Up until middle school, I was essentially babysat by various youth pastors, maximizing the fun and mischief I could muster with my friends. Serious formation of my Korean-style evangelical faith started around sixth or seventh grade, when my family joined Emmanuel Korean Presbyterian Church in west Philadelphia.
I have no idea why or how, but these kids took their faith seriously—or they sure acted like it. And their leaders made sure they did. In fact, I distinctly remember thinking that we thought ourselves separate from other Philadelphia-area Korean churches because of our religiosity. But of course, that’s not what got me excited to be there every chance I got.
The youth group was large, around 60 kids. Coming from smaller churches with much smaller youth groups, I felt like I was in a perpetual summer camp of fun. Friendships developed quickly and deeply, making our communal religious rituals that much more powerful—or powerful at all. To this moment, some of the best friends I have now I met there.
Weekend retreats, lock-ins, Friday night large group gatherings. Marathon prayer sessions. Long Edwards-ian sermons. Bible highlighting. Quiet times. Everyone crying in ecstasy while singing the last Vineyard worship song at 2am. And the jarringly powerful praying in tongues (seriously, where did that come from?). Ah, the stuff of young religious fervor.
No one tells you at that time that you’re living into a distinct sociological phenomenon well-documented among religious Korean immigrants. Especially enlightening is the fact that Korean culture is deeply intertwined in all of the religious activity you engage in. No one also tells you you’re a part of a distinct theological tradition, stretching back to the work of Reformed American missionaries in late 19th and early 20th century Korea. I would guess that our pastors and teachers didn’t know either.
All we believed was that we were living in the truth. And that proms were sinful.
My teenage experiences—how I related to my religious peers, my pastors, and to God—set a firm foundation for the spirituality I would develop well into my young adult years. The memories are vivid, the lessons learned are complicated, and I had no idea what I’d be in for next.
