Brought Together by the Gospel
April 5, 2025
Tae Yoon Kim describes the beauty of multicultural community
“They told me that when they receive holy communion they feel it: We are one community.” Tae Yoon Kim is no stranger to working across cultural divides. As a Korean international student, his studies at Garrett all take place within a broader context of mutual education and exchange. When he began his field education internship at Skokie Central United Methodist Church, however, he found himself tasked not only with learning customs that differed from his home community’s but journeying with a congregation that’s walking that same path. Half of the church’s members have European heritage while the other half are Filipino, this—combined with differences in liturgical style—created growing pains for the congregation. However, by rooting themselves deeply in worship and sacrament, they have retained cultural distinctiveness while finding unity in common practice.
“At first, they had many misunderstandings of each other because of their different church and cultural backgrounds,” Kim says. “There were arguments, but I could also see how hard they’re trying, how careful and intentional they’re being about finding ways to come together.” Fittingly, the eucharist created an initial connection point. Traditionally, like many Methodist churches, Skokie Central UMC had been in the practice of taking communion only once a month. Many of the Filipino congregants were used to more orthodox communities who shared communion weekly, however, so the church changed their worship to accommodate that desire. “Watching members line up to receive bread and wine, I see how it brings us together,” Kim says. “We need each other. Sharing love and life together creates respect for one another’s differences.” As the church continued to find that common ground, collaboration expanded outward to more quotidian parts of life. “When it’s one church member’s birthday, the others try to go to their house to celebrate,” Kim says. “Everyone has different perspectives, but it’s been beautiful to watch as they learn each other’s customs, find ways to give and receive grace.”
It’s a gift Kim says he found himself needing in his internship’s early days. “The first month was difficult because it was my first time working in an American, multicultural church,” he says, confessing that this presented a host of challenges he hadn’t experienced working with Korean congregations. “I definitely made mistakes. For example, I didn’t get American jokes well, so I misunderstood a lot at first. They gave me time to learn more English and kept communicating with me—we kept spending time together.” Soon, Kim discovered that members responded well to the Bible studies he led, deeply appreciating how his education helped them bring depth and nuance to the text. “I love to read and study the Bible personally, and found I had a gift for sharing the Bible with others,” he says. “Now, when I do Bible study with church members, I see the heart they have to learn and the way group study brings them closer to each other.”
While the push to create communal identity can sometimes feel like it suppresses individual expression, Kim has been delighted to see the ways the church finds avenues for cultural expression—most particularly in sharing food. “We often eat Filipino food after the service,” he says. “My favorite is a rice cake that’s made with ube and coconut—so different from the rice cakes we have at home in Korea but so very good.” Liturgically, while the church has created space for more frequent communion, it has also preserved elements of more traditional Methodist worship elements that mean a lot to congregants of European heritage. Meditation and line dancing classes run side by side with Tai Chi—offering everyone a chance to see themselves in the community.
As the year is winds toward a close, Kim finds himself eager to pursue ordination within the Methodist Church and to actively seek multicultural churches in which to serve. “I didn’t have many experiences reaching beyond the Korean church before,” he says. “Now, after I graduate, I’m trying to see if it’s possible for me to serve a United Methodist Church here in this country.” Regardless, it’s clear the experience at Skokie Central UMC has prepared him for whatever comes next. “They are more than friends,” he says with a smile. “The church members feel like family.”