Rev. Dr. Sangwoo Kim offered a message of hope and humility during the Ordering of Ministry service on Saturday morning through his own story of receiving an unexpected, quarter-time appointment at a small church in a different conference — a four-hour drive from where his family lived.
Feeling alone and “forgotten by the powerful” during the appointment process, he struggled to reconcile a quarter-time appointment with the financial needs of his family: his wife was entering a graduate program, they had an infant at home, and they were living in an expensive city. Disheartened, Kim asked God, “What can I possibly share with this community?” The answer he received was an echo from Isaiah 40: “Comfort. Comfort my people.”
Although it seemed, from the outside looking in, to Kim that the congregation was doing well and perhaps he was in more need of comfort than they, he spent months making brief, weekend visits with the families of the local church. At each home visit, he somewhat reluctantly shared that message of comfort with his new church families.
Kim reflected that many of those he visited with, hearing that God sent him to offer comfort, began to cry. The tears were flowing out of pain from challenges including miscarriages, suicide, infertility, infidelity, broken relationships, racism, social isolation, and mental health care issues.
Offering comfort, Kim shared that he, himself, found comfort, healing, and recuperation. As he drove the weekly 4-hour path over the mountains between the city where his family lived and the church, he reflected on the words of Isaiah 52:7 and the blessing of his unexpected ministry as the bringer of the Good News. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” Over time he saw much more clearly than when first appointed, the ways God was working in the church and in himself “in strange and unexpected ways.”
Drawing insight from that experience, he spoke to those being licensed, certified, commissioned, and ordained at Annual Conference 2024: “Pay attention to the strange ways of God’s work in your ministry. Stop trying to control how God works in your new ministry.”
Referencing the story of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10, Kim noted with humor that, “Nobody in the story has any clue of what is happening! But strangely, it didn’t matter at all. They simply played roles as faithfully as they could and then God’s promise was fulfilled…not because of our plan but in spite of our stupid and stubborn plans.”
Noting that, “Holy Spirit is in the details – nothing is under our control,” Kim encouraged all of those gathered to rest in the knowledge that God was the Planner. “It is biblical not to know everything about God’s plan.” With that reassurance, he said each person was called to live in a place of curiosity, courageousness, and commitment. A life of curiosity means a life filled with listening for God’s will. “Don’t stop being curious about what God wants you to do … your success might be your biggest stumbling block.” A courageous life is a life where each person recognizes that they “have no clue,” takes a deep breath in times of challenge, and chooses to trust God. A committed life is one focused on what Kim called “the basics.” This means being committed to works of mercy and piety, means of grace, holy conferencing, and love. “When you are committed to these basics you will be part of the divine scheme,” he said, “You will still feel lost, but you will enjoy being lost in the mystery of divinity being lost in wonder, love, and praise.”
Certified Lay Ministers
Jeanne Gregory
Richard G. Morrison
Lusi Radford
Sue Ann Campbell Jatko
Lisa O’Donnell
Rick Stanford
Mary McLeod
Shannon Perkins
Commissioned as a Deaconess
Amy Nicole Balfour
License for Pastoral Ministry
Joshua Thomas Abraham
Angela Carraway Denton
Kevin Lee Rollison
Takudzwa Chipeke
Grace McGee
Andrew Mark Watkins
Asya Denise Coles
Timothy Odell Nicholson
Commissioning as Deacon
Anne Louise Pass
Commissioning as Elder
Cole Gunther Breit
Miles Baker Hunt
Sarah Jane Majors
Robert Tyler Daniels
James Logan Jackson
Austin Anthony Meadows
Schylar Ann Ferguson
Kudakwashe Kagura
Howard Keith Porter
Saul Gastelum Flores
Joseph Dawson Lane
Han Sol Sim
Amanda Gail Hedden
Heather Marie Locklear
Joshua Andrew Tester
Ordination as Deacon
Catherine Earle Neal
Ordination as Elder
Gordon John Christen
Rachel Elise Price Kwashe
Donald Clayton Parker
Rebecca Ellen Detterman
Stephan Thomas Margeson
Damion Taj Quaye
Jacob Marshall Dye
Kathryn M. Medinas-Lockley
Cassidy Anna Salter
Mark Edward Gustafson
Tobi Anne Nguyen
Benjamin Cornelius Van Staalduinen
Changing from Order of Deacons to Order of Elders
Kristina Johnson Yeatts