Vision for Renewal
Tell us who you are and where you serve.
I’m an immigrant kid of South Korean parents. Born on the East Coast, raised in Texas, living in Portland, Oregon—one of the whitest cities per capita and one of the least churched. My husband, Mark, and I serve as co-senior pastors of West Hills Covenant Church. We came eleven years ago to a predominantly white church with a majority of congregants from the boomer generation. Today, we are an intergenerational, multiethnic, Christ-centered, justice-seeking, contemplative, playful church—about 30 percent people of color—with a diverse leadership team and staff.
We were drawn to the Covenant because we were looking for a place that held a high view of Scripture alongside a strong ethic for biblical justice. In 2008, the Covenant held Gather in Portland. I had lemonade with Debbie Blue and Ruth Hill on my back porch while we talked about mass incarceration. Then at the Annual Meeting, a Covenant leader shared, in tears, their heart for those who didn’t know Jesus. It felt like we’d found a home—a people who shared a heart for what I call the three GCs: Great Commission, Great Commandments, and the Great Compassion.
“We hope to be a church that is both hospitable and hospital. A place of welcome and healing where people who were ready to walk away have found themselves not just back, but belonging.”
How are you experiencing God’s renewing work in your life?
As one of the only women of color senior pastors in my city—and the only one in the Covenant in Oregon—it can feel lonely. But without seeking it out, God has gifted me a season of healing. I found a Korean American woman, a former pastor and trauma therapist, who takes my insurance nearby. Finding her was like finding a grain of rice in a haystack. Having a place to process honestly and be heard with empathy has been a renewing and richly reflective experience. I can see the fruit in my relationships, my thinking, and my spirit.
I also picked up journaling again after reading a prompt about shredding journals as a spiritual practice. I’m finding a flow between God and my true self in a more freeing and honest way. I can sense the Holy Spirit as my comforter, advocate, and counselor.
Where do you see the Holy Spirit breathing new life into your ministry?
When we were candidating in 2015, I asked our last deal-breaker question: “Can we intentionally talk about race?” They said yes. As we preached toward a more holistic gospel and antiracist posture, people left. During the pandemic, we were clear that Black lives mattered to God. People left, people blamed me, and we fell $40K below budget. I was discouraged. Then one day, while listening to Dr. King’s sermon “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” it was like God sent Pastor King to bring me the exact word of courage I needed. When a reporter challenged him about losing supporters for speaking out, Dr. King responded that there comes a time when the question is not whether something is safe, or popular, or politically expedient—but whether it is right. That conviction carried me forward.
In 2021, 40 people joined our membership class—many sharing about their racial trauma because their pastors were not speaking up. Our giving increased by $50K over budget. But the most important growth is not measured in numbers or money. It’s measured in love.
As a practice in hospitality, we renovated our unused, falling-apart cottage into a home for refugee families when they first arrive in Portland. We continue to grow in practicing hospitality, rooted in mutuality and relationships.
We have also seen renewal after we began to ask, what would the world look like if healed people could heal people? We started hosting a city-wide Collective Healing event—now five to six years running—BIPoC-led but open to all. We bring in speakers, massage therapists, trauma therapists, and spiritual directors because trauma is stored in the body. Covenant pastors from around the nation have come to facilitate. As a result, some people who were ready to leave the church entirely have found themselves not just back, but in positions of leadership.
We are far from perfect. But we are walking forward together in our wounds, our wandering, and our wondering—and there is so much hope in that. We hope to be a church that is both hospitable and a hospital. A place of welcome and healing.
Be Part of What God is Doing
Join a growing movement of churches and leaders committed to renewal across the Covenant.
