To: Alumni and Students of Korean DMin Program of School of Theology, Fuller Seminary
Feb. 23, 2016
Practical Dissolution of Korean DMin Program
and Launching of the New SIS-Centered Korean Center
On Feb. 4, 2016 Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena) abruptly carried out the restructuring of its Korean-language programs. With the news spreading abroad through local Korean press and internet media, some students, alumni, and Korean Christian friends are already inquiring with us about it and our stance to it. So we at KDMin Program would like to explain them as below. In fact, in order to prevent you from misunderstanding or falling into confusion, we wanted to send this mail to you earlier, but we thought that we needed to inform the Fuller leadership about our intent beforehand. Hence this mail comes to you somewhat belatedly, but I hope that you will understand it.
Fuller Theological Seminary (FTS) has announced its plan to merge the Korean DMin Program (KDMin) of School of Theology (SOT) with the Korean Programs of School of Intercultural Studies (SIS) to form Korean Center as of March 25, 2016. The newly created Korean Center is to be headed by Dr. Keon-Sang Ahn, who was appointed as Assistant Professor of Bible and Mission in SIS in July 2015 and subsequently also as Academic Director of SIS Korean Studies Programs in August 2015. This restructuring practically means the dissolution of KDMin, as from its four-member staff Dr. Jin-Kie Hwang, its Director, is relieved of his position as of March 18, 2016, and John Lee, its Program Coordinator, and Tiffany Suh, its Administrative Assistant, are laid off as of the same date. The remaining member, Dr. Eui-Wan Cho, alone has been invited to join Korean Center and continue his work as Theological Mentor.
As Dr. Jin-Kie Hwang, the Director of KDMin Program, is being laid off, I, as its founder and former director, have the onerous task of conveying this sad news to you.
This restructuring is fraught with several problems both with its procedure and in its content.
1. The Problems with the Procedure
A) KDMin Made to Bear the Brunt of the Restructuring
In the past years also, suffering from financial troubles, FTS carried out restructuring, laying off mostly low-ranking workers. But it appears that this year’s restructuring has hit our KDMin the most seriously. From its beginning in June 1995, our KDMin has never run into deficit, but on the contrary, it has made significant financial contributions to SOT every year. We understand that the Korean Programs of SIS have done the same to SIS. Several academic programs at the Pasadena campus are known for having recorded financial losses over the years, but apparently they have not been much affected by the restructuring this year. However, the profitable two Korean programs of SOT and SIS have been merged for the reason that for last two or three years the size of their profit margins has shrunk.
The Fuller leadership says that the conflicts between the KDMin of SOT and the Korean Programs of SIS were another reason for their decision to merge them into a new Korean Center. But those conflicts have mainly been reflections of the conflicts that the two schools of Fuller, SOT and SIS, have had for several decades until recently over the SIS’s teachings of quantitative church growth and Shamanistic spiritual warfare. But then while not having blamed the two schools for the conflicts nor merging the financially struggling SIS (English programs) into SOT, the Fuller leadership blames only the Korean programs for the conflicts and, using them as their pretext, has practically dismantled our KDMin Program and merged it into the Korean Programs of SIS. This is an act of serious discrimination against us Koreans.
In his justification for the restructuring, Labberton is said to have made a statement at the forum with Korean students and faculty on Feb 10, to the effect that the current curricula and educational methods of two existing Korean Programs were not suitable for the rapidly changing situations of today’s world. But he had never discussed with us at KDMin as to why we had our particular curriculum and method of education. I doubt that he had ever studied the reports of our annual exit surveys to learn why our students, the Korean pastors, chose to study at KDMin or what of KDMin they appreciated and what they recommended for its improvement. On the contrary, some of the ideas that Labberton is said to have suggested during his Korea trips for Fuller’s future services for Korean pastors sounded to us very unwise and unrealistic, betraying only his lack of understanding of Korean church, society and culture. Thus, lacking both basic courtesy and theological and cultural understanding, Labberton’s statement about the content of our KDMin’s education is a totally unacceptable insult to us at KDMin.
(B) Exclusion of SOT’s Korean Faculty from Consultation for the Restructuring
Mark Labberton, President of Fuller, claimed that the restructuring of the Korean programs was the result of consultations that the Fuller leadership had undertaken with Fuller’s Korean faculty and Korean alumni, as well as leaders of Korean church over last 18 months, especially over last four or five months since September last year. However, contrary to his claim, we the Korean faculty of SOT, I (Seyoon Kim) and Yea Sun Kim who had established the KDMin Program and served it for 21 years, and Professors Hak-Joon Lee and Kyung-Jin Lee, the members of KDMin Committee, had never been consulted. Since last Summer, even Prof. Jin Hwang and Dr. Eui-Wan Cho, respectively the Director and the Associate Director of the KDMin Program, were excluded from the consultation. We do not know with which Koreans Fuller’s president and vice presidents who knew little of Korean church, society and culture had consulted besides themselves for this restructuring. But to carry out the restructuring without serious consultations with us, the Korean SOT faculty, who had built up the KDMin Program over 20 years was clearly a very unwise procedure. It was a procedure that has seriously insulted us, the Korean faculty.
2. The Problems in the Content
(A) Practical Dissolution of the KDMin Program
The restructuring has resulted in the practical dissolution of the KDMin Program, as it saves only one of its staff and adds him to the 10-member staff of SIS’ Korean Programs. Over last 21 years the KDMin Program has educated more than 1,500 Korean pastors, making efforts to provide them with solid Biblical and theological foundations, to promote right spirituality and morality, to help them build up healthy families, and to help them develop other practical pastoral skills. We have worked especially hard to equip them with right theology, right faith and right morality over against the Mammonistic distortion of the gospel, the Shamanistic spiritual warfare teachings that have misled countless Korean Christians to turn their Christian faith into a superstition, and the quantitative church growth teachings that have contributed to the present corruption and decline of Korean church. Thus our KDMin Program has made a great contribution toward reforming and renewing Korean church through Fuller’s sound theology as well as her wisdom accumulated from her experiences of reforming the American Fundamentalism and establishing a mature Evangelical theology. Thus, besides making significant financial contributions to Fuller, KDMin Program has also carried out its part in fulfilling Fuller’s mission of serving Christ’s church worldwide, as well as correcting the negative image of Fuller that has been widespread in Korea and in the diaspora Korean communities. But now with the dismantling of the KDMin Program, in our view, the proposed restructuring is seriously weakening Fuller’s whole Korean service.
Launching the new Korean Center, the Fuller leadership has promised that “all current
Programs [including KDMin] will continue being offered under the new Korean Center.” However, within the new Center that is formed with just one KDMin staff member absorbed into the structure of the SIS’ Korean Programs, it is difficult to expect the theological, spiritual and ministerial emphases of KDMin Program to be maintained. Immediately it appears difficult for the current KDMin students to be guaranteed to get the curriculum that was promised to them at the point of their admission. As the practical dissolution of the KDMin Program has abruptly been carried out in the middle of this academic year, we are very much concerned that there might be a great confusion about the academic administration for them, including the mentoring process. We are worried especially about our students in Seoul, who might feel stranded as the closure of the Pasadena office of KDMin Program closely follows upon the heels of the closure of its Seoul office last September that has already given them much difficulty.
(B) The Very Weak Korean Center
Last fall, the Fuller leadership announced that for Executive Director of its new Korean Center Fuller would make an international search for a person of a real stature with scholarship and experience who could command respect and support from Korean church and adequately represent Fuller to her. That announcement led us to believe that if the resources of the Korean faculty at Fuller were properly mobilized under the leadership of such an Executive Director the new Korean Center could play a significant role in the historic task of renewing the Korean church that is rapidly declining with its theological immaturity and internal corruption. Such a Center would draw many Korean students to Fuller and be able to make the unique contributions to Korean church that only Fuller can make, and thus make a significant contribution to Fuller herself as well. If such a Center was established, though my wife (Prof. Yea Sun Kim) and I would naturally be sorry to see our KDMin Program dislocated or diminished, we thought we would make ourselves ready to serve in some suitable ways in the work of the Center.
However, to our disappointment, the Fuller leadership announced that they would launch the Korean Center with Dr. Keon-Sang Ahn as Executive Director, who had been appointed an assistant professor at SIS only a few months ago. They are launching an extremely weak Korean Center with a novice as its leader and with a decimated staff, and yet they boldly claim that they are doing this “in order to serve Korean students and Korean church better”. We believe that Prof. Ahn has some good potentialities to grow as a scholar and leader. However, as one who has been an assistant professor at Fuller for less than a year, it appears quite premature for him now to take up the important and demanding position of Executive Director, who needs to represent Fuller to Korean church and Korean church to Fuller. We are concerned that this unwise appointment would not only prevent realization of all the great potentialities that a properly established Korean Center at Fuller would have, but also hamper his own personal growth. Already some Koreans are complaining: “What a low view does Fuller’s President have of Korean students and church so as to launch so weak a center and claim that with it he seeks to serve them better.”
In conclusion, we are very much concerned whether the Korean Center that has been launched with such problems both with its procedure and in its content can really serve Korean church “better” and make real contributions to Fuller. But as those who have served KDMin Program, we are especially worried whether the new staff of Korean Center who have been acquainted neither with our KDMin students nor with the procedures of KDMin Program can really help them adequately to continue their studies and finish them successfully.
Please pray for Prof. Jin-Kie Hwang, the Rev. John Lee, and sister Tiffany Suh who are abruptly being laid off. Pray also for the theology, spirit and aims of your beloved KDMin Program to continue developing within Fuller. On our part, we would pray for you to go on realizing the aims that we have pursued together at KDMin Program, to renew Korean church and build her up healthy and strong.
May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ fill your home and church!
Seyoon Kim
