Human Sexuality and the Church: Offering Pastoral Care when Congregants Have Differing Views
About
The Rev. Dr. Kevin Park is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Currently, he is an assistant professor of theology at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, where he directs the Doctor of Ministry program. He also is the interim director of Korean-American ministry at the seminary and the English ministry director (part time) for the Korean Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta. From 2008 to 2012, he was the associate for theology with the Office of Theology, Worship, Education with the Presbyterian Center (USA) in Louisville, Kentucky. Before that, he was pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield, New Jersey, for five years. He has served as an organizer and moderator for forums such as “A Cry from the Heart for Unity, Reconciliation and Justice: From Belhar to Ferguson” and the Racial Ethnic Stewardship Consultation. Kevin has been published in several books and journals. Most recently, he has a chapter “Korean-Americans and Jesus (and Confucius and Buddha)” in the book “The Meaning of My Neighbor’s Faith: Interreligious Reflections on Immigration,” edited by Alexander Hwang and Laura Alexander (Fortress Press, 2018). He also served as co-editor of “Living Faithfully: A Christian Curriculum for Korean North American Youth.” He also wrote the article “Korean American Churches Navigate Cultural Changes: Reaching the Next Generation” for the journal Presbyterians Today (March 20, 2017).
The Rev. Dr. Kil Jae Park is pastor of Teaneck (New Jersey) United Methodist Church. He has an extensive ministry background, having served as a Christian education director with Bethany Presbyterian Church, as a children’s ministry pastor with Bethel Korean United Methodist Church in New York City, and pastor of youth and young adult ministries in churches in New Jersey and California. In the early years of his ministry, he served the New York University Korean Christian Fellowship as its preaching pastor. He holds doctoral and masters’ degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary as well as a Master of Divinity degree from Drew Theological School in Madison, New Jersey. His teaching interests include theory and practice of Christian education, multicultural Christian education, Asian-American experience and ministry, family life and Christian education, and the theology and practice of ministry. He has taught at New Brunswick Theological Seminary as an adjunct faculty member and with the Asian-American Youth Ministry Institute (also a part of the seminary). His published writings include the article “Restoring the Wholeness of God’s Creation: An Understanding of Multicultural Christian Education” in the Journal of Christian Education & Information Technology. He also published “Yellow on White Background: Korean-American Youth Ministry and the Challenge of Constructing Korean-American Identity” in the Journal of Youth and Theology.
This resource was designed with a United Methodist perspective, but we believe the content is also relevant for non-UMC seekers who are doing anti-racism work with a spiritual foundation.
