When Reverend Tim Park first stepped foot on the campus of Evangelical Free Church of Diamond Bar in 2011, he didn't imagine he would become its next lead pastor almost four years later.
Park's journey in EFree Diamond Bar, a multi-ethnic, multi-generational church of some 500 members, began when he was hired as its Associate Family Ministries Pastor. After having served as an English ministry (EM) pastor at a Korean immigrant church (LA Hanmi Church) and as the lead pastor of a church with mostly Korean American members (Living Faith Community Church) for many years, Park said he felt he was ready for a change in context.
"For about a year, I was in transition, waiting for God's direction for the next step," Park said, describing the period after the leaders and congregation of Living Faith Community Church decided to close its doors in 2010. "I really sensed this strong calling toward being a part of a multi-ethnic church."
It was at that time a neighbor told Park about an opening at EFree Diamond Bar for a part-time family ministries position.
"I think God was really working," Park said. "This church was ready to find someone to invest in the growing young families ministry here, while I was ready to try a completely different context of ministry."
This readiness allowed Park to be a great "fit," as he put it, for the church, and the church a great fit for him and his family.
From day one, Park said, he and his family "felt loved and embraced by everyone" in the congregation. Even today, members of the congregation approach Park on a regular basis, hugging him and telling him how much his message had touched them.
One of the aspects of ministering at EFree Diamond Bar that Park has loved most is learning ministry in "a multi-faceted way."
"I've had to minister to a very diverse people from very different cultures, different age groups, and different socioeconomic backgrounds," he said. "God has taught me so much during my years as an associate here."
But Park said the shift in context - from a homogenous context to a multi-ethnic one - did present some challenges as well in the beginning.
"For example, food, style of ministry -- there were certain things that we did in the Korean American context that didn't translate into the multi-ethnic context, and vice versa," Park said.
But the most difficult challenge he faced was his own internal struggle, Park said.
"The biggest challenge I had to overcome was my own sense of insecurity of being in a context I had never experienced in the church setting," Park explained. "It was just my own challenge of adjusting to that. But otherwise, the church itself has always been embracing and warm toward our family."
Fast forward to three years later in late November of 2014. Leading up to this time, Park had already been sharing the pulpit with Reverend Mark Hopper, who was the senior pastor of EFree Diamond Bar at the time, on "almost a 50-50 basis," according to Park. It was at this point that Hopper approached Park with the idea of passing on the lead pastoral role to him.
"I felt absolutely honored that he would entrust to me a church that he has been pastoring for 27 years," Park recalled. "Pastor Mark was the pastor that developed the culture of the church. It's a very loving congregation, very down to earth, very simple. Pastor Mark has a big shepherd's heart, and that's the congregation he's fostered. I was really humbled - completely humbled - that he would entrust to me what he had built up."
Before approaching Park, Hopper first discussed the matter with the elder board, who approved of Hopper's ideas for transition. Park then went through a process of informal interviews with the elders. The congregation was then notified of the pastoral transition first by mail, and then verbally during Sunday services.
After a period of allowing the congregation to think, pray, and ask questions about the transition, the church held a vote. The congregation's support was significant - the members voted only one vote shy of unanimously being in favor of Park's assumption of the senior pastor role.
Park officially took on the baton - literally - for the senior pastor role in September. During the transitional services on Sunday, August 30, Hopper presented Park with an actual baton with an inscription of a Bible verse and a description of the process of the transition.
In light of his experiences, Park said that he was grateful he took the opportunity he had to start at EFree Diamond Bar as the Associate Family Ministries Pastor.
"In some ways, it could've been easy or convenient for me to go back to a Korean American context," Park said, describing the period he spent considering various options before coming to EFree Diamond Bar. "Any time a position in a Korean American church was available, people came knocking on my door often. But in all of those years [serving in the Korean American context], I talked about wanting to minister to people multi-culturally - but in the end, the congregation reflected the staff, and every one of those staff members were Korean American. If God was calling me to the homogenous context, that would've been fine. But I felt I wasn't being true to what I was being led to."
"And when I first came here, the associate position was a part-time position, and I could've easily just looked for another full-time position instead," he continued. "But my wife and I were convinced that this church was the right fit for us."
Park added that he has been observing an increasing amount of opportunities for Asian American pastors to take leading roles in traditionally Caucasian or multi-ethnic churches, and encouraged younger pastors to expand their options beyond the Korean immigrant or Korean American contexts.
Within the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) alone, which was traditionally homogenously Caucasian, more and more Asian American pastors have been assuming leading roles, including Rev. Mark Lee who was sent to plant Vantage Point in Eastvale, CA; Rev. Ryan Kwon who leads Resonate Church in Fremont, CA; and Rev. Ray Chang, who leads Ambassador Church in Brea, CA and also heads the Asian American division in the EFCA.
The growing efforts to diversify the churches' leadership also has led to a growing number of Asian American families being willing to settle into these local multi-ethnic churches, Park said. Within the time frame that Park was at EFree Diamond Bar, he said he has seen an increasing number of Korean American families who came to the church after having commuted long distances to primarily Korean or pan-Asian American churches.
"There's a growing desire for these Korean American young families to find a church that's local, a community church where they can invite their friends to be a part of," Park elaborated. "And this goes hand in hand with traditionally Caucasian churches wanting to diversify."
"These opportunities are growing for Korean American pastors, beyond just the traditionally homogenous ministry," Park added. "It's up to them to discern what would be the best fit."
