Dear beloved,
I hope this will be helpful for all, especially to our College family, both distant and local! My highest joy is to see you flourish for the Lord, wherever He has called you to be - whether that be here or elsewhere for the moment or for an extended time! Here is my honest and sincere evaluation! May the Lord bless you and keep you for His glory always!
Your Brother Chester
University of North Texas & Texas Woman’s University (Denton)
*UNT’s student religious organizations website – several Christian and non-denominational organizations worth checking-out (https://unt.campuslabs.com/engage/organizations?categories=10896)
*TWU’s student religious organizations website – “Cru” and “Denton Intervarsity” are solid campus ministries worth visiting (https://pioneerengage.twu.edu/organizations?categories=10033)
*Unfortunately, no Korean church in Denton, TX, has an English ministry. However, 2 churches in the Denton area are recommended – Denton Bible Church – a very large church with an excellent preacher and teacher of the Word – Pastor Tommy Nelson (https://dentonbible.org/); The Village Church (Denton Campus) – a very biblically-grounded church with many faithful servants with a large young adult presence (https://thevillagedenton.church/)
University of Texas (Arlington)
*UTA’s student religious organizations website – several great fellowships available (https://mavorgs.campuslabs.com/engage/organizations?categories=1173)
*Unfortunately, no Korean church in Arlington, TX, has an English ministry. But 2 diverse churches stood out – The Vineyard Church (https://vcarlington.org/) and Grace Community Church (https://www.gracearlington.com/) are great missional communities impacting the Arlington area that are worth a visit.
University of Texas (Dallas)
*UTD’s student religious organizations – you need to login with your student ID to browse the student organizations (https://soc.utdallas.edu/organizations/), but I’m presuming there are a good number of Christian fellowships here. Searching around on the web, I found a few – UTD Christians (https://www.utdchristians.org/), International Christian Fellowship UTD (https://icfutd.com/), and Baptist Student Ministry UTD (https://www.bsmatutdallas.org/home).
*5 great churches are within 15 minutes of UTD – Asian American Baptist Church (https://www.aabcdallas.org/); Create Church (https://www.createchurch.com/); Loft City Church (https://loftcitychurch.com/); Trinity Bible Church (https://www.trinitybiblechurch.com/); Biblical Community Church (https://www.biblicalcommunity.com/home).
*Other English ministries/communities/churches born out of the Korean Church (Dallas)
*Newsong English Ministry in Carrollton, TX, led by Pastor Ben Yi - this is a restart to their English ministry after Global Harvest (former English ministry) experienced tremendous growth and revival, moving to a separate location.
*Lighthouse Ministry (https://www.lighthousedfw.org/) in Richardson, TX, led by Pastor KJ Ahn (Binnerri Presbyterian Church's English community) - this is a beautiful community, our sister ECO denominational family church, with a good size young adult group alongside families with children - they have a separate English toddler's (infant - preKindergarten) ministry running the same time as their service.
*Semihan English Service in Carrollton, TX, led by Pastor Herbert Yoo - another great church with a unique English congregation that is very much Korean-cultured by the great influence of its larger Korean congregation.
*Journey of Faith Church (https://jofchurch.org/) in Irving, TX, led by Pastor Oliver Lee - another blessed mission-minded community with a lot of young families and children! They were once the English ministry of Korean Central United Methodist Church, but experienced tremendous growth and revival, relocating to another building.
*Global Harvest Church (https://ghcdallas.org/) in Carrollton, TX, led by Pastor David Lim - this was the former English ministry of Newsong Church. They experienced tremendous growth and revival over many years and relocated to another building. This is a well-operated church with strong spiritual leadership and many young adults, alongside families with children.
*Forest Community Church (http://www.forest.church/) in Plano, TX, led by Pastor Paul Kim. This is a mid-to-large community that was a merger between former English ministry members of Binnerri Church in Richardson, TX, and Hanuri Church in Carrollton, TX, alongside others. It has grown to be a very fruitful church based on the "house church" model - where they meet weekly in smaller settings as a church - but in someone's house large enough to host everyone - breaking bread and sharing life. They are making great impact for the Kingdom of God, especially among Asian-Americans.
*I have personally met or communicated with all of these Pastors and they are all great shepherds and men of God's Word, who I would encourage everyone to meet and be shepherded by! :)
*To conclude the Denton, Arlington, and Dallas sections - *I still think Bethany is one of the best options if you are in these areas... with a hint of favoritism in that suggestion! :) Bethany is really a unique, Christ-centered, family of all ages positioned for great spiritual growth within our congregation and surrounding community. *It can be a little out of the way/a farther drive for some - I understand - but certainly worth it :) .... unless of course, the Lord calls you to another local church in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In this case, can you make sure we can properly bless, commission, and send you off with our love and prayers? :) The entire congregation should acknowledge, bless, and send you off with great joy in the Lord! Every church is doing pretty much the same thing - reaching lost souls with the gospel - so there is no real goodbye. Make sure you are never breaking relationships with a church, but keeping the connectedness for Kingdom work alongside your *covenant to one single church body and to one pastoral/spiritual leadership. *Covenant is very important! :) *Commit to one and do your best to stick by that. Then, you'll know the depth of joy in Jesus' marriage to you!
Baylor University (Waco)
*Baylor’s student religious organizations website (https://baylor.campuslabs.com/engage/organizations?categories=13080) – “Cru, Intervarsity (even has Asian Ministry emphasis), and Reformed University Fellowship (which falls within our Presbyterian heritage) look like solid on-campus fellowships worth visiting, among many others”
*There appears to be one Korean church in Waco, TX, with a small English ministry – Korean United Methodist Church of Waco (http://www.kumcwaco.org/kumcwaco/index.php), worth visiting; Acts Church (https://www.actswaco.com/) and Grace Church (https://gracewaco.com/) appear to be very biblical and missional communities worth a visit. Among our sister Presbyterian churches, Redeemer Presbyterian Church (https://redeemerwaco.org/home) is a solid Bible-upholding community that is not too large nor too small.
University of Texas (Austin)
*UT Austin’s student religious organizations website (https://utexas.campuslabs.com/engage/organizations?categories=4874) – many great campus fellowships, even with Asian-American emphasis
*Among the churches in Austin, there are too many to choose! But within our ECO denominational family, Austin Korean Presbyterian Church’s English ministry – Lifeway – led by Pastor John Staples, is a beautiful family (https://www.akpc.org/english-ministry.html); Acts Church, founded and led by longtime Pastor Charles Lee (https://www.actsaustin.org/) is also a great Asian-American focused ministry; Harvest Mission Community Church (https://austin.hmcc.net/) is a smaller community with a great missional focus; larger churches that are worth a visit are Joshua Church (https://www.joshua-church.com/) and Austin Stone Church (https://www.austinstone.org/) that are very biblically and missionally focused.
Texas A&M University (College Station)
*A&M’s student religious organizations website – a (https://stuactonline.tamu.edu/app/search/index/index/search/category?q=Religious/Spiritual) – “Campus Crusade for Christ” and “Asian American Intervarsity” among others are excellent reputable campus fellowships
*Unfortunately, none of the Korean churches in College Station have English ministries. But 3 churches in the area look to be great places to grow your faith – Central Church (https://centralbcs.org/), First Baptist Church (https://fbccollegestation.com/), and Christland Church (https://fbccollegestation.com/) have a very large young adult presence where you are bound to find community, good Bible-teaching, and grow a missional life for Jesus.