Our vision is a theologically educated and amply supported leadership equipped and inspired for ministry in a rapidly changing world.
Our vision is a theologically educated and amply supported leadership equipped and inspired for ministry in a rapidly changing world.
Disciples Seminary Foundation has proudly supported the education and formation of Korean Disciples for the last 19 years. After sponsoring an in-house certificate course of study in 1992-1993, DSF partnered with the southern California campus of San Francisco Theological Seminary, to provide a joint bilingual Master of Arts in Theological Studies degree. Later DSF supported students in SFTS/SC’s Korean Theological Studies program, which provided Korean language M.Div. studies and which produced a number of strong ministers, including Rev. Myungsun Cheon, Rev. Jinsuk Chun, Rev. Young Sook Kim, Rev. Gyoo Reon Hwang, Rev. Hyung Tae Kim, and Soo Jung Yun. A program with Brite Divinity School also graduated Rev. SeungUnTche in 2006. Other Korean Disciples have received doctoral degrees from Claremont Graduate University, such as Rev. Dr. Jae Hyung Cho, and a number of other Korean Disciples ministers have first learned about our denomination through Disciples Seminary Foundation and have received support in seminars and internships. Within the last year, DSF has been working with Claremont School of Theology to continue this tradition of service and to address the needs of the growing Korean Disciples community.
Beginning in Fall 2012, Disciples Seminary Foundation will partner with Claremont School of Theology to offer an M.Div. degree with the majority of courses in Korean and with courses in English, to provide a bilingual education for ministry. This degree will be a fully-accredited M.Div., integrated into Claremont’s excellent theological education. Disciples Seminary Foundation will direct the program, cooperating with CST to design the curriculum and recruit faculty. The result will be an ecumenical student body taught by a large number of Disciples faculty.
This partnership combines the considerable strengths of both CST and DSF. CST contributes world-class faculty in a strong ecumenical program, as well as historic ties to churches in Korea and an impressive record of Korean and Korean-American graduates. CST also offers a D.Min. degree in Korean, with three Disciples pastors as students as well as a large class from the U.S. and Korea. DSF offers effective connections to our regional churches, including our Korean and other NAPAD congregations, a network of Korean graduates already in ministry, and the robust teaching capacity of our Korean Disciples with Ph.D. degrees from Claremont schools. Together, we will offer an M.Div. degree that is unique in its commitment to academic excellence in the service of ministry.
Rev. Dr. Aaron Park will serve as Director of Korean Studies for DSF. Dr. Park is an ordained Disciples minister who serves as one of the co-pastors of Saegil Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Burbank, California. He serves the larger church as moderator of the Korean Disciples Convocation in the Pacific Southwest Region, and is a member of the regional Committee on Ministry as well as the board of Church Extension. He has long been a friend of Disciples Seminary Foundation, serving on our board from 2010 to 2011. He earned the Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Claremont Graduate University in 1999, and is the author of The Book of Amos as Composed and Read in Antiquity (2001). Dr. Park has taught extensively at San Francisco Theological Seminary/Southern California and at Korean seminaries in the Los Angeles area. Dr. Park is a pastor, a church leader, a scholar, and a professor, who will direct our program and advise its students.
DSF’s goal in this M.Div. program is graduates who can minister effectively in Korean and English, with a capacity to understand and pastor a variety of Korean-American congregations. Students will take classes in both Korean and English each semester, giving opportunities for focused study on specific Korean contexts as well as exposure to the full range of DSF and CST courses and students. Graduates will understand the specifics of Korean churches and the breadth of all of our regional Disciples churches. Dr. Park will lead DSF in providing coursework, community, formation, and church connections for an outstanding learning experience unparalleled in the United States.
DSF seeks to ensure that students graduate with the skills for "doing" the ministry of leadership and with spiritual resources for "being" ministers; that seminary partners maintain quality theological education; that churches nurture and call future leaders and support them in preparation for ministry. All of which is made possible by generous donors, including Disciples Mission Fund, who share our vision of leadership for mission in an ever changing future.