Non-Korean Attendance of Ethnic Korean Churches in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area

Abstract

Korean evangelicalism and the role of second-generation ethnic Korean churches in the United States has been the focus of many rich scholarly works. The levels of diversity within ethnic Korean churches in the U.S. has also been discussed, but to a lesser degree. The aim of this study is to add to the discussion of ethnic diversity within second-generation Korean churches in the United States. In this work I attempt to answer the following question: What are the forces and circumstances that would motivate a non-Korean to choose a predominantly Korean church as a place of worship and spiritual engagement? In order to answer this question, I conducted in-person interviews with a number of non-Korean members as well as some Korean leaders of two separate ethnic Korean church congregations in the Kansas City Metropolitan area. The interviews were conducted over the course of several months. The basis of this study has been formed by the responses that I received. It is a personal look at the motivations for ethnic Korean church attendance by non-Koreans. Some of the possible forces that are examined here include “reverse mission”, maintenance of ethnicity, and leadership’s possible desire to create a more diverse church. In the end, however, the vast majority of respondents shared a feeling of family and belonging as the main contributor to their decision-making process.