NexGen, a gathering of 2nd generation Korean American pastors has hosted this year's joint EM worship in Los Angeles where several EM ministries from Korean churches all over Southern California gathered to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This year, the worship took place at Hillside Church with 12 participating churches and 200 students. The churches present included Ttokamsa Church, Hillside, YNCC, New Life Vision, and Oriental Mission Church. All the churches dedicated financial contributions to provide free breakfast for all the students who came to worship.
This yearly event was originally hosted by the Korean-American Pastors Network (KAPN). KAPN is an organization that was led by older pastors. For 2014 however, they decided it would be a good time to pass the leadership onto younger pastors in their 20s and 30s. The new host ministry for the annual joint EM worship of L.A. became NexGen, an organization that consisted mostly of younger English-speaking pastors.
The worship started with praise by Undignified (a praise ministry of Korea Campus Crusade for Christ), led by pastor Bobby Oh (Ttokamsa Church). Message was given by Professor Ben Shin from Talbot. The theme verse was Romans 8:9 to 11. Professor Shin used the Word of God to remind the students present to remember that the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is still alive and living within each and every one of us. Moreover, it was crucial for Christians to live lives that were worthy of this grace especially through thanksgiving.
Pastor Daniel Kim (Hillside Church) shared in an interview with Christian Daily how even though the service started very early in the morning, all the participants seemed very bright and enthusiastic to worship. The congregation responded to the message and praise with constant "Amen"s.
Though Hillside Church's multi-ethnic ministry around 10 Hispanic believers were also able to take part in this year's worship.
NexGen is currently planning to have a gathering for a debate called Rite of Passage on May 14th at Sarang Community Church. The meeting's main purpose is to bring 1st and 2nd generation leaders together for reconciliation. The panelists for this event will include Ben Shin (Talbot), Steve Choi (Crossway) and Jim Han (Good News Chapel).
