Korean Americans honor memory of pioneer missionary April 20, 2005 By the Rev. Sang Yean Cho* Korean-American church leaders, meeting to discuss ways to revitalize their ministries, also took time to honor the 120th anniversary of the first American Methodist missionary in Korea. Henry G. Appenzeller stepped on the western shore of Korea on Easter Sunday morning April 5, 1885. His great-grandson spoke to 380 participants—and received their thanks—at the Conference of the Korean American United Methodist Church in San Jose, Calif. Terry Appenzeller, executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Wisconsin, told the participants his great-grandfather obeyed the commandment: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” “My great-grandfather obeyed this commandment at an early age—a young man in his 20s, willing to go wherever he was needed to spread the good news,” he said. “Because of his strong faith and preparation, he ended up in Korea—a place, at that time, that few Americans knew existed, a place very inhospitable to missionaries, only legal to enter a few years before, dangerous and far away from the comforts of modern society.” As Henry Appenzeller struggled to learn Korean, he began his bilingual educational work, instructing three students in the English language. In December 1886, King Kojong of Korea named Appenzeller’s school Pai-Jae Hakdang, or “School to Nurture the Talent,” which became one of the most prestigious private high schools in Korea and is now a university. Appenzeller began his evangelical work among the Koreans, and in 1897, he dedicated Chong-Dong Methodist Episcopal Church in the center of Seoul. He is well known among Korean Christians as the Korean Bible translator. “His legacy lives on,” Terry Appenzeller said. “He planted seeds of Christianity that grew like a wildfire. Korea is now the home to one of the largest Christian church communities. There are millions of converted. A land that was once pagan and unsaved is now a beacon of light.” Henry Appenzeller’s work ended when he died on a sea voyage to attend a meeting of the Bible translators’ committee. It was reported that Appenzeller, 44, drowned while attempting to save his Korean translation assistant and a Korean child. At the end of Terry’s speech, the participants gave him a standing ovation to show thanks for his family’s contribution to Korea, celebrate Korean church growth and glorify God. In other business, members of the Comprehensive Study Task Force presented a draft report to the conference and discussed revitalizing the Korean United Methodist Church. The Rev. Paul Chang, superintendent of the Tri-State Southern District in the New England Annual Conference, opened the conference by illustrating the general decline in the membership of the United Methodist Church in the United States and in the Korean United Methodist Church with a statistical chart. He cited possible reasons for the decline: theological issues, changing social context, leadership and the system of apportionment and appointment. The denomination has 310 Korean congregations, down from 420 at the end of 1990. The Rev. James Kim, pastor of the Korean United Methodist Church in Atlanta, reviewed visions, strategies and leadership in growing United Methodist churches and other denominations. He compared them with those of Korean United Methodist churches and challenged conference participants to be passionate about ending the stagnation. The Rev. Seung-Woo Lee, pastor of the National Korean United Methodist Church, pointed out stumbling blocks of Korean church growth and suggested solutions. He encouraged participants to redefine the concept of church according to Jesus’ teaching in order to recover the strength of Christian community, regain passion as pastors and set strategies for evangelism. The study will be continued with input from other pastors and lay leaders. The members will send a draft paper to all members of the Korean United Methodist Church, and the report will be presented at the next annual gathering in Detroit, April 24-27, 2006. A worship service was held to celebrate the publication of One Hundred Years of the Korean-American Methodism I, part 2 and 3. Planned by the United Methodist Centennial Celebration Planning Council for Korean-American Immigrant Mission in America, it is published by the United Methodist Publishing House. *Cho is editor of United Methodists in Service, the Korean-language news service for United Methodist Communications. News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Korean News
