Over the next few weeks, our Chinook Winds Regional Executive members are introducing themselves. This week, it’s OhWang Kwon.
May the peace of God be with you! My name is OhWang Kwon. I am the minister of the United Churches at Big Valley, Erskine and Stettler which are called BESTogether. I was born and raised in South Korea. Since I was called by God as a young adult, my life has been filled with many exciting and inspirational moments. It was by God’s grace that I began to study theology at the Graduate School of Theology, Hanshin University, after receiving a B.A. in International Relations. Serving congregations in California in the United States, Seoul in South Korea and Consort, Alberta in Canada has been a joyful and meaningful learning process. Most of all, I feel honoured to serve the UCC as the first minister from the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PROK) who entered into ministry under the Mutual Recognition of Ministries agreement. Married to Miran Kyoung, I have two daughters. We all are living in Alberta.
Currently, I am interested in how to promote the vision of the UCC for Becoming an Intercultural Church in pursuit of dialogue between traditional and progressive theologies, between ecumenical and evangelical traditions. My interest led me to coauthor the book, Jesus and the Marginalized: Jesus Christ for Koreans in The United Church of Canada, with Dr Donald Schweitzer. I believe that igniting our passion for ministry with prayer and praise will revive our congregations through the power of God. My greatest assets to my ministry and service would be my research on theology, ethics and culture at Claremont Graduate University, where I received my PhD, in addition to my ministry experience at Kangnam Presbyterian Church.
Joining the executive, I hope that I will contribute to Chinook Winds Region with my theological ideas and ministry skills and training by playing a role in bridging traditional and progressive, ecumenical and evangelical, and urban and rural. May God’s blessing be with all of Chinook Winds Region!