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THE SOCIAL FUNCTION AND MEANING OF PROTESTANTISM FOR
KOREANS AND KOREAN AMERICANS

By

Henry Hyunsuk Kim

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS
Department of Sociology

2000

ABSTRACT

THE SOCIAL FUNCTION AND MEANING OF PROTESTANTISM FOR
KOREANS AND KOREAN AMERICANS

By

Henry Hyunsuk Kim

This study is a comparative historical investigation regarding the impact of
religion and church on Koreans and Korean Americans. This investigation begins
with a discussion of general theories of immigration adaptation with special reference
to the role of religion for these immigrant groups and then explores what role religion
may have had for three distinct Korean groups. There were three major findings in
this study. For the Korean natives, Christianity began with a spiritual and holistic
gospel which changed into a social gospel. For the first generation Korean
Americans, Protestant-affiliation increases upon immigration to the US and this group
appears to emphasize a social gospel. For the second generation Korean Americans,
there is a diminishing “utility” and “silent exodus” whereby neither a holistic nor
social gospel is attributed to Protestantism. This study concludes with a critical
comparative appraisal of the three groups followed by a discussion of possible

research agenda.

Copyright by
HENRY HYUNSUK KIM
2000

In memory of David Cho.

iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Dr. Brendan P. Mullan for his invaluable work and
guidance in this project. I am also grateful for the encouragement of Dr. Steven J.
Gold and Dr. Ruben G. Rumbaut throughout my academic endeavors. Finally, I
would like to thank Pastor Young Ho Cho and Dr. Kwang C. Kim for their priceless
dedication and exemplification of what it means to be father, husband, and men.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Immigration and Religion: An Overview
Korean Americans

Korean Nationals 1885-1950

Animistic Medicinal Practices
Prince Min Yong Ik
Education
Christianity vs. Other Religions
Shamanism
Buddhism and Confuciansim
Catholicism
Shintoism
Presbyterianism and Methodism

First Generation Korean Americans

Fellowship and a Coping Mechanism

Cultural Preservation

Social Services

Social Status and Position

Brokerage (Marriage and Business)
Overrepresentation of Protestants and Presbyterians
Christianizing Koreans vs. Koreanizing Christianity

Second Generation Korean Americans

Language

Structure and Communication
Para-Church vs. Local Church
Trajectories

Church as “Forced” vs. Optional
Church and Satiation
Multi-Ethnic vs. Homogeneity [Christianity vs. Culture?]
Unit of Analysis

Spatial and Generational

A Non-Personalized Faith

Silent Exodus

Conclusion

Recommendations

References

vi

25
27
29
31
32
35
36
40

42
42
43
44
44
45
46
47
48
48
49
50

52
55

56

INTRODUCTION

’3 66

The words “assimilation, acculturation,” and “Americanization” have been
applied to the European American immigrants of the “19003 to the 19403” (cf.
Bogardus 1930, Park 1950, Banton 1967, Glazer 1983 and Portes and Rumbaut

1996). These words assumed that as different groups intermingled with the host
society they would eventually form “a new composite national stock and a new breed”
called the “American” (McKee 1985). Immigrant scholars have attempted to classify
the assimilation process into various stages (cf. Bogardus 1930, Park 1950, and
Banton 1967) and Robert Park’s 1950 theory was one such powerful immigrant-host
theory. He used a “biological” metaphor to describe the immigrant-host relationship
as “the ease and rapidity with which aliens, under existing conditions in the United
States, have been able to assimilate themselves to the customs and manners of
American life have enabled this country to swallow and digest every sort of normal
human difference” (emphases mine, Park 1950). Concerning the European

39 6C

immigrants, “assimilation, acculturation,” and “Americanization” were viable
teleological terms in light of a similarly phenotypic European wave of American
immigrants and a fear of “anti-Americanism” via two World Wars.

However, the new wave of immigration to the United States (1965 - present)
has made the older European assimilation-hermeneutic inoperative. Due to the large
inflow of non-Europeans, “assimilation, a process that is assumed to have done its

work on the descendants of European immigrants, has somehow broken down in the

contemporary U.S.” (Alba 1998). The “old” immigration was predominantly “white”

Europeans and the present inflow is largely non-white and of Third World origin (cf.
McKee 1985, Portes and Rumbaut 1996, and Warner 1998). Between 1980 and 1990,
non-white immigrants have contributed a full 39% of the country’s population growth
and “assimilation as the rapid transformation of immigrants into residents ‘as
American as everyone else’ has never happened” (Portes and Rumbaut 1996).
Therefore, “assimilation” has become passe, problematic, opprobrious, and
perhaps an inoperable rubric. Today, “assimilation” infers a deterministic “one—way-
ness” whereby “a practice <is> prescribed by the guardians of the social order”
(Rumbaut 1999). The very word reflects a power-dynamic which equates “‘foreign’
with ‘inferior’ and the ways of the ‘host’ or ‘core’ society and culture with ‘superior’
(Rumbaut 1999). Currently, a shift has occurred from the “assimilation” paradigm to
perspectives of selective-acculturation (Portes and Rumbaut 1996 and Hurh 1998) and
ethnic self-identification (Rumbaut 1996). Whereas the first immigration wave had
the proper conditions to fully assimilate and may have desired “full digestion,” the
second wave is not “permitted” nor may they desire full assimilation. Rather, the
latter groups are selectively maintaining their ethnic traditions while embracing some
of the host society’s mores. Won Moo Hurh has repeatedly found that selective-
acculturation paradigms have been especially true for at least one non-European
group, Koreans (Hurh, Kim and Kim 1978, Hurh 1980, and Hurh and Kim 1984).
Immigration theories and terms need to coincide with the phenomenal changes
in the American-immigration composition. However, immigrant-studies have
become synonymous with ethnic-associations, i.e.: Vietnamese and refugees, Cubans

and political exiles and refugees, Mexicans and migrant workers and illegal aliens,

Koreans and entrepreneurs, etc. Unfortunately, any and every “hyphenated-
American” study has created watch-words which are continually berated with any
combination of economical, political, social-, cultural-, human-capital etc. lenses.
There must be new ways to study how the new immigrants selectively-acculturate
(their mechanisms) and how they construct and perceive their self-identities.
Immigration and Religion: An Overview

Most of the pre-World War I European American immigrants anchored
themselves in the church or some type of religious institution (Mohl and Betten
1981). There were four major non-religious functions that the ethnic-churches
served: 1) a cultural heritage preservation amidst a foreign-America (Mohl and Betten
1981); 2) a mechanism for the immigrants” self-identity (Hamey 1978) and especially
to demarcate themselves from other ethnic groups (N iebuhr: 1957); 3) a symbol of
nationality (Mohl and Betten: 1981), and; 4) the center of political and cultural
activities (Mohl and Betten: 1981). Accordingly, “the church with its use of the old
language, with its conservative continuance of Old World customs, with its strictly
racial character was the most important of the social organizations of the immigrant”
(N iebuhr: 1957). However, the non-religious ethnic functions of the church were
more significant for first generation immigrants than for the succeeding progeny
(Mohl and Betten: 1981). As most European groups were “persuaded” to assimilate
under the war conditions and as the immigrant children grew up as “Americans, the
old world church had less validity” (Mohl and Betten 1981). The churches no longer
symbolized an ethnic demarcation. Rather, in light of the Europeans’ “full digestion,”

liturgical and doctrinal lines replaced the racial divisions (N iebuhr 1957). Ironically,

for the latter generations, “religion and church provided emotional and material
resources which enabled ultimate assimilation” (Gjerde 1986).

Warner’s conclusion that “religious identities often mean more to them [the
immigrants] away from home” (Warner 1998) is equally applicable to either the
European Americans or the “new” immigrants of the post-1965 period. Whereas the
former group was fully—assimilated and the latter selectively acculturated, there are
similarities and differences in religious functions and meanings regarding the two
immigration waves. Four church roles that specifically applied to the non-European
immigrants may hold true for both immigration waves, church as: a) a “prime source
of identity... for organizing the social relations of a group” (Bellah 1970 and Zhou
1996); b) a mechanism for cultural preservation and group-cohesion (Herberg 1960
and Williams 1988); c) a positive correlate to social adjustment (Herberg 1960), and;
d) as the “home away from home” for the first generation and an alienated place for
the progeny (Warner 1998). The major functional difference is in the church’s role
regarding the new-wave immigrants’ selective-acculturation or ethnic self-identities.
It remains to be seen whether the non-European immigrants’ progeny ascribe the
same meaning to church as their parents, ascribe a new meaning to their parents’
religion, or abandon the church as a selective-acculturation and self-identity
mechanism.

Korean Americans

The literature for Korean Americans has been overly-represented with

occupation-type and geography. At least four other themes have received lesser

qualitative and quantitative attention and have been collapsed under an

entrepreneurial rubric: selective-acculturation, race-relations, gender, and especially
religion. These themes need to be further studied on their own merit and not
subsumed by entrepreneurs.

Won Moo Hurh estimated that “about 5 million Koreans are scattered all over
the world; the largest concentration is in China (about 2 million) and the next largest
is in the US. (1.5 million)” (Hurh 1998). However, four major US. locations have
received the most scholarly attention. Pyong Gap Min has written extensively
concerning the regions of New York and Atlanta; Los Angeles has been the focus of
Light and Bonacich (who wrote the classic Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Koreans in Los
Angeles: 1965-1982) and In-J in Yoon; and Chicago has drawn the particular attention
of Won Moo Hurh and ln-J in Yoon. These authors are representative of the four
major regions which have dominated the Korean American literature.

Within these geographies, entrepreneurship has been the major hermeneutic
that has been used to study the Korean American immigrants. Light and Bonacich’s
structural-perspective has been a watershed of sorts for other writers to interpret
Korean immigration from an economic tupos. Light and Bonacich explicated how the
relationship between US. business and the South Korean government developed after
the Korean War. A central tenet is that when labor (Korean immigrants) does not go
to capital (US. business), capital can and often will go to the labor (Light and
Bonacich 1991).

Pyong Gap Min accentuated the “middleman minority model” whereby
“Korean merchants in the United States play the role of a ‘middleman’ minority

between low-income, minority consumers and large companies, often distributing

merchandise made by predominantly White-owned corporations to African American
and Latino customers” (Min and Jaret 1985 and Min 1996). From this he attempted
to correlate higher intra-ethnic solidarity with inter-ethnic conflicts. In-J in Yoon
studied Korean entrepreneurs in Chicago and attempted to debunk Min’s “middleman
minority role” in On My Own (Yoon 1997). Many articles and books resulted from
the 1992 riots in Los Angeles which increased the already inundated Korean
American immigrant entrepreneur literature (Chang 1994, Kim 1994, Abelman and
Lie 1995 ETC!) Unfortunate as the riots were, the “race riots” literature dually
reinforced two ideologies: all Koreans are entrepreneurs and the riots resulted from
Korean and Black tensions. Clearly there is something more to the Korean American
experience than this overly simplistic depiction.

The over-emphasis on self-employment may have excluded other elements
which could provide a different way to examine the Korean American immigration
experience. One rubric which may provide fresh insight to the immigration study is
religion. As Warner pointed out, there has been a paucity of academic attention to the
non-European religious institutions from 1965 to the present (Warner: 1998). This is
especially true for Korean Americans.

Since the official introduction of Protestantism to Korea after the ratification
of the American-Korean Treaty in 1882 (cf. Hurh 1998), religion has played an
important role for Korean natives and immigrants. Although around 25% of South
Korean natives are of Protestant-affiliation, the percentage of Christian Koreans in
America are significantly higher, upwards to 75% (Warner 1998). Min postulated in

his New York study that “nearly 75% of Korean immigrant families are affiliated with

Korean churches and nearly half the Korean Protestant churches are Presbyterian”
(Min 1996a). Furthermore, a Chicago-based study posited that Korean church
participation increases by 20% or more upon immigrating to the States (Hurh, Kim
and Kim 1978). Finally, Hurh stated something which every Korean American
“already knows”: “the Korean immigrant church has become the most important
ethnic association among Korean Americans” (Hurh 1998).

What needs to be addressed in the Korean American literature is how or why
does Protestant and Presbyterian over-representation exist among Korean Americans?
Fragmented religious studies and vignettes do not adequately answer these questions
(cf. Chai 1998, Chong 1998, Lee 1997, Song 1997, Kim 1996, Lee 1996, Min 1992
and, Hurh and Kim 1990). As of today, a unifying historical-comparative approach
has yet to investigate the origin, meanings, development, and roles that the Protestant
Church has had on Korean immigrants. Therefore, a comparative historical
investigation will be used to interpret the function and meanings of Protestantism for
three distinct Korean groups: Korean nationals, first generation Korean Americans,
and second generation Korean Americans.

Korean Nationals 1885-1950

In describing the religious experience of Korean nationals between 1885 and
1950, religion, education, and medicine will be linked together to explicate the
positive associations of Christianity and Western culture with medicine and
education. Second, I will discuss other religious world-views which have had contact
with Korea and explicate why Christianity and not the other religions - Shamanism,

Buddhism, Confucianism, Catholicism, nor Shintoism - was such an impetus under

the time reference of study. Finally, I will discuss why the Presbyterian denomination
(the form of religion) was over-represented among the Korean nationals.

There are four contributory causes whereby medicine and the transformation
of the medicinal system were positively associated with Christianity: 1) the
ineffectiveness of the animistic medical practices which exacerbated the nation’s
illnesses; 2) the restoration of Prince Min Yong 1k; 3) the founding of modern
hospitals, and; 4) the establishment of medical schools. The latter two reasons are
intertwined with the educational transformation and will be discussed in detail below.
Animistic Medicinal Practices

Mysticism and superstition were a definite hallmark of the Korean national
psyche in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Anabel Major Nisbet, who spent twelve
years as a Korean missionary at the turn of the 20th century, noted that one of her
students fooled the local villagers by speciously presenting a cuckoo-type clock as the
house of a Guardian Spirit (N isbet 1920). When she manipulated the clock’s hands
and the clock sounded, the villagers bowed to the “god.” Animistic beliefs also
transcended into medicinal practices. Nisbet stated that “the number of children blind
from measles and smallpox is appalling” especially in light of the Korean’s “great
many native doctors and medicine vendors” (N isbet 1920:60). These doctors
believed that evil spirits caused illnesses, such as poor eyesight. Mothers covered
their children’s eyes with tobacco or cow dung which only exacerbated the problems
and led to complete blindness. Regarding the missionaries’ medical work, she stated
that: “When suffering has been relieved, it is easy to listen to the words of the one

who has brought healing” (Nisbet 1920254).

Prince Min Yong lk

The first Protestant missionary arrived in Korea in 1885 as a medical doctor
(Paek 1980). The inception of medical-missions had a fourfold purpose: overseeing
of the Government Hospital, medical education, practice among Koreans, including
king and his court, and work among foreign residents (Paek 1980). Dr. Horace N.
Allen, who came under the Presbyterian Board, was not only the first resident
Protestant missionary to enter Korea (Clark 1961), but was also appointed as the court
physician (Paek 1980). In fact, this ceremony was “not merely a royal mandate, but
was a ceremonious procedure” (Paek 1980:122). Prior to Allen’s arrival, outsiders
were not welcome to Korea. Though Korea has also been called Chosen, “Land of the
morning calm,” she has also been called the Hermit Kingdom, and for good reason.
For five hundred years, she has isolated herself from foreigners, and during the
current time-frame of study the government had expressed open antipathy towards
missionaries.

One specific incident prior to Allen’s coronation as court physician facilitated
Korea’s adoption of Western medicine and Protestant missionaries. In 1885, Prince
Min Yong Ik, a nephew of the Queen, was severely ill and Dr. Allen was summoned
to care for him. After three months of constant medical attention, the Prince was fully
restored to sound health. “This won the confidence and friendship of the King and
Queen and prepared the way for open missionary work” (Clark 1961 :61). Dr. Allen
would eventually secure the Presbyterian Mission in Korea. Interestingly, it would

also be a physician that would secure Methodism in Korea (Paek 1980).

It is imperative to understand Korea’s need for modern medicine in order to
grasp the impetus of the medical missionaries. Even with the Western intervention, a
cholera epidemic accounted for 5,000 lives in Seoul and its vicinity in 1895 (Clark
1961). Thus, “as the people began to realize the ineffectiveness of the Korean
doctor’s concoctions and magical practices as compared with Western medicine, they
turned to foreign doctors” (Paek 1980:125). Furthermore, Paek posited that the
Presbyterian and Methodist physicians paved the way for their respective
missionaries. It is not surprising that the two denominations that were the most
involved in the medical practices and the educational system via missions at the turn
of the 20th century are today the highest represented Protestant groups in South Korea.
Education

Six reasons can be given to explain why education and the transformation of
the educational system were positively associated with Christianity: 1) a national
desire to break from the old, established monarchical system towards a democratic
future; 2) Western education as a means of dissociation from the Chinese and
Japanese; 3) the rise of spiritual interests (Christianity) which led to a rise in the
national literacy; 4) a national educational revolution independent of religion;
5) church missions as the only viable source to provide an education, and; 6) a
transformation from holistic missions to a social gospel. In discussing each of these
reasons, I will highlight certain missionary contributions via education which still
have an impact on Korea (South).

Between 1953 and 1963, South Korea’s literacy rose from 30% to over 80%

(Light and Bonacich 1991). The Protestant missionaries played a crucial precursor-

10

role in Korea’s increasing literacy-rate. Prior to Korea’s contact with the
missionaries, the Korean alphabet was considered so simple by the Koreans that its
simplicity may have hindered the nation’s literacy rate. “The scholars who had spent
years of learning the intricacies of the Chinese classics had a vast contempt for a
system of writing that ‘even a woman could learn’” (Clark 1961 :5). Furthermore,
Nisbet believed that the Korean’s notion that a scholar can do no work was a great
handicap to Korean society (N isbet 1920). In fact, when she and her husband were
seen doing yard-work on their own house, the villagers could not be convinced that
they were persons other than servants. She further claimed that Aristocrats grew long,
neatly manicured nails as proof that they did not work with their hands. Somehow,
missionaries had to demonstrate their academic credibility in conjunction with the
demanding physical field-work, and educate the Koreans in their own language.
Ironically, the Korean’s predisposition regarding their “simple” language and a
scholar-type may have contributed to their illiteracy. So, how did the educational
transformation occur?

m, Patterson and Kim stated that towards the end of the 19‘h century,
nationals began to question “whether a democracy might be better than the monarchy
that they lived under” (Patterson and Kim 1977:14). Furthermore, the political
turmoil, wars, and rebellions of the 18903 caused great social-upheaval and
homelessness. To exacerbate situations, there was a growth of corrupt officials who
taxed the people so heavily that they had to go into debt in order to survive. In

contrast, Christianity was associated with modern ideas and. was increasingly

11

correlated with the successful Western nations. Accordingly, some symbolized
Christianity as a break from the ancient and self-stultifying traditions.

_S_e_co_nd, as Koreans attempted to draw sharper lines of demarcation with their
neighbors, the people became eager for Western education (Paek 1980). It is in this
context that the missionaries and the Bible played such an important role. Whereas
the Korean scholars tried to learn Chinese and the Japanese language was forced
under the annexation-years, American missionaries learned Korean. Nisbet claimed
that a missionary (Presbyterian) spends the first two years learning the Korean
language (N isbet 1920). Whereas Koreans were previously learning an outsider’s
language, the missionaries as outsiders were learning the Korean’s language. A
missionary-adage states that “a learning of the language evinces a love for the
people.” However, it is not an emotive component that significantly contributed to
the Korean’s literacy rate. The missionaries learned Korean well enough to translate
the Bible into the Korean language. Most importantly, the Bible translation helped
standardiz the Korean language, especially the Christian terminology (Clark 1961).

Ihi_rd, a massive nation-wide dissemination of the gospel message
inadvertently increased the literacy rate. In 1909-10 there was a movement called
“The Million Movement” (Paek 1980). The slogan was “A million souls for Christ”
and the result was the distribution of 700,000 gospels of Mark and millions of tracts.
This movement significantly contributed to the literacy rate as the Church had become
the most potent national institution by 1910 (Paek 1980). Rather than being
disparaged, literacy now implied being “spiritual” and associated with Christianity

and Western culture and dissociation with the past.

12

The nation-wide evangelization attempt was made possible because of the
unification of the Presbyterian and Methodist missions in September 15, 1905, under
the General Council of Evangelical Missions (Paek 19802381). This marked the first
time that a foreign religious organization openly declared a divide-and-conquer
strategy that was not only unhindered by the Koreans; but supported. In fact, the only
major oppositions that the Christian missionaries would face stemmed from
Communist -Russia and -China and Imperialist-Japan.

F_our_tl_1_, the nexus between the Bible translation, language standardization, and
education-development must be placed in historical perspective. After the religious
revival in the early 19008 there was a corresponding “education revolution” (Pack
1980). Accordingly, Koreans felt that the future of the nation resided in the education
of the younger people. The timing could not have been better for the missionaries to
instrumentally use the Gospel to propagate religion, literacy, and education. The
Koreans were ready to break from the old ways and to be educated in their own
language, en mass.

At the beginning of the 20‘h century, missionaries had the content and form to
transform Korea’s educational system. The educational-foothold which the Christian
missionaries established would prove significant in the following years: “With
Liberation from Japanese rule in 1945, there came a widespread hunger for education
which was almost a craze, a desire to make up for lost time and secure the education
which had not previously been available” (Clark 1961 :12).

Fifth, and most importantly, is the direct role that the Christians played in the

Korean educational system. The first modern schools in Korea were nearly all

13

Mission schools (Clark 1961). With the increased frustrations towards the ancient
ways and a growing desire towards an educated progeny, the old village schools had
become passe, and “the only available educational institutions were those maintained
by the churches” (Paek 1980: 391). Paek boldly claimed that “the Church possessed
almost the only educational system of the country, from the primary to the college and
professional school” (Paek 1980: 391). Furthermore, after 1900, “everyone was
starting schools, and so-called ‘academies’ were established everywhere” (Clark
1961:162).

m1}, why was the church so influential regarding its educational impetus
during the pre-modemization and annexation period of Korea? Paek gives at least
three reasons (Paek 1980). First, the Korean government was impotent and they did
not have the resources to provide their peoples with a Western education, specifically
in medicine and industry. Second, the Japanese were too busy with their irnperialistic
concerns to implement a modern educational system. These two points explain why
the church was the only viable avenue of education. Paek’s third impetus is also my
sixth reason concerning the Korean’s educational transformation: not only did the
missionaries have the appropriate resources as well as the Korean’s trust, they
changed their agenda from a holistic-gospel to a social-gospel.

There is no question that the missionaries initially used education within a
holistic ministry. They were ultimately concerned with a spiritual transformation.
However, as with many other mission-movements, what began as holistic-missions in
Korea transmogrified into a social-Gospel. For example, in conjunction with the

191 O-Japanese annexation of Korea, C. G. Hounshell under the Southern Methodist

14

Mission, redirected a mission school to teach its Korean youth industrial education as
an end in itself (Paek 1980). Missionaries realized that the Koreans were willing to
embrace a Western education, as evinced by the non-Christians who sent their
children to the mission schools. Furthermore, the missionaries felt that the most
appropriate curriculum for Korea as a nation would be an industrial education.
Whereas the missionaries had previously used education to raise Christian leaders,
their new agenda was to train persons who could function in the world economy.

The educational and medicinal transformations of Korean society which began
with holistic missionary intent are exemplified by examining the institutional and
organizational structure of large government hospitals. The following divisions
illustrate Korean hospital structure in 1909: (1) native medical and surgical practice,
(2) native dispensary work, (3) native private office consultations, (4) native home
visitation work, (5) foreign medical and surgical practice, (6) foreign office
consultation, (7) foreign home visitations, (8) pastor institute, (9) contagious diseases,
(10) optical department, (11) medical school, (12) nurses’ school, (13) evangelistic
work and, (14) translations (Pack 1980). These fourteen aspects of medicine and
education show the depth and scope of how the missionaries had embedded
Christianity and Western culture into Korea’s infrastructure and institutions.
Furthermore, Paek stated that the missionaries and their agencies not only taught at
the primary, medical, and theological institutions, but also published and distributed
the necessary textbooks. Unsurprisingly, “the percentage of literacy and the level of

education of the Christians were higher than that of the surrounding non-Christian

15

community and that for years the Christian schools were better than anything to be
found in the country" (Pack 1980: 427).

Today, there are two schools which began as Christian schools that have risen
to educational-prominence in South Korea. The first established girl’s-school in
Korea was under the direction of Mrs. Mary F. Scraton (Clark 1961). It began in
1886 and was named “Ewha Haktang,” Pear Blossom Institute, by the Queen in 1887.
Ewha has become the most prestigious woman’s university in South Korea. The
second school is the oldest university in all of South Korea, Yonsei University. This
school started in 1885 under the name Chosen University via the Presbyterian medical
missionaries. It was renamed Yonsei in 1957 upon the merger with another medical
university which was initiated by the Methodist medical missionaries, Severance
Union Medical College.

In South Korea, “graduates of prestigious high schools (such as Kyonggi High
School) and universities in Seoul (Seoul National University, Korea University, and
Yonsei University) have virtually monopolized the important positions in
government, business, and the universities” (Yoon 1997:76). Furthermore, “graduates
from prestigious women’s universities in Seoul have a better chance than their less
fortunate peers of marrying men of high social and economic status” (Yoon 1997:66).
Interestingly, a study reported that between 1952 and 1962, Christians represented
41% of South Korea’s cabinet members, assemblymen, and senior officials (Light and
Bonacich 1991). Although the “educational craze” was not fully evident until
Liberation in 1945 (Clark 1961), it is probable that the Koreans had already begun to

extract a secular-telos from the missionary institutions. It would require further study

16

 

to ascertain exactly when the breach occurred and how this breach unfolded in Korea
from 1910 to the present in its economic, political, and institutional realms.
Nevertheless, the Protestant missions transformed Korea’s medicinal and educational
infrastructure which positively associated Christianity and the meaning of church.
Christianity vs. Other Religions

It is necessary to explain why Christianity had such a powerful impetus and
compare Protestantism with five other world-views and religions. Four religions had
contact with Korea before the Protestant missionaries: Shamanism, Buddhism,
Confucianism, and Catholicism; Shintoism was fully introduced to Korea during the
annexation years.
Shamanism

Jung Young Lee stated that: “Shamanism is regarded as the foundation of
Korean culture, because it is an indigenous religion which deeply penetrates the ethos
and life of the Korean people. Other religions, such as Buddhism, Confucianism, and
Christianity, were introduced to Korea from outside and became part of the Korean
tradition” (Lee 1997229). Shamanism was prevalent in Korea before the fourth
century AD and it was never an institutionalized religion but was clientele-oriented.
Lee posited that a complete rejection of Shamanism is synonymous with a rejection of
one’s <Korean> culture and identity. Accordingly, why would so many Koreans
become Christian? Largely because Christianity symbolized and was associated with
progress and the future. In diametric opposition, Shamanism (tradition) is very old

and had become associated with the past and the corresponding failures.

l7

Buddhism and Confucianism

Buddhism and Confucianism were originally Chinese religions. Buddhism
came to Korea in the fourth century AD, and was the official state religion until
Confucianism supplanted Buddhism during the Yi dynasty in the fourteenth century
(Lee 1997). However, neither Buddhism nor Confucianism is a religion per se.
Confucianism was a sociopolitical system (Lee 1997) and “a system of moral teaching
and behavior, based on the Five Relations: king-subject, parent—child, husband-wife,
elder and younger brother, and friend and friend” (Clark 1961 :25). Similarly,
Buddhism is not a religion but a tradition and way of life; there is no deity. These two
world-views dominated Korean life from the fourth century and had begun to be
viewed as passe’ by the time of contact with the Protestant missionaries. That is, these
two world-views have become associated with Korea’s past and her failures.
Catholicism

Interestingly, Catholic missionaries attempted to build and establish their
networks in Korea well before the 1885-Protestant missionaries. The bulk of the
Catholic involvement in Korea occurred between the years of 1784-1866 (Clark
1961). However, although eighty-two years had passed, “no attempt had been made
to translate a single Gospel or any portion of the Bible” (Clark 1961 :37). Thus, we
see that there was no Catholic Korean liturgical-foundation. Whereas the Protestants
systematized and legitimized the Korean language for Christian and educational
purposes, the Catholics made no attempt to provide any written literature.

Though Korea was ambivalent towards the early Catholic missionaries, there

was one specific event that compelled the Korean government to legitimate its

18

 

suspicion and oppression towards the Catholics. In 1796, “Alexander Hwang (Whang
Sa Young), a convert, wrote a letter to the bishop of Peking in which he proposed an
appeal to the <Catholic> nations in Europe to send sixty or seventy thousand solders
to conquer Korea” (Paek 1980235). The Korean government found this letter, their
suspicions were affirmed, and persecution was intensified. Furthermore, Alexander
Whang and the Catholic faith adopted a traitor-stigma.

In 1811, some Catholic-Koreans found courage to write to the bishop of
Peking “imploring the succor of the children of Korea” (Paek 1980236). Furthermore,
they also tried to contact the Pope, but he was a prisoner under the edict of Napoleon,
and the French Revolution had depleted all of the Peking Church resources.
Accordingly, during the most fiery persecutions in Korea in the years of 1815, 1819,
and 1827, the Korean Catholics received no help from the outer Catholic-bodies. In
January of 1866, a Russian war vessel appeared at Wonsan demanding control of
Korea’s mercantile trade; i.e., Russian colonialism (Paek 1980). One Catholic
Korean nobleman, Thomas Kim, believed that “the time for winning religious
toleration and fame and honor for themselves <Catholics> had come” (Paek:
1980:40). He personally asked for and received direct confirmation from the French
resident bishop of Korea that an anti-Russian alliance would be established with
France and England. However, these plans were discovered and there “was a nation-
wide search for Christians, with imprisonment, cruel torture, and merciless massacre”
(Paek 1980242). These events stigmatized the Catholic structure as impotent and

untrustworthy.

l9

For a century after the inception of Catholicism in Korea, Catholics continued
to build a negative reputation. “In the fall of 1901, the Roman Catholics in Hwanghae
province began collecting funds from Protestant Christians for the erecting of a
church. When any refused the demand, they were bound and beaten and left helpless.
When this was made known to the governor, he sent police to arrest the offenders, but
the Catholics raised a band and beat off the police and some of them armed
themselves to defy the local authorities” (Paek 1980:353). Both the French priests
and American missionaries were present in the much publicized court sessions. The
French priests confessed to their incitements and anticipated that the blame would be
placed on foreigners (themselves) and not the Koreans. However, the commissioner
refused to let the Koreans go unpunished. Accordingly, “this case was not only a
moral victory for the Protestants but also demonstrated to the people the folly of
trusting the strength of the Catholic Church and the extraterritorial rights of its
priests” (Paek 1980:353). These events exacerbated the already negative Catholic
image.

Paek correctly stated that the Catholic’s “political activities are perhaps the
most undesirable features of the missionary proselyting methods of Roman Catholics”
(Paek 19802 43). Prior to Japan ultimately defeating Russia in the Russo-Japanese
War of 1904-1905, Russia was determined to control Korea (Clark 1961). After
Japan had defeated China in the Chino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, China had no
legitimate opportunity to control Korea and a rivalry between Japan and Russia
ensued. In order for Russia to respect its “treaty agreements” with the Korean

government, “Russia worked through France and secured a concession for building a

20

railway from Seoul to Euiju, in the hope of gaining control of the northern part of the
country” (Clark 1961296). Furthermore, the Russians placed Frenchmen in the
government positions of Korea and the Roman Catholic Church became deeply
involved in Korea’s political affairs. The natural result was that “any French priest
was a semi-political French representative” (Clark 1961296). Ultimately, Korea
perceived the French missionaries to be the forerunners for French imperialism (Paek
1980)

In sum, the following reasons explain why Koreans may have dissociated from
Catholicism: the traitor-image of Alexander Hwang, Catholicism’s over-involvement
and failure in politics, impotency and untrustworthiness of the Catholic institution,
and the association of French priests with French imperialism. The evidence clearly
illustrates that Koreans would be more inclined to associate with Christianin and the
positive Western correlates and dissociate with Catholicism and its negative
correlates.

Shintoism

In 1905, Japan declared itself the sole protectorate of Korea after defeating
China and Russia. Japan’s ultimate interest in Korea was the establishment of a
military base and colonization (Pack 1980). Shintoism is the national religion of
Japan and a major reason that the J apanese-imperialists could not accept Christian
Koreans was that the Shinto religion does not allow a religious and political
demarcation (Clark 1961). Furthermore, Clark posited that the Japanese stressed the
political over the religious elements regarding Shintoism. Immediately after Japan’s

annexation of Korea, schools were no longer permitted to have the Bible as part of the

21

educational curriculum (Nisbet 1920). Under the J apanese-restructuring of the
educational system, every school would eventually require a Japanese teacher and that
every teacher be Japanese scholar. As Japan continued to control Korea throughout
the annexation years of 1910-1945, Koreans rejected the Shinto religion and any
association with Japan (colonization).

To summarize, because of the Chinese, Russian, and Japanese periods of
domination and Korea’s internal educational- and medicinal-ills, Koreans began to
believe that the “Christian religion was the whole of Western civilization, and their
new-found spiritual satisfaction convinced them that Christianity was the panacea for
the ills from which they were suffering” (Paek 19802419). Furthermore, amidst the
foreign pressures, the Protestant Churches provided a place for ethnic cohesion in
their own land (Paek 1980). It was not only that Koreans wanted to associate with
Christianity and the Western trappings, but they also wanted to proclaim their
dissociation with the past and its failures, the aforementioned foreign religions, and
anti-Korean correlates.

Presbyterianism and Methodism

Though the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations led the educational and
medicinal transformations in Korea, only Presbyterianism gained national
prominence. The major theological difference between the Presbyterian and
Methodist denominations can be illustrated by their figureheads. John Calvin and
“Predestination” are associated with the first and John Wesley and the “Holiness-
movement” with the latter. Whereas the first is more inclined to be associated with a

Covenant (Reformed) disposition than the latter, neither are known to have fully

22

adopted the Dispensational (Ryrie 1965) or Progressive Dispensational (Saucy 1993)
perspectives. That is, Presbyterians and Methodists are more apt to see continuity
regarding Israel and the Church than are the Dispensational positions. These doctrinal
issues may be significant concerning the high proportion of Korean American
Presbyterians. However, I posit that the structural differences and not the theological
tenets ultimately influenced the Korean natives’ disproportionate adoption of the
Presbyterian form of Christianity.

Hierarchy is one of the most important aspects of the Korean culture. In fact,
“. . .for most Koreans, knowing their place or position in relation to others is essential
for socialization. By knowing their relationship with others, each can act and speak
properly” (Lee 1997236). Even Nisbet, an American “outsider” noted the hierarchy
within the Korean language: “‘honorable talk’ to use to your superior, ‘middle talk’
for your equals, and ‘low talk’ to children and servants. Not only are these different
endings, but often different words. . . .” (N isbet 1920259). As previously stated, the
two Protestant denominations which have had the most contact with Korean nationals
were the Presbyterians and Methodists.

However, the former was more organizationally-structured and hierarchical
than the latter. Thus, Presbyterianism was very compatible with the Korean culture.
Paek stated that the Korean Presbyterians adopted the Presbyterian form of three
courts: “an individual church is governed by the session, which is composed of the
minister and the elders elected by the members of the church; the Presbytery is a
higher court composed of the ministers and elders from sessions within a defined

district; while the General Assembly, the highest court in the Presbyterian Church, is

23

 

composed of ministers and elders elected by the Presbytery” (Paek 19801390). In
contrast, Methodism is associated with John Wesley and the “holiness movement”
which emphasizes individual piety and closeness to God. However, Koreans do not
generally think on an individual-level, but in corporate terms of family, community,
and nation. Thus, the hierarchic-relational structure of Christianity (Presbyterianism)
was more culturally compatible with Korean natives, hence its disproportionate
representation over any denomination which has had contact with Korea.

Thus far, this thesis has attempted to provide the positive correlates of
Christianity which may have influenced its burgeoning growth in Korea between
1885-1950: medicinal provisions, hospitals, a medical and non-medical educational
transformation, association with progress and the future and dissociation with Korea’s
past and her failures. At the turn of the 20th century, the Church was the only
institution which could meet the intellectual, religious, and social needs of the Korean
peoples (Paek 1980). Accordingly, the Koreans embraced and propagated the
Christian faith as their own in the contexts of “national humiliation and foreign
oppression, spiritual comfort, intellectual advancement, and in some cases for
political benefit” (Paek 1980215). The Korean national’s identification with
Christianity contained both spiritual and secular meanings. Furthermore, I have
provided a hypothesis why the specific form of Protestant Christianity was
disproportionately Presbyterian. What needs further study is to ascertain exactly
when the Korean natives made a breach between the religious and social meanings of
Christianity and when non-spiritual meanings were attached to the church. I shall

next explore the role of Protestantism for first generation Korean Americans.

24

 

First Generation Korean Americans

The first generation Korean Americans immigrated under the following
context of departure: “Korea had struggled for more than thirty years to liberate itself
from colonization by Japan. When Korea was relinquished by Japan in 1945, it
became divided into North and South Korea. Five years later, the Korean War took
countless human lives, destroyed properties, and shattered the trust that Korea had as
one people” (Lee 1997127). The Korean War resulted in over three million Korean
deaths (Abelman and Lie 1995) and the atrocities under the Japanese annexation-
years and the ravages of the Korean War have yet to be systematically studied. In
fact, an incident whereby US soldiers machine-gunned hundreds of Korean civilians
remained hidden from the public for fifty years (New York Times September 30,
1999). Whether the Japanese and American governments wanted to hide their
horrific acts and/or whether it is too painful for the Koreans to recount their war
experiences, there is a paucity of psychological well-being literature for the post-war
Korean immigrants. Between 1965 and 1995, over 700,000 Korean immigrants were
admitted to the United States (cf. Hurh 1998).

The contexts of reception for the first generation Korean American
immigrants were language barriers, economic and social displacements, and
marginality (cf. Abelman and Lie 1995 and Yoon 1997). In fact, Ableman and Lie
have challenged whether the Korean immigrants have “succeeded” as the
entrepreneurial “model minority” (Abelman and Lie 1995). Light and Bonacich
believe that among the immigrant groups (especially in comparison to Asian-Indians

and Filipinos), Koreans were likely to be the worst off in respect to an “English-

25

language handicap” (Light and Bonacich 1991). These authors also posited that due
to language barriers and blatant discrimination, Korean entrepreneurs tended to start
at the bottom of the American economic infrastructure. The religious, social, and
psychological needs were often functionally-intertwined and a panacea was found in
their ethnic church (Hurh 1998). However, the first generation Korean Americans are
creating and not inheriting their “religio-ethnic experience” (Kim 1996). That is, the
meaning of Christianity has not been directly transferred from the Korean natives to
the first generation Korean Americans.

That the post-1965 first generation Korean Americans would find solace in
their ethnic church is not completely unexpected. Between 1903 and 1905, 7,226
Korean labor immigrants went to Hawaii, and by 1924, 1,100 females came under
marriage contracts with the Korean men (Hurh 1998). These Korean Hawaiians
quickly found solidarity in their ethnic churches: “the ethnic church served the
immigrant community as a social and cultural as well as a religious center... almost
every Korean in the Hawaiian Islands eventually came to be identified with the
Christian faith” (Hurh 1998). Though Korean American immigrants have historically
used the church as a social-solidarity mechanism, the Chinese and Japanese used non-
religious avenues for cohesion (Lee 1996). Exactly why Koreans have used the
church for social-cohesion rather than other avenues as their Chinese and Japanese
counterparts may be understood in light of the positive associations to Christianity
from the 1885-1950 period. However, more research needs to be developed to

ascertain exactly why or how the church and not some other medium has carried over

26

 

 

the generational, spatial, cultural, and temporal differences between the pre- and post-
war groups.

There are presently about 2,000 Korean American Christian churches across
the US (Park 1997). Compared to the overall statistic of one church for every 730
Americans, there is one church for every 300 Koreans in the US (Park 1997). A more
conservative study provided a ratio of one Korean church per 400 Koreans (Kim
1996). As high as 75-85% of the immigrant community professes Protestant church
affiliation (Chong 1998) and 70% of first generation Koreans are affiliated with a
Korean church (Lee 1996). Case studies indicate that between 20% and 40% of non-
Christian Korean immigrants affiliate with Korean churches after arriving to the US
(Hurh, Kim, and Kim 20% 1978, Hurh and Kim 20% 1990, Chai 25% 1998, and Min
40% 1992). Hee-ja Kim found that Korean immigrants may attend church only for
non-religious purposes (Kim 1996). The Korean immigrant religious literature reveal
that syncretic and/or social reasons are a large factor for such high church
participation among the first generation. The five most important non-religious
functions of the Korean ethnic churches are: a) fellowship and a coping mechanism;
b) cultural preservation; c) social services; d) social status and position, and; e)
brokerage (cf. Min 1992).
Fellowship and a Coping Mechanism

The most obvious non-religious church provision is fellowship. Korean
immigrants are provided a place where they can interact with other Korean
immigrants. Many Korean Americans believe that “complete assimilation is not

possible because of their race and physiognomy <which> generates an intense drive

27

toward ethnic identity, sought often through the ethnic church” (Chong 1998). Their
outsider-status intensifies the coping-mechanism role of the church. Ironically,
conflict in the form of marginality may provide necessary not sufficient conditions
whereby the church can be used as a non-spiritual mechanism for solidarity: group
cohesion, prevention of membership withdrawal, identity maintenance, and defined
power relations within the group (Coser 1956).

Thus, within the context of withdrawal and mainstream-isolation, “the Korean
ethnic church supports the development of the group’s defensive and often highly
exclusive ethnic identity” (Chong 1998). Karen Chai stated that the first generation is
“forced” to participate in their ethnic church (Chai 1998). Lee believes that first
generation Koreans voluntarily isolate themselves in their churches as a defensive
mechanism: “In the midst of their suffering, dislocation, and identity crisis, Koreans
could meet with other Koreans, speak their own language, and comfort themselves in
the strange milieu of America” (Lee 1997226). It is in this context that the ethnic
church has had such a significant role for the Korean immigrants’ sense of identity
and belonging (Min 1992, Kim 1996, and Chong 1998).

From the first generation fellowship-perspective, the minimum qualification
for their minister may be someone who can speak the same language (Kim 1997).
The language may be a more important component for the immigrants to reconstruct
their “home away from home” than religious doctrine or the actual content of a
sermon. In light of leaving behind the war-memories and facing capital losses
(cultural, human, social and/or economic), the church provides psychological comfort

as well as a sense of belonging (Hurh 1998). Since the church is the place where the

28

 

 

first generation gather, they can all speak the same language and feel ethnic-cohesion.
Through fellowship, the church offers (at minimum) “weekly opportunities for
interaction with other immigrants and instills in members a sense of belonging,
comfort, and meaning... a microcosm for Korean society” (Chai 1998). It is expected
that cliques form within the ethnic church as “Bible studies” or “cell-groups” via
common occupations and/or struggles or some other common bond which goes
beyond “just Korean.” Thus, in formal and informal ways, the church is used to
provide comfort and fellowship for the first generation.
Cultural Preservation

The second function of the immigrant church is to provide a medium for
cultural preservation or selective acculturation. The first generation immigrants are
foreigners in a new land but they know who they are (their children may face a deep
identity crisis). Self-identity is not a major issue with the first generation (Hiebert and
Young 1993). There are at least four aspects of culture that the immigrants try to
maintain: language, Korean values, customs (cf. Choy 1979 and Min 1992), and the
various foods respective and irrespective of Korean festivals and celebrations.
Cultural preservation occurs at the level of familial social-units. Traditionally, family
is not only a basic social and economic unit but also the most important source of
one’s identity (Kim 1997). Korean immigrants think holistically in terms of their
immediate and extended family (corporate) and not at the level of the isolated-

individual. Parents do not introduce themselves to one another as “Mr. Kim” or

29

 

“Mrs. Lee” but as “Mi-gyong’s father” or “Sun-mee’s mother” (cf. Kim 1997).
However, cultural preservation does not only take place in the individual household
but also through the ethnic churches.

Accordingly, the first generation “tend to see Christianity as an ascribed
characteristic that comes with family church membership” (Chai 1998). Church is the
medium (form) whereby the aggregate family units are brought back to the homeland.
Cultural reinforcement is especially important for the first generation immigrants to
remind them “who they are.” Cultural preservation via the church occurs on two
levels. The first is informal via the congregation and consists of the “everyday life”
meanings and interpretations (Blumer 1969). “Everyday life” would include aspects
such as conversational language, maintenance of the traditional culinary recipes
especially during the Korean festivals (the two most significant Korean festivals are
the Korean New Year’s and Korean Thanksgiving), and interaction regarding the
proper language usage and deference to those of higher stature. A more formal
church presentation of “everyday life” would consist of educational programs for the
immigrant progeny. These “everyday” cultural aspects are “taken for granted”
(Garfinkel 1967) and need no explication nor justification because they “naturally”
seem to continue in the transition between Korean-uprooting and American-planting.

The second way that the church can preserve cultural norms is through
“selective interpretation” of the Bible (content). These are ideologies or aspects of
Korean culture that do not smoothly transfer into American culture. An example
would be Korean patriarchal norms which have been prevalent for centuries, but have

clashed in diametric opposition to some “American” customs. In some extremes,

30

 

“through selective use and interpretation of the Bible... the church is instrumental in
consolidation of group unity and... exclusive group identity and consciousness...
helping create strict boundaries against the outside world” (Chong 1998). This is
usually done by those of church power, such as the pastor and other church leaders.
Rather than a Biblical exegesis and praxis, it is not uncommon for cultural norms
(whether just or unjust) to be reinforced “in the name of God.” Thus, church serves to
preserve culture and also as a mechanism to selectively-acculturate into the American
society (Hurh 1998). The first generation may use the church as a means to achieve
stasis regarding their dis-equilibrium and transition period to reconstruct a new
identity, as one may find oneself to be neither “a Korean in America nor an American
in Korea” (Kim 1997). Cultural-justification may be accepted or tolerated via the
Bible/church among the first generation, but it may have the reverse effects for ethnic
solidarity or cultural preservation for the second generation.
Social Services

The third social role of the church is to provide counseling and or advice on
issues such as health care, social security, children’s education, and interpreting and
filling out application forms for those who have serious language difficulties (Min
1992). As a case example, New Hope Baptist Church (NHBC) of East Lansing is a
part of a Michigan State University program called International Student Resources
(ISR). Church members of NHBC via ISR help Korean international students adjust
to American collegiate-life by assisting or proving information regarding housing,
shopping, groceries, entertainment, books, etc. However, there are instances whereby

the newly arrived students will only associate social meanings and not religious

31

meanings to the ethnic church. In conclusion, because there is no single place
whereby Koreans meet regularly en mass and their various forms of capital can be
pooled, “the Korean ethnic church seems to be the only institution that most
immigrants turn to for useful information and services” (Min 1992).

Social Status and Position

The church can provide social status and position for the first generation in at
least three ways, it can: empower one who is marginalized from mainstream-America,
be used as a social-reproduction mechanism, or be used to disseminate the progeny’s
success. The first two avenues are mutually exclusive and are directly related to the
immigrant and the third is indirectly related to the immigrant. I will first discuss the
hierarchical structure of a typical Korean immigrant church and then explicate the
dynamics of social status and position.

For Korean Christians, the pastor has the ultimate authority and has been
theologically interpreted as “a King, a Prophet, and a Priest” (Kim 1996). Often,
church-power and -status emanate from the senior pastor. This is especially true of
churches which do not endorse a Dispensational or Progressive Dispensational
perspective regarding the relationship of Israel and the Church (this will be explained
later in further detail). The minister’s power is almost unlimited in the context of the
Korean American church and he (usually male) often provides unquestioned, sole
interpretations of the Bible and church polity (Kim 1997). The church status and
power is further hierarchically diffirsed among the associate pastor(s), pastor(s)—in-
training (chun-do-sah), the ordained elders, and deacons. Though any of the

aforementioned non-senior pastoral titles may have a manifest function regarding job-

32

descriptions, these titles or positions also latently provide status and recognition
among the community members (cf. Hurh and Kim 1990 and Park 1997).

It is especially important for a person who has “failed” in the mainstream
society to have a position within the immigrant church. It is not uncommon for a
person with low societal-status to crave status via title within the immigrant church
and thereby the Korean community. Therefore, one who is a “failure” in America with
a prominent title may be hailed as a “true servant of God” irrespective of the person’s
actual integrity or short-comings. In Min’s study of Korean churches in the New
York metropolitan areas, he found that some “Korean pastors admitted that they
created more staff positions than necessary to meet Korean immigrants’ social and
psychological needs” (Min 1992).

Hurh and Kim’s findings of the church as a social—reproduction mechanism is
probably more representative of the Korean churches: “church-staffed persons, when
compared to the general non-staffed church congregation, tend to be typified with a
better socioeconomic status” (Hurh and Kim 1990). The Korean church has more
often than not been used as a mechanism of social-reproduction. That is, an
individual (male) with academic credentials and financial prosperity is more apt to
receive recognition via church position than another with lower socio-economic
status, irrespective of Bible knowledge and sincerity. Not only are the “better off”
more apt to provide more funding, but it “looks” better for the pastor and the church
to engage in social-reproduction. From the elder or deacon’s perspective, it is
probably the most desirable situation to be able to say that one has been successful in

the American society and to proclaim “spiritual recognition” within the ethnic church.

33

 

“Managing the appearance” of a dignified church is probably the most beneficial to
the senior pastor and the church regarding inter-social though perhaps not intra-
spiritual relations (cf. Goffman 1959).

The third and final way that church can be used to enhance first generation
status is indirectly via the progeny. This is usually done by proclaiming any
combination of the following concerning their children: what school(s) they are
attending, the degree(s) or occupation that they have, their ability to be bi-lingual, and
finally, who they have married (usually in the lady’s case). A first generation
immigrant may have been a “failure” in America and the Korean church and
community, but they can still have “un-official” status if they can say “My son or
daughter is going to Harvard medical school.” In fact, one may not even believe in
God or the church, but may still frequent the church just to let everyone know of their
progeny’s success. The progeny’s success will be directly attributed to the parents’
painful sacrifices for their children’s education (cf. Kim 1996). First generation
Korean Americans perceive their lives as a “sunk cost investment” for the betterment
of their children’s future and the progeny’s success or failure is often attributed to
whether or not they were raised in a “good family.” These generational dynamics
reinforce the significance of familial social-units of analysis. Finally, regardless of
the various combinations whereby the first generation can attain social status, the
church provides the place for the first generation to attain, reinforce, and/or

disseminate their status via direct and indirect ways.

34

Brokerage (Marriage and Business)

Two middleman functions are predominant in the Korean ethnic church: first,
marriage and second, business. Chai’s observation typifies the first generation
immigrants’ intra-ethnic marriage preference and utilitarian use of church as the
meeting place: “PKC seems to be an ideal place for Korean parents to send their
children to find Korean mates” (Chai 1998). As mentioned, church is the place to
disseminate information regarding the first generation statuses as well as the
educational and occupational successes of their progeny. Accordingly, the church is
the place to know “who is fit to marry whom.” However, the informal marriage-
brokers (gossips) may not confine themselves to marriage arrangements intra—church
since the telos is intra-Korean marriage. In general, the first generation wish that their
progeny marry Koreans, perhaps other Asians, and preferably not non-Asians.

The second brokerage-function of the church relates to entrepreneurial issues.
A “contradictory role of the church” is to help Koreans actualize the American dream
and to preserve the Korean identity (Park 1997). In this transitional phase, the church
functions as a “pseudo-extended family” and as “a broker between its congregation
and the bureaucratic institutions of the larger society” Kim (1981). Since first
generation Korean Americans gather regularly and maintain contact with one another,
it is very easy to use the various forms of capital in symbiotic and synergistic
manners. For example, formal and informal church networks can provide labor pools
and business information (Park 1997). Church is furthermore an ideal context due to
the Koreans’ superstitious mindset (perhaps a carryover from Shamanism). It is not

uncommon for an entrepreneur to have the senior pastor visit a newly-opened

35

business and have the “holy-man” directly bless the business. The entrepreneur will
try to evince his loyalty to God via “spirituality” which often means heavy tithing to
the church (in some cases, direct slush funds to the pastor) or other religious zeal in
order to maximize the blessings from the pastor (God). Whether one mocks or
castigates the various brokerage activities of the church, the Koreans view the church
as the place to gather and disseminate information regarding their businesses and
potential marriage-partners for their progeny.

Overrepresentation of Protestants and Presbyterians

Current studies state that South Korean Protestant Affiliation is between 20%
and 30% (cf. Light and Bonacich 1991, Min 1992, and Warner 1998). However, the
percentage of Korean American pre-immigrants who state Protestant affiliation is
significantly higher around the 50% mark (cf. Warner 1998 and the latter data) and
there is a 20% - 40% increase in church participation upon immigration (cf. Hurh,
Kim, and Kim 20% 1978, Hurh and Kim 20% 1990, Chai 25% 1998, and Min 40%
1992). Church participation among all first generation Korean Americans is
estimated at 75% (cf. Lee 1996, Chong 1998, and Warner 1998).

The literature on religion for Koreans disjointedly discusses the
overrepresentation of Protestantism among the first generation immigrants. Hurh
posited that “to become Christian meant to become Westemized or Americanized”
and that “Christianity in Korea has appealed mostly to urban classes attracted to
Western ideas” (Hurh 1998). Min stated that “the Christian religion is very strong in
urban, middle-class Koreans, and Korean immigrants have largely drawn from this

segment of the population” (Min 1992). Hence Protestant overrepresentation and

36

especially in the US urban cities. Park believes that “Christian churches contribute
significantly to the construction of a Korean American culture, while Buddhist
churches emphasize the preservation of traditional Korea” (Park 1997). Thus,
Christian Korean groups may be prone to be “more Westemized and more
modernized than other Koreans, are more likely to choose immigration to the US.
than Korean Buddhists, Confucians or those not affiliated with a religion” (Min
1992). Though these reasons may seem plausible, this phenomena does require more
research: Is the Protestant skew a carryover from the 1885-1950 Christian explosion?
What exactly has been a carryover and what aspects of the original missionary
movement have been changed? What exactly is the meaning of Christianity for
today’s South Koreans?

As of 1980, Presbyterian churches accounted for 56% of the total churches in
South Korea (Min 1992). Min speculates that this overrepresentation is a carryover
“from the introduction by American Presbyterian missionaries of Protestantism in
Korea at the tum of the twentieth century” (Min 1992). This may explain the
similarly high proportions of Presbyterian first generation Korean Americans via
selected-sampling. Helen Lee stated that 42% of Christian Korean Americans are
Presbyterian-affiliated whereas other denominations significantly diminish as: Other
Protestant, Methodist 14%, Non-Denominational 13%, and Other 3% (Helen Lee
1996). Min has found 49% of the churches in his New York study to be Presbyterian
and 14.6% to be Methodist. Though there are similarly high and parallel proportions
of Presbyterians and Methodists in both Korea and America, there may be markedly

different reasons.

37

 

 

Whereas I have provided a structural-basis regarding the 1885-1950 Korean
natives’ Presbyterianism, doctrinal preference may better explain the Presbyterian
phenomena among first generation Korean Americans. Further, two major positive
associations may explain the Korean American Presbyterian-association skew:
doctrine and status. There are four perspectives regarding the relationship of Israel
and the Church: 1) the Church equals Israel, 2) the Church has replaced Israel, 3)
there is radical discontinuity between the Church and Israel, and 4) the Church
continues and extends Israel (cf. Hoch 1995). The first two perspectives are related to
Covenant Theology, and the latter two are respectively known as Classic
Dispensationalism (Ryrie 1965) and Progressive Dispensationalism (Saucy 1993).
Under the first perspective: “It matters little whether one calls this elect group ‘Israel’
or ‘Church’ because both terms describe the seed of Abraham, the people of God, and
the elect who are the heirs of God’s promises” (Hoch 1995). Further, there is no
qualitative difference between the Jew and New Testament Christian. Gentiles are
merely added to the “people of God.” If the church replaces Israel, then “it is
anachronistic to use the word church to refer to Old Testament Israel” (Hoch 1995).
The Jews have been disinherited from the redemptive-program of God and
“somewhere in the New Testament period the church replaced Israel in God’s
program” (Hoch 1995).

Theologically, only the first two perspectives incredibly strengthen and
legitimize pastoral-empowerment because there is fluid-continuity between Israel and
the Church and thus between the Old Testament Prophet, Priest, and King and the

Pastor (of. Kim 1996). Thus, the pastor has more religious status and authority. This

38

fits the first generation’s perception of the pastor as the mediator between God and
the congregation in similar fashion to the priests of the Old Testament. This may also
be a carry-over from Shamanism. Concerning the “unregulated” field of religion and
especially that first generation Koreans have a difficult time learning English
(indubitably Greek and Hebrew), a Covenant perspective may be a necessary and
perhaps sufficient medium to justify the Pastor’s sole authority as God-ordained. This
raises the question whether it is Presbyterianism or Covenant Theology legitimization
via the ethnic church which has had such an impetus upon the Korean American
churches.

One must also consider Presbyterian status- and prestige-correlates regarding
the denomination’s overrepresentation among the immigrant group. The Presbyterian
Churches of the United States of America (PCUSA) are associated with Princeton
Theological Seminary. First generation Korean Americans and their progeny also
highly esteem Calvin Seminary and other Covenant seminaries which are also
associated with PCUSA. Thus, the perceived status of these the seminaries and the
non-Dispensational doctrinal impetus which facilitates pastoral-legitimization may be
combined to explain the Presbyterian overrepresentation among the Korean
immigrant churches. This would also explicate dissociation with Dispensational or
Progressive Dispensational perspectives. Further research would be required
concerning the paucity of students, churches, and members associated with non-
Covenant doctrines. In sum, non-Covenant doctrines not only demarcate the ethnic
Jew from the New Testament Christian, Israel and the Church, but also weakens the

senior Pastor’s power as he cannot be viewed as “Prophet, Priest, and King.” Thus,

39

there is a greater likelihood that a Covenant perspective (Presbyterianism) can be
“used” to maintain and legitimate Pastoral power and cultural-retention than a
Dispensational perspective.

I have discussed five different functions that the Korean ethnic church
provides for the first generation Korean immigrants: a) fellowship; b) cultural
preservation; c) social services; d) social status and position, and; e) brokerage. I
have also discussed the formal and informal, direct and indirect manners whereby first
generation Korean immigrants attempt to preserve their Korean identity and construct
a Korean American (Christian) identity via familial units of analysis. What has been
found is that the church has been the societal-stasis medium. Within the church form,
Presbyterianism appears to have predominance because of its doctrine (non-
Dispensational and Covenant) whereby the Korean pastor can appropriate the Old
Testament roles of Prophet, Priest, and King to legitimize culture via Biblical
“exegesis.”

Christianizing Koreans vs. Koreanizing Christianity

The first generation Korean Americans made great efforts to preserve the
Korean culture and identity through Christian churches. In this process, Korean
immigrants have significantly “Koreanized” Christianity (Min 1992). The non-
religious functions of the Korean American churches and especially the “spiritual”
legitimization via “Biblical interpretations” evince how Koreans have “Koreanized”
religion. This is entirely the opposite regarding the missionaries’ “Christianizing” the

pre-War Korean natives. Whether Christianity influenced Koreans or vice versa, the

40

instrument was still the Protestant churches, and predominantly the Presbyterian form
of Protestantism.

Protestantism for the 1885-1950 Korean natives meant association with the
future, progress, and the betterment of Korea and dissociation with the past and the
failures. Hence, the dire need and transformations of the medical and educational
systems and the adaptation into the global infrastructures. These shifts were
accomplished via holistic and social gospel methods. However, for the first
generation Korean immigrants, church was the means to preserve ethnic solidarity and
a way of looking back and keeping aspects of the past. In America, the ethnic
churches were used to preserve Korean culture and to provide stability, not
transformation. However, whether the Koreans wanted progress or preservation,
association or dissociation, the instrument was the church.

First generation Korean Americans are trying to “fit” in the American society.
Thus, they face issues such as downward social-mobility, capital losses, and selective-
acculturation - what to keep and what to adopt (cf. Light and Bonacich 1991,
Ableman and Lie 1995, and Yoon 1997). These rubrics are dealt within familial-
social units via the church. However, the 1885-1950 Korean natives were in the
midst of a national upheavals, in their own homeland, and had to nationally fit in the
global economies. However, whether one was a Korean native or Korean American,
despite the spatial- and temporal-specific needs, the church functioned and was
interpreted as the social-panacea. Therefore, whereas the Korean Americans have
transformed Christianity, and vice versa for the pre-War Korean natives, church was

undoubtedly the social-mechanism for the two groups. I shall next explore the role of

41

Protestantism for second generation Korean Americans and discuss the entirely
different findings as compared to the previous two Korean groups.
Second Generation Korean Americans

Korean American religious statistics tend not to demarcate the first and second
generations but create a monolithic rubric of “Korean Americans” which blurs the
actual role and meaning of church for the respective groups. As I have previously
compared the first generation with the Korean natives, in this section I will compare
the second generation with the first generation to provide a synchronic and diachronic
comparative exploration. I discuss ten possible Korean American generational
differences regarding the meaning and role of church which may contribute to the
second generation’s “silent exodus.” That is, the first generation tend to over-
associate with their immigrant church, whereas the progeny dissociate.
Language

In 1996 it was estimated that 42% of the Korean churches in the US were
Presbyterian, and 14% (each) were Other Protestants, Methodist, and Catholics (Lee
1996). However, these types of statistics collapse first and second generation
categories into a single “Korean American” rubric. The most obvious difference
between the first generation and second generation is language preference. Speaking
in the Korean language en mass brings comfort and solace for the marginalized
immigrant and is also a major pastoral-qualification. Conversely, “from the second
generation perspective, whose native language is English, feelings of alienation and

experiences of isolation have come to be expected within the predominantly Korean

42

speaking Korean American church” (Kim 1997). Whereas the Korean language may
provide solidarity for the immigrant, it may have the reverse effect on the progeny.
Structure and Communication

Most of the Korean American churches are depicted by a “church within a
church model” whereby the first generation financially “umbrellas” the second.
Parental capital-ownership combined with the Korean culture naturally translates into
first generation domination and second generation subordination. Thus, “in most of
the Korean churches the second generation ministry is unquestionably subordinate to
the authority of the first generation, and governed by an authority style of leadership”
(Chong 1998). However, authoritarian communication and hierarchical structure may
be viable with the first generation but not with the second generation (Kim 1996).
Whereas the first generation tend to base authority on titles and socio-economic
status, the second does not. Accordingly, both groups may struggle for status and
power within the church (Chong 1998), but they may have different criterion as to
what constitutes and legitimates power. Further, the second generation may not be as
concerned with the cultural elements of the immigrant church as they may be with the
religious aspects (Chai 1998). Greetings illustrate this point whereby traditionalized
first generation Koreans may be offended with a waving of the hand and a brief “hi,”
which is perfectly suitable for the less formal second generation. Tensions may be
exacerbated if the first generation interprets their counterpart’s religious prioritization
as disrespect and dislike for Korean culture. Whereas the first generation is not

accustomed to being criticized by one of “inferior” status and for the second

43

generation “right is right” regardless of source, a “church within a church model” is
inherently troublesome regarding the different structure and communication styles.
Para-Church vs. Local Church

Whereas the church is the panacea for the first generation, the second
generation are finding other non-church and or non-religious avenues to promulgate
solidarity and self-identity. One of the most popular mechanisms has been para-
church organizations. These groups tend to be characterized by first generation
autonomy, Christianity-over-tradition ideals, and selective-acculturation; and are in
diametric opposition with the first generation’s belief that church is religious and
social-construction. Para-church groups have collegiate overrepresentation and prime
examples are Korean Christian Fellowship (KCF), Korean Campus Crusade for
Christ, (KCCC), InterVarsity (IV) and US-regional conferences such as the Jesus
Awakening Movement in America (J AMA), Urbana (IV), or Costa. Very active para-
church members may frequent a church, but usually they are “often so committed to
the KCF <para-church> community that their involvement in the churches is
minimal” (Chai 1998). Korean conferences which are more “radical” provide the
“rhetoric that Korean Christians, as a morally superior group, have a duty to ‘save’
and ‘improve’ American society, although it is not always clear how this is to be
done” (Chong 1998). Thus, whereas the first generation construct social meaning only
within the context of the local church, the second generation does not.
Trajectories

The first and second generations not only “differ in membership

demographics, but they have markedly different worship styles, somewhat different

44

beliefs, and potentially diflerent trajectories” (Chai 1998, emphasis mine). Whereas
the first generation is attempting to preserve as much of Korea as possible via
homogenous congregations, their progeny may not want cultural retention and
homogeneity, especially at the cost of spirituality (cf. Chai 1998). I believe that there
are four trajectories regarding the second generation and their religious involvement:
1) leave church altogether, forever; 2) pan-ethnic church; 3) “pure” and autonomous
second generation Korean American church (cf. Hurh 1998), or; 4) para-churches.
Within these four possibilities, there are two intersecting continuums that shape how
the second generation will be involved with church: 1) culture regarding
“Koreanness” and Americanization tension, and 2) religiosity regarding culture and
Christianity tension. In contrast, the first generation congregation is predicated by the
inflow of Korean immigrants to maintain its status quo. Its trajectory is either
homogenous preservation or extinction because inflow is the necessary and sufficient
condition for their ethnic churches.
Church as “Forced” vs. Optional

Inter-ethnic conflicts and non-assimilation may pressure the first generation
immigrants into ethnic churches. The first generation may lack non-financial forms of
capital that their progeny possess which may foster second generation selective-
acculturation. Therefore the latter generation may view church as an option and not a
necessity. That is, if they believe that they can have their needs met outside of the
church, they may in fact not attend any church. I believe that there are two
extremities that church-life can have for the second generation pre-adult. They may

become overly church-sensitized and this may have a reverse effect upon adulthood if

45

they reject church and/or the first generation socio-religious construction. This group
may blur the religious and the social (as did their parents), never personalize religion
as their own, and equate church life as “their parents.” These “apostates” may one
day come back to the faith or they may forever castigate religion and/or their ethnic
heritage.

The other extreme is for the second generation to be a religious-zealot in the
strictest (Hebraic) sense where both religion and ethnicity are fused into an ethnic-
holiness. Along this continuum, there are a variety of manners whereby the religious
second generation selectively-acculturate to the mainstream society and self-identify
who they are. I have outlined the options in the previous section (trajectories). In
sum, for one group church is optional and for the other group it is “forced.”

Church and Satiation

In the first generation section, there were five non-religious functions of the
immigrant church which contributed to Protestant overrepresentation. The functions
of fellowship and coping have also been found to be positive church correlates for
some second generation church members (Chai 1998). However, many second
generation also “find their immigrant churches irrelevant, culturally stifling, and ill
equipped to develop them spiritually for life in the multicultural 19903” (Lee 1996).
Whether one blames the first generation for not being sensitive to the progeny’s needs
(cf. Chai 1998) or whether one perceives the second generation as a group of “spoiled
saints” (cf. Lee 1996), the reality is that unlike the first generation, “the younger
generation do not consider their ethnic church as the sole institution where all their

needs can be met” (Kim 1997).

46

 

Multi-Ethnic vs. Homogeneity [Christianity vs. Culture?]

A major dilemma facing the first generation churches is the issue of multi-
ethnicity, especially the “church within a church” models that envision cultural
perpetuity. Obviously, a homogenous church has great benefit and utility for the
immigrant, especially the marginalized immigrant. First generation Koreans who
have made a religious ethnic niche may feel threatened by “outsiders.” However,
second generation Asians, especially those who have lost their native tongue and are
“out of touch” with their ethnicity or are more concerned with the spiritual elements
of church, will be drawn to pan-ethnic churches. This may already be the case for
Korean “bananas” and “twinkies” - those who are “yellow” on the outside but “white”
on the inside. As it becomes increasingly difficult if not impossible for the future
generations to preserve their native culture in pristine form via language, foods, and
customs etc., I believe that pan-ethnic and Asian American churches will be a major
mechanism of selective-acculturation and self-identity for religious Asian Americans.

Hurh has found that “second generation Korean American Christians do not
seem to feel comfortable in American churches either - whether they be white or
black” and that “the ethnic factor seems to predominate in determining one’s place of
worship” (Hurh 1998). Preserving the intra-ethnic Korean church will also face the
challenges of out-marriages which have been found to be as high as 31.8% for all
Korean Americans in 1980 (7.5% for males and 44.5% for females, Fong 1998).
Finally, as it is impossible for an Asian to hide his “yellowness,” the church may

serve as a crucible by fusing any combination of the following roles: religion, pan-

47

ethnic identification and selective-acculturation, and collectivizing political
representation.
Unit of Analysis

The familial unit supersedes the individual for the first generation Korean
Americans (cf. Chang 1977 and Chai 1998). However, whereas the first generation
may view religion as a familial ascription (Chai 1998), the second generation are
more apt to see religion as an individual choice and expression. On an individual
level, the second generation may interpret and demarcate the cultural-spiritual
perpetuity as an option. However, for the first generation, religion and culture may
not be distinguishable nor extinguishable on an individual level, but is understood as
familiarly obligatory. Thus, for the first generation, the adherence or rejection of
church—life may also have the implication of perpetuating or abandoning the Korean
heritage, or vice versa. However, familial social-units of analysis may be too
convoluted and burdensome for the second generation who desire individual
autonomy. The problem is not whether or not the second generation agrees and
cooperates with their parent’s religion. The deeper issue is that there is already a
schism in the respective generations regarding their social unit of analysis, and the
church merely serves as a place to highlight the differences.
Spatial and Generational

Spatial and generational differences can also be magnified in a “church within
a church” model. Usually, the second generation service is in English and is less
formal than the Korean service (cf. Chai 1998 and Hurh 1998). Three things are

noteworthy: one, the two generations will have separate religious experiences and

48

meanings associated with Christianity even though they attend the same “church”
(Chai 1998); two, as long as the second generation remains under the first generation
umbrella they will always be perceived as dependents, and; three, there will always be
a generational-culture gap between the first and second generations. There is a certain
irony regarding the familial ascription of Christianity when church-unity is artificial,
especially when the religious experiences are generationally different and difficult to
discuss trans-generation (Hurh 1998). Though some churches have tried to
ameliorate spatial and temporal differences, it seems that these differences are
inherent in the “church within a church” model and cannot be removed.
A Non-Personalized Faith

There have been reports that second generation Korean Americans have
broken off from their parents church to start their own ethnic churches (cf. Hurh
1998) while others try to work within the “church within a church model” (cf. Chai
1998). However, neither of these socio-religious re-constructions are typical. Nor is
it common for second generation post-collegians who have participated in a Korean
church to continue to be religiously involved upon graduation (cf. Lee 1996). A Los
Angeles church youth coordinator’s comment typifies the second generation church-
life: “The kids don’t own the faith. They come to church because they are forced to.
They can’t differentiate between Asian culture and Christianity, and then they often
develop a hatred of the culture - which they then extend to Christianity” (Lee 1996).
Further, “many Korean immigrants see the church as the center for preserving their
language and culture. For their children, however, it is a symbol of all they want to

leave behind. Consequently, many reject Christianity when they reject the old

49

culture” (Hiebert and Young 1993). In other words, the second generation perceive
church as their parents’ and not as their own.
Silent Exodus

I have previously investigated the rise of Protestantism among the 1885-1950
Korean natives and the first generation Korean Americans, and discussed ten first and
second generational differences. I will now explore a flip-side to the first generation
church explosion: “At an alarming rate, many young believers <second generation
Korean Americans> who have grown up in these Asian congregations are now
choosing to leave not only their home churches, but possibly their Christian faith as
well” (Lee 1996250). Min-Ho Song has coined the term “silent exodus” to describe
the second generation departure as relatively unnoticed and en mass because the
second generation have exodus-rates between 90%-95% (cf. Chai 1998). That is, if
one hundred second generation youths attended a church before or during college,
only five to ten can be expected to attend any church upon collegiate-graduation.
Though this dropout ratio may be initially astonishing, it does seem plausible
considering the ten aforementioned first and second generational differences. It is
logical that if the second generation want dissociation from their parents to
reconstruct their own identities, and because of the first generational affinity to the
church, the second generation will dissociate with Protestantism. Interestingly, a
similar dropout phenomenon has occurred for the second generation American-bom
Chinese (ABCs) who left their parents’ churches which stressed cultural preservation

(Lee 1996).

50

Thus, the second generation church exodus may in fact be a cultural backlash
whereby religious abandonment occurs along the process, a by-product. Whether this
is a permanent exodus or temporary withdrawal (boomerang effect) remains to be
seen. Chai has found in her studies that parental pressures for high socioeconomic
success and over-emphasis of intra-ethnic marriage at the detriment of Christianity
has “led the second generation to believe that their parents’ version of Christianity is
not what Christianity is supposed to be” (Chai 1998). First generation religious—
hypocrisy (culture over Christianity) only exacerbates the second generation’s distrust
and dislike for their “parent’s religion.” Accordingly, many second generation
Koreans reject Christianity when they reject the old culture (Chai 1998).

Chong believes that “If, in the future, Korean Americans are successful in
achieving a sense of full assimilation, it is possible that Korean Protestant churches
will live out their usefulness for the second generation. If not, the Korean ethnic
church. . .will remain a viable institution for many members of the second, or even
third generation seeking certainties of identity and a sense of belonging in American
society” (Chong 1998). Though I do not believe that Koreans can fully assimilate, it
does raise an interesting point of what non-religious social functions that the church
can provide for the second and future generations. This study suggests that if church
does not contain spiritual meaning for the second and latter generations (post-
collegiate), church will not play a significant role (if any) for their self-identity and
selective acculturation. This naturally implies that the church possesses little (if any)
non-religious functions independent of the religious roles for the second generation.

The most powerful impetus of the second generation church will be the synergistic

51

nexus of spiritual and cultural elements. Obviously, there is ample room for further
study, much of which is predicated by the second and latter generations’ socio-
religious self-identity and selective-acculturation.
CONCLUSION

This thesis began with an overview discussing how “assimilation,”
“acculturation,” and “Americanization” were permissible and perhaps favorable for
the European American immigrants. Though the first generation used their ethnic
churches for spiritual and social functions, two World Wars and their progeny’s
ability and/or desire to fully assimilate fully precluded the need and perpetuity for
their ethnic churches. However, these host-immigrant terms and experiences may not
be duplicated for non-European immigrants, specifically Koreans. Therefore, a
comparative historical approach was used to investigate what function, meaning, and
impact that Protestantism may have had on the Korean American immigration
experience.

The Protestant missionaries’ involvement with the 1885-1950 Korean natives
was significant amidst Korea’s medicinal woes and massive illiteracy rates. A
holistic gospel in conjunction with a social gospel radically transformed the medicinal
and education systems. Christianity and Westemization became positively associated
with modernity and progress, and dissociated with Korea’s antiquities, enemies, and
failures. Structural reasons appear to explain why the specific content of the
Protestant religion was disproportionately adopted via the form of Presbyterianism.
The Koreans initially embraced a holistic gospel and later shifted to a social gospel

whereby only social benefits were extracted or associated with Protestantism.

52

The post-1965 Korean immigrants have used the Protestant church to preserve
their homeland culture in America and symbolically return to Korea. Five non-
religious functions were discussed whereby the ethnic church fostered ethnic
solidarity. Though Protestant overrepresentation may be a carryover from the 1885-
1910 natives or a biased-sample of urban Christian pre-immigrants, doctrine and
status (not structure) were hypothesized as the major factors which contributed to
Presbyterian overrepresentation. Specifically, non-Dispensational tenets allow greater
Pastoral-empowerment and legitimization via Scripture. Selective Biblical
interpretation may be especially important for the socially-displaced first generation
to regain authority and status among their peers and their progeny. Although socio-
religious aspects seem to benefit the religious and the non-religious, among the first
generation it appears that a social gospel supersedes a holistic gospel.

Whereas first generation Korean Americans use the church for cultural
reinforcement, their progeny do not promulgate ethnic solidarity with the same
uniformity via the ethnic church. Among the three groups of this study, the church
appears to have the least uniformity and social-utility for the second generation
Korean Americans. For those who do not wish to identify with their parent’s or
ethnic heritage, they are compelled to dissociate with the Protestant faith which has
become synonymous with the first generation. For the second generation who want to
maintain a religio-ethnic identity, they are faced with a plethora of structural
challenges in working under a “church within a church” model and must also decide

where and how they will identify along the Korean-American and Christianity-culture

53

 

continuums. It remains to be seen what social roles (if any) that the church can
provide for the non-religious second generation.

Protestantism has had the following roles for the three groups: for the natives
it was used to break away from the “old” Korea within the homeland towards a
reconstruction of a “new” Korea; for the first generation it was to preserve and return
to the homeland within a foreign land; and for the second generation, though church
can be theoretically be used in the same manner as the first generation, it has been
used for first generation and/or religious dissociation. For the second generation, the
following remains to be seen: a) where they will “go;” b) what they will identify with;
c) will there be a boomerang effect whereby the return to their “parent’s” religious-
heritage; (I) what avenues (if not the church) they will use for selective acculturation
and self-identification. Though this paper has provided a historical comparative
exploration concerning Koreans and Protestantism, it may be feasible to replicate a
similar approach regarding other immigrants and their religions. Perhaps there is
commonalty in that the first generation may use their religion for ethnic solidarity,
cultural preservation, and first generation legitimization which causes religious
overrepresentation while the second generation dissociate (inadvertently) with their
parent’s religion. What remains to be seen is how the future generations incorporate
their ethnic church in the selective acculturation and perceived self—identities. With
increasing immigrants into the US and a rise in multi-pluralism and religious
diversity, these are exciting times to integrate a socio-religious hermeneutic into the

selective acculturation and self-identity studies.

54

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

This investigation would not be complete without a discussion of further
research agenda. I ask two questions for each of the three Korean groups and list five
other Korean groups which must be studied to encompass the entire scope of the
Korean American immigration experience. For the Korean natives: 1) why did the
Protestant mission begin in 1885 and 2) what other events or links were there between
the development of Christianity and the development of Korea’s infrastructure,
especially post-war? For the first generation Korean Americans: 1) what are the
Protestant and Presbyterian carryovers from the Korean natives and 2) has the growth
of F ull-Gospel and 4‘h-wave theologies effected the immigrant churches? For the
second generation: 1) does membership in a Christian church suggest conformity to
the dominant American mores (cf. Yu 1977) and 2) What exactly are the associated
and causal variables which induce the “silent exodus?” That is, the generational
differences hypothesized in this study need to be more rigorously operationalized and
tested. Finally, as this study has explored three distinct Korean groups, there are at
least five more rubrics which may need investigation as a distinct subset of
“Koreans”: 1) the “1.5” generation, 2) bi-ethnic Koreans, 3) adopted Korean
Americans, 4) over-seas students (“yu-hak’s”), and 5) the post-War first generation

Korean Americans (and their progeny).

55

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56

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