English Compass - bringing christian fellowship to korean americans

Living Water Fellowship (LA Central Korean SDA Church)

Location: 1666 Michigan Ave.
                  Los Angeles, CA 90033
Contact: Pastor Chris Chong
email: pchrischong@gmail.com

In 1962, Los Angeles Central Korean SDA Church, the first Korean Seventh-day Adventist church in the United States, was established in East Los Angeles. After some time, the members of the church saw the need for a second-generation ministry and hired Richard Choi to serve as the pastor of the youth. 40 years later, that youth group has grown and developed into a vibrant and passionate English ministry with members from young children to English speaking adults that is ready to transform its community.

Though history can help us understand where we have come from, the true nature and character of the English ministry of the LA Central Korean Church, also known as Living Water Fellowship, lies in its vision for the future as expressed in its mission statement: Living Water Fellowship strives to be a church where seekers of justice, action, and compassion are led into a growing relationship with Jesus that impacts all aspects of their lives and their communities. LWF, through the power of the Holy Spirit and Christ-centeredness, seeks to transform the church members into justice-seeking, action-oriented compassionate people.

At this time LWF, is seeking to be a force for good in East L.A. through a number of different meaningful and creative outreach events and programs. One event, for example, that took place in August was the “Back to School” Block Party. The members of the community were invited to the church to take part in a carnival-type experience where children could place games and win school supplies. At that event 70 people from the surrounding area came for food, fun, and fellowship. Just this past December, LWF held a community Christmas program called, “A Candlelit Christmas” where we ate, sang Christmas songs, listened to a message from the pastor, and mingled over hot chocolate and cookies. At this event, 40 neighbors attended.

Another key element of the vision of LWF is the drive towards becoming a member-driven church rather than a pastor-centered one. LWF understands that the true power of the church lies in the membership. This means that equipping, training, and leadership development is an underlying goal that pervades all of its ministries.

The pastor of Living Water Fellowship, at this time, is Chris Chong who actually grew up in that church. After having graduated from Pacific Union College with a degree in theology and having served at the Glendale Korean SDA church for 5 years, Chris spent some time at the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. After that, he returned to his home church to serve as the English Ministry pastor since June 2012. His passion is to see the church become what it should in the hands of God, and not what it often becomes while in the hands of men. He believes that the true power of the church lies not in its pastors but in every single member of the church, and that when the people begin to look outside of their walls, the community will be transformed and brought nearer to Christ.