Together: A GA Reflection co-written by Paul and Yina Han
By Paul and Yina Han
This is the fourth installment of a series of reflections from the 51st PCA General Assembly 2024. Our goal is to serve the greater PCA by highlighting our stories and by platforming the abundance of talent we have among the KALI community. In this reflection, Paul Han (TE - Heritage Presbytery) and Yina Han (Counseling Fellow - Anchored Hope) share their thoughts from their time in Richmond, VA, specifically focusing on their experiences of Thursday Night’s bilingual worship service and the General Assembly’s floor business.
Introduction to the PCA
Yina Han:
“You guys are very white, we are not, and I need to know that my family will be okay if we take on this call because I fully intend on raising my boys as unapologetically proud Korean Americans, made in the image of God.”
After months of my husband candidating for various pastoral positions within the PCA, he had finally received an offer from our current church. While there were no glaring red flags, and not even a single microaggression passed onto us during candidating weekend, the question lingered in my heart of what this would mean for our family going into a church as a minority. I recognize that these feelings came from a place of hurt from past experiences of racism. But nevertheless, this involved my children and I had to address the subject head-on. I held my breath as I anticipated the senior pastor's response. I was not only asking a direct question to him about race but how would he respond to me, a woman? Much to my relief and shock, his response was full of compassion and kindness and my heart was at ease for our family to move forward with the position.
I've been well acquainted with these types of environments for some time now, having been in a PCA church for the majority of my young adult years and having graduated from a Reformed seminary. Walking into another predominantly white, conservative Reformed space meant there was a level of risk for me, and now, my children as well.
My Korean American identity was never much of a consideration or point of conversation throughout my theological education, even though my faith had been passed on through the deep heritage of faith in the Korean church. My faith grew in the PCA church and I was nourished and equipped with rich theological education at Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS). But my heritage was from the Korean church. Somewhere along the lines of the Lord's goodness to me, I grew a sense of conviction that I, too, a Korean American woman, am an image bearer of God. As an heir of God and coheirs with Christ, I can hold myself with dignity in a way that I never felt was modeled to me.
I deeply desire a different experience for my children, and that means I daily take on the task of instilling in them, both a love for the Lord, and for the ethnic identity the Lord has given them—doing so while guarding them from environments that might suggest anything else.
Having two, third-generation Korean American children, when we heard that for the first time in our denomination’s history, that there would be a bilingual worship service in English and Korean at the PCA General Assembly, we knew we had to be there. We thought it would be especially meaningful for our children to join us in worship in the way that we, and previous generations of our families, had. Although we have painstakingly raised our children to speak Korean as their primary language while it is not our own, they have never attended a Korean church as Paul has been ministering in non-Korean contexts for 10 years and counting. We continue to be willing to serve in different cultural contexts because we hold wholeheartedly that the gospel is for all, and it has the power to break down cultural, racial, and ethnic barriers. As a result, attending the General Assembly was a unique opportunity for us as a family to worship together in our native tongue.
Paul Han:
Like many Korean-American Christians, I was born into a Christian home where we faithfully attended and served a Korean-American church. Despite being members of a Presbyterian church (PCUSA), I was not introduced to the Reformed tradition until my freshman year of college, when I joined a PCA congregation. It was there that the Holy Spirit opened my heart to embrace God’s sovereignty. I came to understand that my good works could not bring me favor with God. I could only be saved by trusting in Christ and His grace freely offered to us in the gospel. The pastors of that church faithfully preached and expositied God’s word and it transformed my life. My theological and biblical convictions progressively became more Reformed and Presbyterian over the years. This journey led me to become a Teaching Elder in the PCA, a denomination I genuinely cherish.
Thursday Night Bilingual Worship Service
Yina:
The Thursday night worship service spiritually fed me in a way that I did not expect. The worship was everything I knew growing up in the Korean church.
While the familiarity was nostalgic and expected, what struck me most was how we were worshiping in Korean in a room where Koreans were still the minorities. It affirmed and reminded me in a fresh way that the gospel is truly for me and my children as Korean Americans just as much as the gospel is for all.
Pastor Joel Kim’s sermon reminded us of our own faith heritage and although the history of the Korean church only goes back around 140 years, we have a rich history of God moving in the Korean church. The time of tongsung kido (korean-style prayer) was a deep reminder that we are the fruit of the prayers of many previous generations of the Korean church.
Our Korean-Americanness was not an afterthought in the worship service that night. It was front and center. We led brothers and sisters of various ethnicities in the PCA into worship and Christ was exalted. Even with the various complicated emotions I carry when it comes to the Korean American church and the PCA, I left with a deep assurance and confidence of the Lord’s unending love for both. Both have areas of unhealthiness to repent of and to learn and grow in their own ways. Even still, I thank God for his love for the Korean Church and the PCA, for He works in spite of our sins, weaknesses, and imperfections.
Paul:
The 51st General Assembly in Richmond, VA was my very first. My wife and I jumped at the opportunity and we even brought our kids along for the ride. We came to Richmond primarily to experience the first bilingual Korean & English worship service on Thursday evening. We wanted to witness this historic moment and worship alongside our PCA brothers and sisters in a deeply personal and nostalgic way. It was indeed an unforgettable moment. God moved unexpectedly in our hearts that evening. Tears welled up as my wife and I joined Korean and non-Korean brothers and sisters from across the PCA in worshiping our God. Seeing my children witness singing, prayer, and the reading and preaching of God’s Word in their native language was profoundly moving.
Throughout the service, I reflected on how my parents came to faith because of the Korean-American church and felt deeply grateful for God’s faithfulness to the Korean church through generations, dating back to the first missionaries who arrived in Korea in the 1880s. Many of our forefathers and foremothers encountered the living God and we, as members of the church of Jesus Christ in the United States, are the fruit of their faith and good works. We are indebted to God and our spiritual forebears. While the worship service gave me hope and a sense of belonging in our denomination, it also stirred a longing for more and better in the PCA,
Seeing my children witness singing, prayer, and the reading and preaching of God’s Word
in their native language was profoundly moving.
Many Korean-Americans, despite aligning in our Presbyterian and Reformed convictions, often feel that we do not quite belong in the PCA. Our cultural differences sometimes lead to cultural dissonance and conflict. Leading up to the General Assembly, there was controversy as to whether or not we should have a time of tongsung kido in the bilingual worship service. Some opposed it, citing concerns that it is unbiblical because of its disorderly nature. Although it is reasonable to think it was unwise to have tongsung kido during the worship service, it was discouraging to hear such furious pushback towards something that is a cultural and stylistic preference more than anything else. Instead of a spirit of forbearance, I saw a spirit of dogmatism and a lack of empathy.
Sharing our concerns regarding cultural insensitivity in the PCA is often met with dismissal. We are accused of pedaling victimization narratives, being leftist, and being influenced by the “spirit of the age”. In the past, I’ve raised concerns about promoting and promulgating Robert Dabney because of his blatantly racist views. I asked those who promote him, “Do you not care how this affects minorities?” In response, I was accused of being secular and infected by postmodern framing, and that I should join with other Koreans in our “own ethnic group in the PCA.”
General Assembly Floor Business
Paul:
The debates on the floor of the Assembly to amend the BCO regarding officer titles, underscored the aforementioned cultural tensions. I am thankful to read from Timothy Sin’s GA reflection that many non-Korean brothers sought understanding and that a protest was filed, mainly out of concern for Korean American churches.
But I had a different, more disappointing experience.
It is true that Korean American presbyters are quite divided on this particular issue. Some Korean American churches desire to move away from how titles have been historically used in our context. I am actually inclined to agree with that desire. However, in the conversations that I was a part of, there seemed to be very little desire for understanding. Korean American churches were being accused of letting their culture, instead of Scripture, dictate their practice. There probably is some truth to that, but beyond this accusation, there was very little desire for engagement and consideration from the Korean American perspective. There is, of course, much that the Korean American Church can do in reforming and being more biblical in practice, but I believe that is true of any church, whether it be majority Black, Latino, Chinese, White or any ethnicity.
Yina:
In stark contrast to Thursday Night’s worship service, attending the business side of GA was disheartening. Korean concerns regarding the amendment to limit the use of officer titles seemed to be largely ignored and brushed off. While no one outright said “your cultural context is irrelevant,” it was the silence of the majority paired with general inconsideration that spoke the loudest.
Sitting through the business as a woman felt oddly familiar. In my previous experiences in such conservative Reformed environments, it was not uncommon for me to feel unheard, dismissed, or invisible. I was well aware that this would not be a time or space for any visitor to speak out, as business is intended for commissioners. But in the following debates and discussions, I sensed that there was such a fervor, zeal, and maybe even fixation towards prohibiting women to preach. But yet, not wasn’t remotely as much investment in seeking to protect women and children from abusers.
Sitting through the business as a woman felt oddly familiar.
In my previous experiences in such conservative Reformed environments,
it was not uncommon for me to feel unheard, dismissed, or invisible.
Thankfully, there were those who spoke with fervor and zeal in favor of the BCO amendments seeking to protect women and children, but those men were also frequently dismissed as being emotional and illogical. The nature of these discussions reinforced my concern that women are too often written off for being feminist, too emotional, illogical, or unneeded in these types of dialogue.
As a student at WTS, I would occasionally hear comments like, “women don’t belong in Seminary.” In a similar vein, just weeks after GA, there was an uproar on Twitter/X about there being too many women attending the new students luncheon at RTS Jackson and wondering why so many women are attending seminary. We should note that we are unaware of how many of them were actual new students as opposed to families of new students or staff. My time attending the business at GA was a flashback to some of the discouraging parts of my time at WTS. I wrestle with the fact that there may be some individuals in the PCA who hold to similar ideologies.
Our Future in the PCA
Yina:
Even as I witnessed some of the more fragmented areas of the denomination, I’m so happy my family was able to make it out to GA this year. I continue to hold a deep appreciation and love for the Reformed tradition. I thank God for our denomination. I thank God for the growing number of Korean and Korean American pastors growing within the PCA and their commitment to the Reformed tradition. As I continue to hold the tension of the good and the not-yet good, I eagerly pray, as the theme of GA was for this year, for the continued knitting together in love of all those in the PCA.
Paul:
I am grateful that there are many non-Korean brothers who advocate for Korean American voices in our denomination. We’re a significant minority within the PCA. I appreciate the many Korean American brothers who actively prioritize the work of the denomination. I plan to follow their lead and I hope that many of us will. We are not a monolith and we disagree, even with one another, on many issues. But I believe most, if not all, of us desire a church that pursues the vision of Revelation 7. The bilingual worship service was a glimpse of that unity in diversity we long for in heaven. I pray we, in the PCA, will work to pursue now, what we will come to enjoy then.
Paul Han is a Teaching Elder in Heritage Presbytery and received his MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is serving as the Youth and Young Adults Pastor at The Town Church (PCA) in Middletown, Delaware. He loves serving in youth ministry and has been volunteering or ministering to teenagers for over 15 years. He met his wife, Yina, in college and they have two sons together.
Yina Han is a Counseling Fellow at Anchored Hope virtual counseling. She received her MA in Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary. She holds close to her heart those who are suffering from church hurt and wrestling with disillusionment in the Church. She also has a particular burden for Asian-Americans who have resisted counseling due to the cultural taboos associated with it. She is married to Paul, and they reside in Delaware with two sons.
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