Korean Congregation Planning an L.A. Flair: Drive-In Services : Life Style: The new Los Angeles Christian Reformed Church will open Sunday. It borrowed the drive-in concept from the Rev. Robert Schuller.

A fast-growing Korean Christian congregation in Los Angeles plans to unveil a $15-million church complex Sunday with a distinctly Southern California touch--a drive-in area where some worshipers can remain in their cars and listen to services on the radio.

The drive-in feature was pioneered decades ago in Garden Grove by the Rev. Robert Schuller, pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, and imitated by at least two other Southland churches to accommodate hesitant visitors who prefer anonymity.

The 50-car, drive-in area at Los Angeles Christian Reformed Church, on 12 acres in the El Sereno section, serves the same purpose, said founding pastor John E. Kim.

“Some people don’t want to mingle with Christians until they see what the church is like,” Kim said. Like the vehicular churchgoers at the Crystal Cathedral, those in cars at the Korean church will be able to see the speaker at the pulpit through a large window.

But another reason for incorporating the feature is that some people in the burgeoning Korean community in Los Angeles have little time to spare, Kim said.

“Frankly, since most of the Korean immigrants are struggling to survive, they cannot afford to spend (much time) in church. They need to have a service from which they can go back to work quickly,” he said. Out-of-town visitors also will appreciate the concept, he said.

The Christian Reformed Church is also distinctive for its size. At 72,000 square feet and seating 1,300 worshipers, it is the largest sanctuary for Korean-Americans in the nation, its leaders say. The sanctuary is large enough to be expanded to 2,700 seats if needed in the future, they say.

Construction workers were racing this week to finish interior details of the two-story building before the dedication service at 3 p.m. Sunday. Three morning services (all in Korean, but with simultaneous translations available) will be held for the last time in an older wing on the property at 2241 N. Eastern Ave.

Work is still unfinished on an outdoor, stepped waterfall, to send water cascading between the steps from the front entrance level to the ground parking level. The church also will have 45 classrooms and a multipurpose room that can double as a full-size basketball court.

The 1,700-member congregation, affiliated with the Michigan-based Christian Reformed Church, started with three families in 1976. Despite changing locations four times, the congregation grew enough to purchase its present site in 1984 for $1.45 million.

Kim, 56, received his theological education in U.S. schools, including Temple University in Philadelphia. He taught in a seminary in South Korea before coming to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s.

The pastor is negotiating with the government-related Christian Church Council in North Korea to hold a weeklong evangelistic crusade in Pyongyang. Kim said he made two trips to the North Korean capital last year and will return this year to continue efforts.