, and their precocious son, Joel, treated us to an impressive display of his musical instrument collection. After soothing praise music from the New York Central Church team, Pastor Chris launched the first message of the weekend on the theme “The Rise of the Jesus Community.”
Sabbath Worship & Music
Throughout the weekend, we enjoyed wonderful music. The praise band from the New York Central Church delivered an exciting, rich, youthful sound. Their energetic renditions of classic hymns brought fresh life to familiar lyrics. Their full ensemble—complete with multiple instruments, amplifiers, and vocalists—required two vans to transport, and FAMBAM was richly blessed by their dedication.
The Queens Church ensemble delighted everyone with a beautiful instrumental piece for the morning special music. Seeing the youth play so skillfully was a testament to their hard work and many hours of practice.
During the third session, Nathan Moravetz and Annie Cheong—who recently moved to the area and are now attending Central New Jersey Church—shared a moving special music. Annie sang while Nathan accompanied her on piano and joined her in harmony, beautifully preparing our hearts for Pastor Chris’s sermon.
Messages from Pastor Chris
On Sabbath morning, Pastor Chris presented two powerful messages. He spoke about how Christianity, historically, should not have thrived as it did, yet because early believers faithfully followed certain principles, the movement not only survived but grew into what we see today. He encouraged us that these same principles can guide the modern church in bringing Jesus’ message to our world.
Pastor Chris spoke with clarity and conviction, weaving warmth, charm, and humor throughout his messages. As we listened, our leaders felt assured that hosting a second FAMBAM this year was absolutely the right decision.
Fellowship & Afternoon Program
The Westchester Church deaconesses did an outstanding job preparing lunch for the large crowd. Everyone commented on how abundant and delicious the food was. Guests and church members fellowshipped warmly over the generous spread.
After lunch, Pastor Chris gave a special presentation on Kainos, a recently formed organization that supports Korean-Adventist ministry in the SDA church. He shared how Kainos can strengthen our churches, especially those without an EM pastor, and encouraged young people and parents to consider ministry as a meaningful career. He spoke convincingly about his love for pastoral ministry and the unique blessings that come from leading people into Christ’s fold.
For the afternoon activity, we took a scenic hike at Croton Gorge Park, a beautiful reservoir just ten minutes from the church. The group enjoyed a leisurely walk, fellowship, and some much-needed exercise after the hearty lunch.
Saturday Evening & Closing
Kainos was kind enough to treat the FAMBAM leaders to a dinner in downtown Flushing Saturday night. So the leaders made the trek from upper Westchester to Flushing Saturday night. Although beset by traffic into the city and difficult navigation through the byzantine thoroughfares of downtown Flushing, the group finally got to eat. Pastor Chris had a rude introduction into Flushing traffic as it took him an hour to drive one square block. But he took it all in stride and joked that it brought back his old defensive driving techniques. The leadership had a scrumptious dinner at the bustling shabu shabu restaurant. It was another wonderful opportunity for the leaders to get to know each other and for Pastor Chris to get to know the leadership in the area.
Unbeknownst to the older leaders who headed home after the dinner, some of the younger leaders made impromptu plans for late-night bowling with Pastor Chris. Rumor has it they had a fantastic time of fun and fellowship.
Gratitude & Looking Ahead
FAMBAM is special not only because of the event itself but also because of how the leaders from various churches work together to prepare it. That collaboration strengthens the entire NY/NJ EM community and benefits each local church.
Although many people contributed to the success of this year’s event, special thanks go to Kelsey Ahn and Kevin Maravilla from New York Central, Young Joon Kim from Queens, and Eric Chung, Jane Chung, and Junsik Kim from Westchester. We also give a special shout-out to Pastor Jay Cheong, who helped make key connections that brought this event together. We also thank the senior pastors of the area churches who supported FAMBAM through their dues and prayers. And we thank Pastor Sang-Ki Ahn, the Korean Ministry coordinator for his help and support.
Praise God for a blessed Fall FAMBAM 2025! We are already looking forward to the next one!