Retired Covenant pastor Myung Sik Kim passed away on February 1, 2025. He was 96.
Myung Sik Kim was born on March 22, 1928, to parents Duk Kwa Kim and Boh Bee Lee in North Korea. He became a Christian at age twelve, attending church with his grandmother who was a deaconess at a Presbyterian church.
He attended Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Calvin Theological Seminary in South Korea, earning a bachelor’s degree from the latter in 1973. He also attended the Los Angeles Presbyterian Theological Seminary, earning a master’s in music in service in 1979.
Myung Sik Kim married Sook Yol Kim on February 10, 1960. Their union produced four children: Darrick Soo Hong Luke, Eun Mi, Eun Kyung, and Jin Hong.
Myung served as a choral conductor and minister of music at four different churches in South Korea before he and Sook Yol served together in pastoral ministry at Orange Korean Covenant Church in Garden Grove, California. They served that church for fourteen years before his retirement in 1993.
In his testimony and confession of faith, Myung referred to several failed attempts at pursuing careers in business before God called him to the ministry. He compared his life to that of Jonah, who needed to be swallowed by a whale before he would embrace his calling. “I thank God for his abundant blessings upon me and my family,” he wrote.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Sook Yol.
Peace be to his memory.
