This last week was a very full one for me. It started with the 50^th Anniversary symposium of the NCKPC (National Caucus of Korean Presbyterian Churches), where I was asked to speak alongside two academics, Russell Jeung and Jane Hong. Both are accomplished leaders; in fact, Dr. Jeung was just recognized by Time magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People of 2021.” I was already nervous about speaking, for several reasons: first, I do not believe that Japanese have the right to tell Koreans anything given our history; second, I am aware that I was not their first choice as a speaker (I learned in Denver that I wasn’t their second choice either!); third, I am not a scholar and am not comfortable as a public speaker; and fourth, some of my Korean friends had strong hopes that somehow I would be able to speak to the intergenerational issues that have stressed the Korean church for years.

But, as I learned as a reluctant servant of God, much of ministry is showing up, opening your mouth, and trusting that God will do the rest. I believe that doing a little homework is helpful too, not only for what gets said but also for my own benefit. This talk is proof of that, as I actually learned a lot about my own heritage in preparing for it.

I realize I’ve mentioned this conference a few times already, but it has brought up many core issues in my life and ministry, and also what I see happening in the church. The second half of the week gave added opportunities to build on this, with a day-long retreat for the Reparations group in our presbytery, and a talk given by Dr. Kenneth Hardy that was sponsored by Presbytery of San Francisco.

In our Reparations retreat, we confirmed the particular approach to reparations that we want to take as Presbytery of San Gabriel. We did not craft a simple definition for this huge topic—a topic that has many different facets, some that are magnified or unrecognized depending on the different approaches to reparations. For instance, many see reparations as a legal act of the federal government and has no Christian context. Some focus primarily on the need for money to be included in reparations. While most see that money should be part of the restitution, there are many different views on how the money is given, to whom, how much, who gets to decide how the money is used, and finally whether money is all that is required.

We hope to make a formal presentation to the Presbytery in 2022 (yes, that’s coming up in a couple of months!), so I cannot make a definitive statement. But as we have discussed here in San Gabriel, we see reparations as a spiritual discipline that follows the process by which we approach reconciliation, so it incorporates basic Christian practices such as listening to God through the voices of others, confession, repentance (ie, committing to change what oppresses others), and restitution. We can do all these things because God calls us to be in relationship with others, even be repairers of the breach (Isaiah 58:12), and because we are assured that we can confront and turn from sin knowing that God’s grace is always more powerful than any sin that weighs on us.

I’ve been thankful for the work on racial reconciliation being done in Presbytery of San Francisco, with the leadership of Rev. Kamal Hassan, a friend who pastors a church in the Bay Area but who comes from Los Angeles. Dr. Hardy has given two webinars with San Francisco, and both have been thought-provoking. While the first session was on “How to Be an Ally” for people of color, this session was addressed to people of color, and he challenged us with certain tasks.

In our Reparations retreat, we listened to the experience and wisdom of several of our Presbytery siblings as they spoke about their perspectives as Black Presbyterians, and how they see reparations. They mentioned some things that Dr. Hardy also addressed; two of them are especially striking to me. One is the way that people who have been oppressed for generations will internalize the oppression, and limit what they consider possible for themselves. This is a natural response to abuse (I learned this dynamic when working with battered women), but it can keep people trapped in abusive relationships if they simply start to accept the inevitability of the abuse. So one task for people of color is to dare to dream freely, to honor the courage of their ancestors by living into their vision.

The other concept was a reframing of reparations not as a legal or economic action, or sacrifice required by one group due to actions of their ancestors, but as inheritance. This can take on many meanings. Not only is it an understanding of what is due to a people for their work—and the generational wealth that they would have inherited had their ancestors been paid what they were due—but also a commitment of the current generation to future generations, to strive to “level the playing field” so that their children and children’s children can move into their future with hope.

Throughout the week, I saw how we are being given the awesome opportunity to live out the Gospel in our midst. We can be repairers of the breach, resetting past wrongs to restore right relationships. And we can gain strength from our ancestors, even as we also shed the sin that clings so closely, even the sin that we inherit from past injustices, as perpetrator/beneficiary or as victim. Korean and Black Christians are showing their willingness to forgive. Japanese and dominant culture Christians must recognize and stop the ways they perpetuate, or at least benefit from, historic patterns of oppression.

And we can do this, through the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we approach All Saints Day, let us recommit to the race for God’s justice and peace. As we take the baton from our ancestors in this intergenerational relay, we can give thanks for them getting us this far, even as we go forward with the gifts that God has given us. What an awesome, and beautiful, task.

God bless you and all of us in this endeavor,

Lately I’ve been delving into memories from my childhood days at First Presbyterian Church, Altadena, previously known as Pasadena Union Presbyterian Church (and prior to that, Pasadena Japanese Union Church). I’m trying to prepare for a presentation to one of the 50^th Anniversary events for the National Caucus of Korean Presbyterian Churches (NCKPC). The Korean Presbyterian Men met about a week ago in Chicago, and our own Dongwoo Lee was one of the speakers. Due to a mix-up with Steve Yamaguchi (who I think will try to greet them remotely from his current role as pastor of Tokyo Union Church), I will sub for him and go to Denver October 18-20 to meet with the symposium focusing on the future of the Korean-American church. The symposium planners are asking Chinese- and Japanese-Americans to share our experience, as we have been in the US longer.

The NCKPC is the collection of all Korean congregations in the PC(USA). Currently there are 350-400 churches with almost 500,000 members, but many of the church members are 1^st generation, and are moving into retirement age. This question about the Korean-American church’s future has been a source of on-going concern for church leaders, and it is now more critical as the immigration rate from Korea is dropping. US Census reports show that there were 290,000 Korean immigrants in the US in 1980, 1,100,000 in 2010, and the number actually decreased by 2019, to 1,013,000. In 2019, there were an additional 448,700 people identifying as Korean who were born in the United States; they represent 31% of all Koreans in the US.

Anyway, as I have reflected on my childhood in the Japanese Presbyterian church, I remembered this Scripture passage about fitting in, which I remember my uncle preaching on regularly. Yet I have never heard it preached on by anyone else, and I myself have never preached it, and I began preaching regularly on World Communion Sunday 24 years ago. While I didn’t know how big (or small) a concept this was for other Christians, I do remember thinking how it fit in well with the Japanese penchant for conforming to the larger group.

I’ve also thought about this in relation to the intercultural orientation of Minimization, which describes San Gabriel Presbytery as a group and myself as an individual. I’ve become more aware of the ways people rely on areas of commonality when relating to groups they are not totally comfortable with. I’m now wondering whether the prevalence of this strategy reflects where we are in the world: in general, we do not deny or prejudge other cultures, but we are not yet comfortable with “going deep” in connecting with people of different backgrounds. So we can acknowledge that we have diverse backgrounds, but it feels more safe to focus on whatever we have in common, or adjust to the dominant culture, rather than explore what makes us different. Conversely, when I am with people from other cultures with whom I am comfortable, I have no trouble referencing our cultural differences.

As the Reforming Presbytery Practices group continues to meet, we have become more aware that being a truly inclusive presbytery, where we can understand and incorporate the wide range of cultural values and perspectives, takes much more effort than we have chosen in the past. I remember Alhambra True Light, and the work they put into any meeting, which included having everything written so it can be translated in three languages ahead of time, and having simultaneous translators available at every meeting. We have started to streamline things like putting more items in the Consent Agenda, but that’s just the first step. The group has been excellent at looking for ways to find time to deepen our relationships and understanding of each others’ cultures.

I think there has been great progress, in the church and in the world. One subtle shift is for Euro- Americans to recognize that they are a culture too, and there are specific values held in that culture that are not necessarily shared by others. Here’s an example: one cultural value that Elizabeth Gibbs Zehnder mentioned at our Presbytery meeting was staying on time, so she shortened her presentation to keep to the planned schedule. There are many traditional cultures, such as in Latin America or among Pacific Islanders, where people do not cut their activities to fit the clock, but they take as long as they need to in order to finish what they are doing, which may include taking the time to connect with each other on a personal level. And so we have some people who are always on time, and some even get insulted if they have to wait for a latecomer. On the other hand, others are stressed to figure out how to meet the appointed schedule, if there is something or someone who needs their attention, and often end up being “late” to their next event. (I once asked some native Hawaiians how they do it, because they are rarely late—their response was they would not schedule events back to back, and my experience is that they would not try to pack so many events in a day.)

What would it take to allow our diverse members to live and work in a way that works for them, rather than force themselves to fit the current dominant way we do things? We may not accommodate all differences— but it will be great help for us to do some self-examination and prayer time, and to take advantage of our growing number of opportunities to connect with folks you may not know yet. We don’t know how to do it all, but that’s what the prayer is for! Keep your hearts and minds open to God’s leading for all of us.

In the peace of Christ,

Yesterday was an important day in the Presbytery of San Gabriel. In the morning, Arcadia Community Church called Rev. John Scholte to be their new pastor. It was a joyous day, a clear demonstration of God’s grace in bringing together a gifted pastor and a faithful, vibrant church. It was a gift for COM Moderator Cyndie Crowell and me to witness the work of the Pastor Nominating Committee, who represented different parts of the Arcadia church, yet who listened well to each other’s perspectives, and offered their varied skills and priorities in a fruitful manner. Rev. Scholte, who currently has standing with the Reformed Church in America (RCA), should be coming before the Presbytery on November 16^th.

In the afternoon, the Presbytery installed Rev. Lisa Hansen as pastor of Pasadena Presbyterian Church in a beautiful service that marked a hopeful new chapter in PPC’s ministry. Lisa is providing faithful, solid leadership for all of PPC, and though other transitions lay ahead, the Gospel lives through the people of PPC.

You may remember that Lisa also transferred in from the RCA. The RCA is the denomination that is closest to the PC(USA)—one RCA official refers to them as “the Dutch PCUSA.” But the RCA is facing serious internal conflict. My understanding is that they will be making some fundamental decisions about the future of the denomination in their General Synod next month, and I told the clerk of the classis (think stated clerk of the presbytery) in Southern California that I’d ask you to pray for them. Just as we have seen the gracious hand of God in directing these churches in Pasadena and Arcadia, let us pray that all churches and denominations—and their members and pastors—see many reasons to give thanks for God’s providence, especially in times of transition.

In between these two events, the September Camino de San Diego (aka the Virtual Border Trip) concluded by watching the livestream of the Border Church at worship (https://www.facebook.com/BorderChurch), a weekly church service held with people on both sides of the border between Tijuana and San Diego, and our closing reflection on our last few weeks visiting the border. The trip is organized—beautifully—by Via International (https://viainternational.org/), and this virtual approach provides valuable glimpses into not only the crisis of a broken immigration system, the inequalities and trials that cause people to attempt to migrate to the United States, and some really impressive self-determined community development work that is facilitated by Via International and others. I hope that we can offer this again, and more people will be able to experience it.

I have to say that these visits were quite challenging, especially at this particular time when it seems the whole world is being displaced. During these last few weeks of the Border Trip, we also heard about the evacuation and eventual placement of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees, we saw the horrible treatment of Haitian refugees attempting to enter into Texas, and Congress and the Administration continue to stumble in their attempts to resolve multiple problems in the US policies on immigration, even as a Texas federal court ruled that DACA is illegal.

The cumulative effect of so many people trying to enter the relative safety and prosperity of the United States can overwhelm all of us as we try to figure out how to be compassionate and prudent in managing the continuing stream of people trying to find a home in the United States. Continued attempts to close the border bring to mind a large and well-appointed palace housing a relatively small group of people, who are doing everything they can do to block entry into the palace by large groups of needy people trying to get in.

I confess that I am almost paralyzed by the shame of recognizing the injustice in a privileged few withholding resources from so many (and knowing that I am one of those few), and the panic of being overrun by what seems to be a never-ending stream of potential immigrants. What do we do?

We try to manage the situation, to be prudent in finding a feasible approach to the immigration situation. It’s like the challenge faced by affluent Christians (and that includes nearly all of us)—it’s so popular to say we need to take care of ourselves, and make sure we have enough before we can give to others, but what is enough? Do we ever get to the point where we are able to give freely?

Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t give us any easy answers. The Bible gives answers like:

• Go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor
• Deny yourselves and take up your cross daily and follow
• There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.

Personally, the question of immigration may be answered by the Psalmist who wrote “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” If we treat everything we try to manage as the Lord’s, and not our own, would we make different decisions? Is it right for us to try to hold onto property and privilege, if we realize that we really don’t own what we have to enjoy?

I share this reflection humbly, knowing that I regularly spoil myself with frivolous luxuries. But if we claim to follow the Bible, we need to think what the Bible is saying about our choices, and the people whose choices we deny. I make no demands; but I would ask that you join me in praying on it.

And in the meantime, may you enjoy the many blessings God has given you—and may we all trust that God will continue to bless us.

In the peace of Christ,