A Faith Of Our Own: Second-Generation Spirituality in Korean American Churches

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments I am deeply grateful to many people who helped me with this research in its many stages.Without the collaborative support of institutions, informants , mentors, colleagues, friends, and family, I would not have been able to write this book. This book was generously supported by two grants from the Louisville Institute—the Dissertation Fellowship and the First Book Grant for Minority Scholars. I would like to thank Jim Lewis, executive director of the Louisville Institute, for his ongoing support for this project, and for creating venues for collaborative conversation between academics and religious leaders. This project began as a dissertation project when I was a graduate student in the sociology department at the University of Southern California . I am indebted to my faculty mentors, Jon Miller and Edward Park, who supportively guided and shepherded this project in its earliest stage. I am deeply grateful to Donald Miller, religious studies professor at the University of Southern California and executive director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, who has mentored me over the years. His generosity of spirit and model of blending brilliant scholarship with compassionate service have been invaluable and inspirational. I had the privilege of working with an interdisciplinary group of scholars of the Asian American Christian experience on a research project on pastoral leadership funded by the Lilly Endowment: Peter Cha, Faustino Cruz,Antony Alumkal,Young Lee Hertig, Jung Ha Kim, Ruth Narita Doyle,Timothy Tseng, Russell Jeung, and DavidYoo. In particular , Russell Jeung read several drafts of my manuscript and gave invaluable feedback, in addition to serving as a helpful guide in the process of publishing this book. I am deeply grateful to these colleagues and friends for the role they played in shaping my thinking about Asian American Christianity. ix x Acknowledgments I am indebted to the all the ministers who enthusiastically carved out time, in the midst of their very busy ministry schedules, to speak candidly with me about the rewards and challenges of ministering to second-generation Korean Americans. I am thankful to Rutgers University Press, particularly my editor Adi Hovav, for supporting this work. Her insights and support were invaluable . Peter Cha and Pyong Gap Min, both highly respected scholars in Korean American religion, provided enormously helpful suggestions on an early draft of this manuscript. Rebecca Kim, a valued friend and colleague , offered an insightful and in-depth review of this manuscript in its final stages. The Sociology Department at California State University Fullerton and Dean Thomas Klammer graciously provided me with the teaching relief I needed to complete this manuscript. In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to Dennis Berg for his mentorship and unflagging support. Along the way, a number of friends and colleagues have given invaluable input and advice. In particular, Michelle Kim, D. J. Chuang, and Eric Cheng read portions of this manuscript and provided helpful comments and suggestions. My family deserves the lion’s share of credit for their unwavering support of this book. My mother, Jae Park, continually encouraged me with her words and prayers, as did my sisters Janice, Lynn, and Kathy. My late mother-in-law Myung So Kim’s faith and passion for God made an enduring impact on my life. I am blessed to have these remarkable women in my life. My two precious sons, Daniel and Joel, are the kindest , brightest, and most lovable boys a mother could ever hope for. Most important, I thank my husband, David, whose sharp insight, love, and encouragement I can always rely on. It’s a pure joy and privilege to journey through life with him. A Faith of Our Own ...