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Until recently, Korean-language speakers had no options for RCA ministry training in their native language. Now the MFCA offers a new path to ministry for Korean-speaking students

MFCA offers a new path to ministry for Korean-language students

Until January 2015, Korean-language speakers had no options for RCA ministry training in their native language. But a new program offers such training in Korean. The program is available through the Ministerial Formation Certification Agency (MFCA). The MFCA works cooperatively with partners inside and outside the RCA to broaden opportunities for ministerial formation.

Eun Jae (Daniel) Joo, who facilitates the new program, is himself a Ph.D. candidate at Westminster Theological Seminary. He sees high value in the new program for students with limited English.

“On the one hand, the program can benefit Korean students who have limited English,” Joo says. “[The] Korean language program provides those students ways to access the class in their own language when needed.”

But Joo adds that the program is also helpful for Korean students who speak English fluently.

“[The] Korean-language program provides an environment where students participate in their discussions with their Korean church context in mind,” Joo explains. “Even those students who are fluent in English—most of them have served or are serving in Korean churches. So their common experiences in Korean culture can be shared in many ways in this program.”

Currently, four to seven students are enrolled in each of the Korean-language program classes being offered. Many are currently serving in Korean-American churches’ Sunday school, youth ministry, college and young adult ministry, and worship programs.

Three of the participants in the program are members of the Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, church that Joo serves as senior pastor.

Willow Grove Korean Reformed Church “is a typical Korean-American church in that it consists of first-generation immigrants and their second-generation children,” says Joo. “We are striving to be a faithful witness of Christ to the world emphasizing…worship, fellowship, and discipleship as our core values.”

The faithful witness of Willow Grove certainly struck a chord with the three members who joined the MFCA program. Joo notes that none of them had an RCA connection at all before coming to his church.

“They all are fascinated by [the] RCA’s rich Reformed heritage and the mission-oriented history, as well as its openness to those who are from other denominational backgrounds,” Joo says.

Yunna Kim, one of the candidates, began her faith journey in a Presbyterian church that did not ordain women. But she felt confident God was calling her to ministry. She soon discovered how.

“She began to serve at my church as a Sunday school director four years ago and realized that the church belonged to a denomination that ordains women,” Joo recalls. “After several recommendations from pastoral staff and church members for her to be an ordained minister, she decided to be in [the] MFCA program.”

Now, thanks to the Korean cohort, Kim has the opportunity to grow as a church leader. Joo hopes to use his experience facilitating the program to better assist Kim and her classmates as they prepare for ministry. 

Thank God for new resources offered in Korean and Spanish.

Pray for more opportunities for students to learn in their native languages.

Learn more about the MFCA program at www.rca.org/mfca.