Until our congregation reached 300, I was the only pastor. This was possible because our cell leaders and ministry team leaders worked hard for our church, and because my children were the only Sunday school students. Then, as the number of families in the church increased, the number of Sunday school departments increased, with each appointing their own team leaders, who served really diligently. However, the burden of preaching, caring for teachers, etc. was considerable, so there was a need for more ministers, but it was not easy to find ministers that speak Korean in the UK.
So I cannot help but be thankful when I see that there are six ministers serving the church, including myself, in 2025. Looking back on my 17 years of ministry, all I did was go back and forth between church and home to worship, study the Bible with cell leaders, take care of our congregation, preach consistently every Saturday, and hold retreats for the church twice a year, but the church has grown so much in the blink of an eye. It is amazing that in a church that constantly goes through a change of members, there are so many who love the church to the point where half of the congregation volunteers for it.
Pastor Hyungmin Kim graduated from the same seminary as I did. As a junior pastor, I first met him at a family retreat a few years ago and got along well with him. Then, last summer, while he was introducing to me a film director that had visited the UK to produce a film about the global revival of faith, I had the chance to briefly share my vision for the UK with him. He expressed his wish to work together, and packed up his stable life in Wales and came up to London, rather like Abraham.
Pastor David Kim is a full-time minister at the London City Mission, one of the most influential missionary organisations in the UK. Seeing my passion for diaspora mission in London, he recommended me as an advisor to the organization and helped me build good relationships with key leaders. He has now taken on the responsibility of caring for our church’s English cell members.
Pastor Hyunseok Chung was a young man when he first attended our church, a year before my arrival. He met Jesus personally at our church, spent a year of faith with me for a year, and then returned to Korea after receiving a calling as a pastor at a retreat. He has returned as a pastor to our church after 15 years. While studying for an MA at Spurgeon’s Theological Seminary, he has been assigned to take charge of the Secondary Sunday School.
Youth Pastor Jeungwon Jhon registered as a member of our church a while ago. When I visited her at home, I learned that she had previously received theological education and had experience with church ministry, so I had since wanted to work with her. Now that we are in a position to do so, she is in charge of the Primary Sunday School and Central GVC Sunday school and is working hard.
Youth Pastor Wooil Park happened to attend our Wednesday service while studying in the UK and liked it so much that he came down to London to finish his studies and evangelise with us. He also visited the UK every year even after returning to Korea for missionary work. After finishing his studies at the seminary in Korea, he is taking an MA course related to his vision for video missions and is in charge of the Pre-K Sunday School.
In the UK, where it is difficult to find ministers no matter how much we advertise, God has gathered people who love our church so much and are dedicated to the vision He has given us. Even though we are lacking, I pray that he takes good care of our ministers.
