NR #1996-078: Synod Approves Korean Classis with 15-Year Time Limit Conservatives aren't the only people in the CRC who want their own classis. For a number of years, many Korean members of the Christian Reformed denomination - who account for nearly half of the CRC's estimated 15,000 ethnic minority members - have advocated the creation of a Korean classis. "I want to emphasize our sense of faith and trust in our Korean brothers to have this ownership," said Korean Calvin Seminary professor Dr. John Taek Kim. "I believe that within one year we may have a hundred Korean churches in our denomination. Within three years we may have 200 or even 300 churches." NR #1996-078: For Immediate Release Synod Approves Korean Classis with 15-Year Time Limit by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (June 18, 1996) URNS - Conservatives aren't the only people in the CRC who want their own classis. For a number of years, many Korean members of the Christian Reformed denomination - who account for nearly half of the CRC's estimated 15,000 ethnic minority members - have advocated the creation of a Korean classis. When Dr. John E. Kim, then pastor of the CRC's second-largest church, led a secession by nearly forty percent of the CRC's Korean membership in the fall of 1993 over that year's decision approving women in office, Classis Greater Los Angeles' interim committee chair and regional pastor expressed his regret that synod hadn't granted the Koreans' request for a Korean classis. "I am saddened by the fact that it had to happen this way," Rev. Roger Kramer said at the time. "I just wish we could have moved faster toward what the Koreans had been asking us to give them for years, a Korean classis. Now they've got their own denomination, but I just wonder if they would be gone today if they had their own classis." Secession was never mentioned in either the Tuesday afternoon or evening discussion of women in office, but it was clear that the synodical delegates wanted to do something to help the Korean members of the CRC become more involved in the denomination. "When those Korean pastors come in the CRC, they are so patient," said Rev. Randal Young of Friendship Community CRC in Fontana, California. "They sit in classis the whole day, they don't understand what is going on, they don't vote, and my heart goes out to them." "For a synod which over a hundred years held its major assemblies in the Dutch language I have no problem with this," said synodical vice-president Rev. Gordon Pols. Pols also noted that the proposal could become a bridge between the first and second generation Korean CRC members, much as most of the Canadian classes organized by Dutch immigrants following World War II continued to use the Dutch language long after the synod and most of the denomination's United States classes had switched to use of English. Calvin Seminary professor Dr. John Taek Kim noted that many of the Korean CRC members were trying to be loyal to the denomination, but their cultural context in southern California made the transition to the use of English difficult. "The next day after my arrival in the United States I joined the CRC," said Kim. "I got my Th.M. from Calvin Seminary and then went on to the Free University. The only thing I didn't do was change my name to 'Kimsma' or 'Vander Kim.'" However, Kim noted that Americanization wasn't as rapid for many Korean immigrants, describing a Korean child who asked his parents after five years of living in California when they were going to move to America. Kim noted that over a million Korean immigrants lived in southern California with the result that the Koreans have their own TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers - not unlike the Dutch culture of a previous generation in west Michigan. However, other delegates questioned the financial viability of the proposed Korean classis, noting that it would be limited to churches in Hawaii, southern California, and Nevada, and had so far attracted only 13 of the CRC's fifty Korean churches. "Have the organized churches supported their current classis?" asked Elder Dick Van Weerthuizen, stated clerk of Classis Greater Los Angeles. "Is that level of support enough? Will the language barriers impact on the day-to-day communication between the classis and the denominational agencies?" Kim said that many of the problems could take care of themselves once a Korean classis was organized, noting that the Presbyterian Church in America's decision to organize a single Korean-language presbytery had led to the organization of six additional Korean-language presbyteries within only a few years. "I want to emphasize our sense of faith and trust in our Korean brothers to have this ownership," said Kim. "I believe that within one year we may have a hundred Korean churches in our denomination. Within three years we may have 200 or even 300 churches." Other delegates questioned whether a new classis should be organized if it required the proposed restrictions, such as a rule that the classis would disband after 15 years and that it would request advisors from two neighboring classes for all of its first three years of existence and for one meeting per year for the next two years. "Have we ever created a classis which will be required to have advisors from other classes and monitors to supervise long-term training?" asked Rev. George Vink of First CRC in Visalia, California. "There are going to be extra costs involved with all of this." Rev. David Koll of Anaheim (CA) CRC concurred that the restrictions were unusual but said they were no reason not to go ahead. "This is a request from our largest classis, Greater Los Angeles with 44 churches, to start a new classis. In a certain sense this is a very normal request, but there are all these complications," said Koll. "You can teach people how to drive by letting them sit in the back seat and drive them around town. You can do that a long time but they won't learn how to drive." "We have some people who have been in the back seat for a long time and begging us to learn how to drive," said Koll, urging passage of the motion. Despite the concerns of some delegates, when discussion ended the motion passed by an overwhelming voice vote. Cross-References to Related Articles: #1993-033: Koreans Call it Quits from Christian Reformed Denomination; John E. Kim Leads 15 Churches, CRC's Second-Largest Church to Secession; First General Synod of Korean Reformed Presbyterian Church in America to Meet in October, Expected to Have at Least 9 Classes, 55 Congregations #1993-043: Christian Presbyterian Church Takes Form as Many Koreans Depart Systematically from Christian Reformed Denomination #1993-044: First General Assembly of Christian Presbyterian Church Enrolls 41.4% of Christian Reformed Koreans #1995-069R: Synod Withholds Action on Korean-Language Classis Contact List: NOTE TO EDITORS: Most synodical delegates are staying on the campus of Calvin College. To reach delegates in their dormitory rooms during Synod 1996, expected to adjourn on or before June 20, call Calvin College at (616) 957-0000 or contact the synodical news office at the following numbers: Synod News Office: Press Officers Rev. Robert De Moor and Rachel Boehm Van Harmelen O: (616) 957-8652 * F: (616) 957-6469 Pre-Recorded Synod News Hotline: (616) 224-0841 or toll-free (888) 277-9663 Dr. John E. Kim, President, Chongshin Theological Seminary 31-3 Dong-Jak Kuq, Sadang-Dong, Seoul, KOREA * FAX: 011-822-536-2602 Rev. John-Taek Kim, Professor, Calvin Theological Seminary 4243 Kentridge Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49508 O: (616) 957-6605 * H: (616) 281-8536 * FAX: (616) 281-8538 * E-Mail: jkim@Calvin.edu Rev. David Koll, Pastor, Anaheim Christian Reformed Church 526 N. Dale Ave., Anaheim, CA 92801 * O: (714) 828-4083 * H: (714) 828-2084 Rev. Roger Kramer, Pastor, Calvary Christian Reformed Church 3812 W 90th St., Bloomington, MN 55431 * H/O: (612) 831-6264 Rev. Gordon Pols, Pastor, Clarkston Christian Reformed Church 1571 Stonehaven Dr., Mississauga, ON L5J 1E9 CANADA * O: (905) 823-7274 * H: (905) 822-7782 Elder Dick Van Weerthuizen, Stated Clerk, Classis Greater Los Angeles 10451 Beach St., Bellflower, CA 90706 * H/O/FAX: (310) 925-9147 Rev. George Vink, Pastor, First Christian Reformed Church 3527 W. Victor, Visalia, CA 93227 * O: (209) 625-0444 * H: (209) 738-9512 * FAX: (209) 625-0259 Rev. Randal Young, Pastor, Friendship Community Christian Reformed Church 6101 Cherry Ave., Fontana, CA 92336 * O/FAX: (909) 899-7660 * H: (909) 899-4249 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-078.txt .