Meet Rev. Narae Kim

It is my pleasure to introduce myself to you. My name is Narae Kim, and I have been appointed to serve as an associate pastor in Severna Park UMC starting July 1st, 2021. I appreciate all of your warm welcome as I settle into this new position. My husband, Heerak Kim is also a provisional elder and he is appointed to Glen Mar UMC as an associate pastor. We have two daughters, Ana(6) and Ruah(4). Noel is our gray tabby cat. 

I was born and raised in a pastor’s family in South Korea. My love for the word of God and God’s people grew as I served in church and on mission trips, but I never thought I would become a clergy. Women pastors were rare in South Korea, and I wanted to work in the field of  Art and creativity. I could not connect art and pastoral ministry together. 

The Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference and the Methodist annual conference in South Korea have a sister relationship and exchange delegates every year. An elder from here became a good friend with my family. This pastor said, “Narae, you could be a good pastor.” And his words gave me a seed in my heart and it started to grow. When I came here as a delegate in 2010, we visited Wesley Theological Seminary in DC. As I saw their emphasis on Art and faith, I knew this was the place I wanted to come. In 2012, I started the Master of Divinity degree in Wesley in 2012 and I met Rev. Ron. He was one of our leaders in PM&M(Practice in Ministry and Mission) class. 

I talked about Horton hearing Jojo on my first Sunday here. Horton’s famous line, “A person is a person no matter how small” became the foundation of my pastoral ministry. Horton accepts and respects the tiny people living in a speck of dust, when he cannot even see them. When the majority of animals were mocking and harassing him, he stuck to his mantra, “A person is a person no matter how small”. 

We are beloved children of God and every one of us deserves to be treated with dignity, justice and fairness. When the system of the world did not allow the weak to have a voice, and kept the minority oppressed and mistreated, Jesus broke the old system of discrimination, injustice and misunderstanding. 

As a foreign Asian woman, I will bring my story and voice of a minority living in the United States. As a pastor, I will love you and serve you so that we can live out our calling as disciples of Christ. We are sent to see, hear and love the tiny people that the world cannot see. We are called to love them and treat them as God’s beloved children just as Jesus did to them.

I am grateful and excited to serve SPUMC with Rev. Ron. I am looking forward to getting to know you better and joining in your faith journey together. 

Rev. Narae Kim