Pastoral Letter
Dear Bethany family,
These are exciting times in the history of our congregation! Having first began in 1995 when the Rev. Larry Johnson commenced the English service with a few English-speakers mixed in age and life stage back at our formative campus in Farmers Branch, twenty-eight years later – as of today in 2023 – we are still here by the grace of God – gathering as one, growing as followers, going as ambassadors of King Jesus Christ! It is my sincere hope that our congregation will remain faithful to the Lord in its founding mission and calling to the wider English/American people, as those entrusted with the gift of the English language and residing at the center of the English world – this privileged country of freedom, the United States of America and the Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex – where we call home.
When Bethany was first founded over thirty-seven years ago in 1986, it began primarily as a Korean church ministering to the immigrant Korean community in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Since then, God has tremendously blessed the Korean ministry, growing the congregation into a strong spiritual community of nearly 300 people. Many of us were reared and grew throughout our childhood during this time. Others of us joined along the way. We have full assurance that spiritual growth and ministry to our native Korean congregants must and will continue onward! With that said, however, the question remains – what about the English side?
English is the majority language, culture, and people of this land. Compared to our Korean congregation, we have far more opportunity and greater reachability to a wide array of people for Jesus than exclusively the Korean people – just through our simple common English proficiency. The possibilities are endless to spread the life-giving message of the gospel to our neighbors, workplaces, schools, family members, and grow a strong new church community expanding God’s Kingdom into American society and culture. We started in 1995 as an English service and are in progress towards this dream. I dream of a future where we all feel desperate to bring our friends, families, and neighbors of all different backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities around the common grace of the gospel that saved us. I dream of a church where Bethany will be a powerhouse of uncompromised preaching and teaching of the Word of God for every tribe, tongue, and people group to hear about the love of Christ, where no one leaves hungry but rather full in both stomach and soul, overflowing to serve over be served. I dream of a missional body where the image of God is multiplying so much that we cannot contain it and must plant more congregations/churches out of our growing congregation! Wouldn’t you love to see that happen?
In order to achieve this goal, *it does not mean we kick our Korean roots to the side or deny our heritage or partnership as a congregation historically birthed from the Korean church. What it does mean, however, is that we take the good things from our historical past/present – especially from the past twenty-eight years of ministry with the Korean community – that worked well in reaching those souls with an affinity for Korean culture, yet simultaneously prune away the unnecessary things that hindered fruitfulness in reaching souls outside of the Korean context, so that there can be more fruitfulness for all.
This is what happened with the passing of the congregational vote to transition our “English Congregation” into an “English Church” – remaining as co-partners and sister-churches with our Korean church. There may be a temptation to see this change as a split – *I want to assure you that this is not an accurate description of what the entire church overwhelmingly passed as God’s Kingdom agenda for our future. A split means complete separation, without commissioned blessing, born out of conflict. On the contrary, we are becoming a complete co-located church body, with the commissioned blessing of an overwhelming majority of the Korean congregation, born out of mission to fulfill the Great Commission and grow a healthy missional body that is not exclusively Korean-centered. We are committed to staying co-located, committed to sharing the Christian education department (K-12th grade) and world missions departments, and committed to keeping intact the blended/synergistic ministries that help both congregations flourish. The better word to think about here is “prune” – in order for more fruit to appear, the gardener must cut away those things that have hindered growth, so that there can appear healthier growth and fruit.
The healthy fruit of transition from “English Congregation” to “English Church” will be evident through covenant. You will experience the biblical sense of “covenant” through this transition. Covenant means an unbreakable trust and promise that depends wholly on God to fulfill. It is the language of marriage and the vows given at the marriage ceremony. In order to grow any ministry, there needs to be covenant with His people and with their spiritual leaders/shepherds. Sheep do not aimlessly wander, but they know who their Shepherd is, and listen to His voice. The people of God do not aimlessly go here and there, nor are they directed by their own self-interests, but rather covenant themselves to a body to grow together. Just as a godly husband never switches-out his wife every month or so with another woman, or a mother never change-up her child to be a mother to another child, we too must let God commit ourselves wholly to Him and each other to experience true family and growth in the body of Christ.
God’s covenant matures us to grow into the next step of His work. As a church, our covenant in sacred giving will now be given to our care, so we must learn to support our own Pastor, manage the ministry operations, and grow the finances of the church as good stewards. As a church, our covenant to a spiritual leadership will now be entrusted to us, so we must step into new roles and responsibilities in God’s house as we form our first session of elders, team of deacons, and install our very first Senior Pastor/Head of Staff to be your primary shepherd, teacher of the Word, and administer of sacraments (baptism & communion). As a church, our covenant to the mission of becoming a flourishing community for all nations will be your spiritual responsibility, as we must embrace this mission as our life mission and seek to be a presence for those even outside the Korean context. As a church, our covenant will be made with the Lord through each other, so we must learn to reconcile and love each other, not be driven by our own self-interests or remain/leave out of self-serving preferences/benefits, but have the same mind as Christ Jesus, who came “not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (MARK 10:45).
If you have been part this journey thus far, I want to encourage you to take this next step as we delineate/bifurcate covenant partnership with our Korean church. In our ECO denominational family, we do not use the term, “membership.” Membership has largely come to be known for someone who pays dues and gets benefits. We are not members, but covenant partners – partnered in actively advancing God’s Kingdom through the unbreakable covenant promise of Jesus Christ that binds us together. As our congregation journeys together in this next step, we ask you to join us in this mission to write the next chapter of our church!
Prayerfully,
Your Brother and Pastor,
Rev. Chester Chung
These are exciting times in the history of our congregation! Having first began in 1995 when the Rev. Larry Johnson commenced the English service with a few English-speakers mixed in age and life stage back at our formative campus in Farmers Branch, twenty-eight years later – as of today in 2023 – we are still here by the grace of God – gathering as one, growing as followers, going as ambassadors of King Jesus Christ! It is my sincere hope that our congregation will remain faithful to the Lord in its founding mission and calling to the wider English/American people, as those entrusted with the gift of the English language and residing at the center of the English world – this privileged country of freedom, the United States of America and the Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex – where we call home.
When Bethany was first founded over thirty-seven years ago in 1986, it began primarily as a Korean church ministering to the immigrant Korean community in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Since then, God has tremendously blessed the Korean ministry, growing the congregation into a strong spiritual community of nearly 300 people. Many of us were reared and grew throughout our childhood during this time. Others of us joined along the way. We have full assurance that spiritual growth and ministry to our native Korean congregants must and will continue onward! With that said, however, the question remains – what about the English side?
English is the majority language, culture, and people of this land. Compared to our Korean congregation, we have far more opportunity and greater reachability to a wide array of people for Jesus than exclusively the Korean people – just through our simple common English proficiency. The possibilities are endless to spread the life-giving message of the gospel to our neighbors, workplaces, schools, family members, and grow a strong new church community expanding God’s Kingdom into American society and culture. We started in 1995 as an English service and are in progress towards this dream. I dream of a future where we all feel desperate to bring our friends, families, and neighbors of all different backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities around the common grace of the gospel that saved us. I dream of a church where Bethany will be a powerhouse of uncompromised preaching and teaching of the Word of God for every tribe, tongue, and people group to hear about the love of Christ, where no one leaves hungry but rather full in both stomach and soul, overflowing to serve over be served. I dream of a missional body where the image of God is multiplying so much that we cannot contain it and must plant more congregations/churches out of our growing congregation! Wouldn’t you love to see that happen?
In order to achieve this goal, *it does not mean we kick our Korean roots to the side or deny our heritage or partnership as a congregation historically birthed from the Korean church. What it does mean, however, is that we take the good things from our historical past/present – especially from the past twenty-eight years of ministry with the Korean community – that worked well in reaching those souls with an affinity for Korean culture, yet simultaneously prune away the unnecessary things that hindered fruitfulness in reaching souls outside of the Korean context, so that there can be more fruitfulness for all.
This is what happened with the passing of the congregational vote to transition our “English Congregation” into an “English Church” – remaining as co-partners and sister-churches with our Korean church. There may be a temptation to see this change as a split – *I want to assure you that this is not an accurate description of what the entire church overwhelmingly passed as God’s Kingdom agenda for our future. A split means complete separation, without commissioned blessing, born out of conflict. On the contrary, we are becoming a complete co-located church body, with the commissioned blessing of an overwhelming majority of the Korean congregation, born out of mission to fulfill the Great Commission and grow a healthy missional body that is not exclusively Korean-centered. We are committed to staying co-located, committed to sharing the Christian education department (K-12th grade) and world missions departments, and committed to keeping intact the blended/synergistic ministries that help both congregations flourish. The better word to think about here is “prune” – in order for more fruit to appear, the gardener must cut away those things that have hindered growth, so that there can appear healthier growth and fruit.
The healthy fruit of transition from “English Congregation” to “English Church” will be evident through covenant. You will experience the biblical sense of “covenant” through this transition. Covenant means an unbreakable trust and promise that depends wholly on God to fulfill. It is the language of marriage and the vows given at the marriage ceremony. In order to grow any ministry, there needs to be covenant with His people and with their spiritual leaders/shepherds. Sheep do not aimlessly wander, but they know who their Shepherd is, and listen to His voice. The people of God do not aimlessly go here and there, nor are they directed by their own self-interests, but rather covenant themselves to a body to grow together. Just as a godly husband never switches-out his wife every month or so with another woman, or a mother never change-up her child to be a mother to another child, we too must let God commit ourselves wholly to Him and each other to experience true family and growth in the body of Christ.
God’s covenant matures us to grow into the next step of His work. As a church, our covenant in sacred giving will now be given to our care, so we must learn to support our own Pastor, manage the ministry operations, and grow the finances of the church as good stewards. As a church, our covenant to a spiritual leadership will now be entrusted to us, so we must step into new roles and responsibilities in God’s house as we form our first session of elders, team of deacons, and install our very first Senior Pastor/Head of Staff to be your primary shepherd, teacher of the Word, and administer of sacraments (baptism & communion). As a church, our covenant to the mission of becoming a flourishing community for all nations will be your spiritual responsibility, as we must embrace this mission as our life mission and seek to be a presence for those even outside the Korean context. As a church, our covenant will be made with the Lord through each other, so we must learn to reconcile and love each other, not be driven by our own self-interests or remain/leave out of self-serving preferences/benefits, but have the same mind as Christ Jesus, who came “not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (MARK 10:45).
If you have been part this journey thus far, I want to encourage you to take this next step as we delineate/bifurcate covenant partnership with our Korean church. In our ECO denominational family, we do not use the term, “membership.” Membership has largely come to be known for someone who pays dues and gets benefits. We are not members, but covenant partners – partnered in actively advancing God’s Kingdom through the unbreakable covenant promise of Jesus Christ that binds us together. As our congregation journeys together in this next step, we ask you to join us in this mission to write the next chapter of our church!
Prayerfully,
Your Brother and Pastor,
Rev. Chester Chung
*By 3/26 (Sunday), every congregant will be required to choose where their covenant partnership will be held. *It can only be held with one church, not both – The Bethany Korean Presbyterian Church of Dallas or with the newly chartered English Congregation Church.
(1) *Covenant Partners of the English Congregation Church are congregants who are baptized (and if baptized as an infant/child, have received confirmation of baptism) and committed partners to the church with the following spiritual responsibilities:
- Signed and in agreement to ECO’s Essential Tenets, 12-point Doctrinal Statement, 10-point Growth & Progress Statement, and 7-point Values
- Full participants (to the best of one’s availability) in areas of ministry service, the life of the congregation (Life groups, fellowship, ministry events, etc) as one’s primary source of servanthood, community, spiritual care, and growth
- Acknowledge the current spiritual leadership (session & Head Pastor) as one’s primary source of church authority and discipline
- Sacred givers of tithes and offerings (as able and as God has entrusted) is given exclusively to this community and the stewarding care of its spiritual leadership
(2) *Remaining with the Korean Church: We understand some may desire to remain with The Bethany Korean Presbyterian Church, which we also completely support! If your calling is to remain, the same responsibilities will be expected of you for those desiring to keep their covenant partnership with the Korean church – your primary spiritual care, financial support, participation, and acknowledgement of spiritual shepherdship over you must go to the Korean community. *The English Church will not hold those responsibilities over you but release them to the care of the Korean Church.
(3) *Can we still do things together? Yes. Covenant Partners of each church can:
- Serve the blended ministries of the Christian Education department (Infant-12th grade) and world missions departments together
- Fellowship and serve together in joint endeavors