Church Reflects Growing Korean Activity

One of the biggest Korean-American congregations in Los Angeles will move into a newly constructed church complex next weekend--a $9-million symbol of the robust church activity among Korean-heritage Christians.

Despite inconvenient parking and makeshift classrooms at their old Koreatown facility, the Young-Nak Presbyterian Church was ranked last year as the fourth fastest-growing U.S. church in attendance.

Attendance at Young-Nak services and religious education classes grew to more than 4,600 churchgoers on the average Sunday in 1987, according to the latest survey by the Church Growth Research Center in Bolivar, Mo.

“But we know many people stopped coming because of lack of parking and educational programs,” an assistant pastor at the church said.

Seating for 1,200

However, with an opening ceremony on June 17 and three morning services on June 18, the congregation will find a new sanctuary seating 1,200 instead 850 and parking for more than 500 cars.

The 4.7-acre site, which once accommodated an auto dealership, is on Broadway, east of Chinatown and not far from the intersection of the Pasadena and Golden State freeways.

“We were considering moving to the suburbs, but we decided to stay in the city,” said the Rev. Paul Chang, an associate pastor. “We will have members coming from all directions.”

A fourth service, the church’s first one in English, will be added to the schedule next month to serve second- and third-generation Korean-Americans.

Christian missionaries, mostly Presbyterian and Methodist, began work in Korea a century ago but it has not been until the last few decades that churches have shown remarkable growth. Buddhism and shamanistic beliefs still predominate, but a majority of Korean immigrants to the United States tend to be Christian or gravitate quickly to the community-serving Korean churches in this country.

Large Membership

An estimated 70% of the Korean-descent population in Southern California belong to churches, predominantly Protestant, according to Myung K. Kim, publisher of the Korean-language Church Herald. Nearly 700 churches have formed in the Los Angeles-Orange County region, he said.

Young-Nak Presbyterian Church, whose senior pastor since 1974 has been the Rev. Keyong Kim, has been worshiping in a building originally built as a synagogue in Koreatown. Little more than street parking is available nearby. Most church classes met in a nearby public school.

Its namesake church in Seoul, South Korea, is one of the nation’s “super-churches” with membership in the tens of thousands. In this country, Young-Nak is the largest congregation of the Korean Presbyterian Church in America, which will hold its national convention June 20-22 in Chicago.

In Los Angeles, the independent Oriental Mission Church and Young-Nak Church are considered the two largest Korean-language congregations with about 6,000 and 5,000 members, respectively.