Early October, I attended the National Korean Caucus of UMC Conference in LA. There were about 300 clergy and guest at this event. It was one of the largest gatherings and the first after the 2024 General Conference. Before the event, some of us were not sure how the conference would be after all the disaffiliation and many pastors leaving UMC. The theme of the event was "Surrender to Grace." We have put our past behind us and focused on God's grace. It was time for us to see where God is leading us and using us in the UMC.
For the last 30 years, I have attended this conference on and off, mostly off. Whenever I attended, I never felt accepted and welcomed. In the beginning, I was only in my 20s, young, a
woman, not first generation, and not fluent in Korean. There were those who told me that I did not belong there and who did not see me as a pastor. Over the years, I kept going back every 5 or so years and the messages were still the same. The conference was held only in Korean and lead mostly by male clergy who served in Korean churches. But this time it was different! For the first time, it was bilingual, and people respected whatever language was used. Some of us spoke in English and some spoke in Korean. There was no awkwardness or sense of alienation. They even provided translators or those who did not understand Korean. There were those who serve in Korean churches, in multi-cultural settings, cross-cultural churches, working in conferences and agencies. There were bishops and seminarians. People of all ages and all over the United States. We truly felt that God was leading us into a new place, and we all left with hope. We felt the grace of God bring healing and renewing our spirit.
I come home feeling blessed and loved. I am grateful for those whom I met for the first time and those with whom I was able to reconnect. As I started working on this year's stewardship theme of "Blessings" I could not help but think how blessed I am to be living in this moment. As a young pastor, I would never have imagined that I would ever attend the conference like I just had, never mind be one of the leaders and even preached there in English. I had hoped and prayed. And now I am so blessed to be able to live in that reality. It took a long time and even disaffiliation to make this happen. However, we are now living in a new reality, filled with God's grace, and living in hope. This is what I am thankful for this year!
In this Thanksgiving season, I hope you can see how God is blessing you and be filled with God's grace. God is doing a new thing, let us be part of that movement, living faithfully.
Peace,
Pastor Sandra
