Posts Categorized: Diversity

Jesus and a Park Bench

A bench in New York’s Central Park makes a great place to people watch. I got to do that this past Sunday afternoon before I met up with the group of my general presbyter friends from around the country. Our group—hailing from Arkansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Kentucky—converges annually in New York for a… Read more »

100 Percent Authentic Fake

Corky Lee was an ABC, American born Chinese, a photographer and activist, for whom art and activism was one and the same, whose camera’s eyes gave witness to the nuanced and diverse Asian Americans, who said of himself “I’m ABC from NYC … wielding a camera to slay injustices against AAPs.” Corky grew up on the streets of… Read more »

Where Do We Start Our Story?

When the Korean Church of Boston Started Its Story of 70 years With the Stories of Native Americans. When a Korean-American church celebrates its 70th year anniversary by opening with a Native American (Elona Street-Stewart – co-moderator of the 224th General Assembly) telling the story of her people in Turtle Island thousands of year before… Read more »

Gospel and Inclusivity

Reforming our churches A series on becoming intercultural congregations by Samuel Son Few weeks ago in October I had the honor to host nine intercultural leaders across our denomination, I consider these theologians who gathered some of the best theologians of our time, because doing life together with people from different cultures and races (which… Read more »

Gospel and Inclusivity

Go Back Home!   by Samuel Son   On July 14, our president tweeted to American citizens, “Go back home.”  I’m Korean American. I came to America with my parents as a seven-year-old and I’m familiar with those taunts. They’ve been hurled at me multiple times in various forms. I want to share two of… Read more »

Genealogy Gems

Unexpected Surprises What genealogies reveal by Rebecca Lister    Do you ever get irritated when reading genealogies in the Bible? All that “so-and-so begat so-and-so…” Most of the time, we just skip over these lists of unpronounceable names to get to the good parts that really matter. Yet, genealogies hold deep meaning for us if we… Read more »

Gospel and Inclusivity

Remembering Honestly The truth behind our patriotic holidays by Samuel Son I attended two different churches on the Sunday before July 4th. They incorporated the holiday differently in their worship. One church had each military division carry their respective flags to the stage while the orchestra and the men’s choir played a rousing tune. Then… Read more »

The B-Flat Christian

The Brave Warriors of the Little Rock Nine The struggle to end school segregation in 1957 and today by Rebecca Lister Armed guards in schools to protect children from violence…who would imagine it?  It happened in 1957. Several months ago, I heard an interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air” that still stays with me. The interview… Read more »

Gospel and Inclusivity

Praying in Mother’s Language Why It’s Important to Worship God in Multiple Languages by Samuel Son The gospel song, 나의 반석이신 하나님 (naui banseogisin hananim/Ascribe Greatness to Our God), sung in the closing worship service of the National Caucus of Korean Presbyterian Churches (NCKPC) annual meeting excavated my soul, loosening memory and longing of a… Read more »

Gospel & Inclusivity

 Lessons from Starbucks What the church can learn by Samuel Son   I am in Philadelphia in the research room of Presbyterian Historical Society, surrounded by shelves holding General Assembly minutes from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) going back to 1707. I am reading the following lines from a report titled, “The General Assembly Faces the… Read more »