Back From St. Louis- Day 2

Thoughts On The Conference

I just got back home from St. Louis and had a sweet time at New City Fellowship’s Reconciliation and Justice Conference. On the whole, the plenary sessions were extremely helpful and the small group sessions were great too, providing space for thoughtful conversations and time to wrestle on the specific issues of reconciliation and justice in our churches with different pastors.

It was all the more interesting because the majority of folks who attended the conference were from the PCA, a denomination that is almost entirely white in ethnic make-up and has a history of racism. In fact, there is still much of that going on in certain regions of the country today. That’s for another entry, however.

I’d like to offer a few concluding thoughts from the conference. First off, I applaud New City Fellowship for their incredible commitment and passion to seeing reconciliation in the church, especially in regards to race and ethnicity. You see this kind of intentionality in every facet of their church, from leadership, various ministries and especially their music. They are also extensively committed to serving the poor and meeting the felt needs of the people in their context. New City Fellowship has two churches, the original being located in Chattanooga and the other in St. Louis. From what I’ve witnessed with the St. Louis church, they have an amazing non-profit organization in Restore St. Louis that is making a huge impact in the city. I praise God for them.

My one concern, however, is not an unimportant or minor one. While I am firmly committed to seeing racial reconciliation and justice enacted out in the local church, I don’t think that it is the core of the gospel. I truly believe the primary mission of the church is to preach the gospel faithfully and make disciples of all nations. The heart of the gospel, I believe, is the exaltation of Jesus and the salvation of sinners. Racial reconciliation and justice is and should be (but is often not, especially in many Reformed circles) a natural, organic outflow of faithfully preaching the gospel and raising disciples for Christ. But it should never take center stage, in my opinion, of any church’s philosophy of ministry. My fear is that people will begin to see that reconciliation and justice are the only concerns of the church. I think the gospel is much more comprehensive than those two things, although those two aspects of seeing God build His kingdom are extremely important components and often neglected in most evangelical churches today.

With that being said, I am grateful for the church and pray God would bless them and would faithfully be drawing more and more sinners into His family through this local congregation. I pray above all that Christ would be exalted in everything that happens.

The Best Part

Perhaps the best part of the conference was meeting new people and spending time with Pastor Dan and our soon-to-be Pastor Abraham. More on those two later.

I finally had a chance to meet Abe Cho and Duke Kwon. I didn’t get too much of a chance to chat with Abe but it was great to finally get a chance to talk with him, even if it was all too brief. The biggest blessing was meeting this dude named Duke Kwon. First of all, what kind of Korean parents name their kid Duke? Duke? Seriously, Duke? That is so bad-ass.

Duke is the lead pastor at a new PCA church plant in D.C. called Grace Meridian Hill. He and Pastor Dan hit it off last year at the conference and I’ve been told ever since that I had to meet this guy. I finally see why. My time with him was all too brief but I’m praying that this would lead to a fruitful and long-lasting relationship. Duke is a Korean-American man leading a multi-ethnic church in a neighborhood that is very much like Boston’s version of Jamaica-Plain and Roxbury. I often wrestle with the role of Asian-American pastors within the context of multi-ethnic churches. I was comforted to know that there’s other like-minded men going before me, such as Duke and Abe, who I can look up to and learn from as I discern God’s calling on my life as well. I’m hoping to visit D.C. (hopefully in the summer) to check out Duke’s church and see how God is using him!

Well, I just vomited a whole bunch of information. That was dope, I guess. But here are the pictures, the only real reason why anyone actually reads this blog. Sorry they suck!

Worship during the third session.

Whether led by Kirk Ward or Mike Ramsey, New City’s worship team always brings it hard.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, one of the best parts about the trip was hanging out with Pastor Dan and Abe. I still crack up when I think that our staff in Dorchester is comprised of this strange combination of a big white teddy bear and a pair of Harold and Kumar look-alikes. I praise God for these two men and having the chance to co-labor alongside them as well as being mentored by them.

Here we are, waiting for the T. St. Louis was dope, but it’s good to be back home in Boston!