Christian Church Has Lost Its Force in U.S., Korean Cleric Says : Presbyterian: Religious groups are failing in their responsibilities toward immigrants, he says. Missionaries should be sent to them and blacks in this country, he suggests.

An American missionary helped lead the Rev. Kyung-Chik Han to Christianity, and it was this country he turned to for his college and divinity school degrees more than 60 years ago.

Han, who won the 1992 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, said in a recent visit to America that he encountered a different nation from the one he remembered as offering a haven to immigrants.

Now it is a country torn apart by racial conflict, with Koreans being a target during the riots in Los Angeles after verdicts in the Rodney G. King beating trial, he said.

And there is no “Christian force” powerful enough to promote racial and ethnic harmony, Han said.

“Why don’t you send missionaries to black people right here in this country?” the slight, 89-year-old Han asked religious leaders this week. “It seems to me the only way to solve social problems in this country is through mission efforts among the black people and the new immigrants.”

Han was given the $1-million Templeton Prize in April in recognition of his long years of evangelical work with refugees and the poor. Founder of Seoul’s 60,000-member Young Nak Presbyterian Church, Han started more than 500 churches around the world, including the 5,000-member Young Nak Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles.

In an interview, Han gave credit to an American missionary who founded a country church and day school in his small village with giving him the opportunity to learn about Christianity.

What Christianity brings to a culture is faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love, said Han, referring to the passage in Chapter 13 of I Corinthians.

What is missing in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities is a culture that keeps these principles a reality for the black population and the non-European immigrants that have flocked in large numbers to the United States, Han said.

When he first came to America, the church usually helped immigrants join the mainstream of society, Han said.

“But now, about half a century later, when I see America, there are many different nationalities coming to America. But there is no force to influence these immigrants,” he said.

The Christian church has become too weak to fulfill its responsibility, he said.

Han has indicated that he would dedicate most of his Templeton award to rebuilding Christian churches in North Korea.