RELIGION / JOHN DART : Korean-American, 37, Named Head of 61 Methodist Churches in Area

The Rev. Brandon Cho will soon become the Chatsworth-based district superintendent for the 61 United Methodist churches in an area stretching from the San Fernando Valley to Santa Barbara County.

The appointment is unusual because of his age, 37, and because he is only the second Korean-American ever named as a Methodist district superintendent in Southern California.

Cho is one of the youngest if not the youngest, ever appointed to that administrative level by the denomination in Southern California. From the customary Asian point of view, Cho is especially young for such a leadership role.

“Age is a very important factor in Asian culture and custom--respect for the elderly, ‘the older, the wiser’ kind of thing,” said Cho, now the pastor of North Long Beach United Methodist Church.

“Some of the older pastors’ response to my appointment amounted to cool conversations,” Cho said, drawing out the word cool for emphasis. “Their preference probably would be for someone in his late 50s. But I heard there was great applause over my appointment from the younger generation of Asian-Americans.”

Cho was praised by the Rev. Don Locher as an “outstanding choice” to succeed him July 1 for a six-year term as district superintendent of the Santa Barbara District.

“In our day, if the denomination doesn’t have people who can bridge several cultures, we won’t have the kind of leadership we need,” Locher said.

Born in Seoul but raised in Hawaii, Cho said he is very nearly a second-generation Korean-American because he was brought up in the United States. He has lived in California since 1978.

The Santa Barbara District includes six predominantly Korean-American congregations, five of which are in the San Fernando Valley--in Canoga Park, Granada Hills, Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys and Woodland Hills. Korean churches are among the fastest-growing in the denomination.

Locher noted that Cho will also provide a high-level voice for Asian-American United Methodists as one of eight district superintendents on the Los Angeles area bishop’s decision-making cabinet. Bishop Jack M. Tuell, who appointed Cho, will be retiring Aug. 31.

Locher, 63, is moving into two jobs: executive director of the Ecumenical Council for the Pasadena Area and special assistant to Robert Edgar, president of the Methodist-run School of Theology at Claremont.

Indicative of Cho’s reputation as a “comer” in Methodist circles, he is a member of the 18-member Southern California delegation to the quadrennial General Conference of the United Methodist Church May 5-15 in Louisville, Ky., serving as the delegation’s secretary.

The big issue facing Methodists is whether to ordain homosexual ministers who willingly state their sexual preference. Despite the fact that every four years for the last two decades attempts to loosen restrictions have failed, delegates in a pre-convention survey called the homosexuality issue the top matter facing the body.

In an interview, Cho said he backed the rights of homosexuals sin the community and in the church.

“They bring lots of gifts to the church and we ought to celebrate that,” he said. “They are more than just sexual beings: They work as hard as heterosexuals and they’re as honest as heterosexuals. They happen to have a different preference in their sexual partnerships.”

Cho indicated that he falls short of backing ordination for gays and lesbians. “Quite frankly, I continue to struggle with the whole question of ordination for gays and lebsians in terms of theology, biblical interpretation, the church tradition and the present context.”

Most church members are not ready to accept gay and lesbian clergy, he said. “The convention process is very important because we are dealing not only with the rights of gays and lesbians but also with the rest of the church as well,” he said.

He predicted that the 8.8-million-member denomination “will take a while longer to come up with any definite decision.”