Table Of ContentKorean Ministerial Appointments
To Hawaii Methodist Churches
C D H L M
(cid:12) ‘
Published in October by the Center for Korean Studies,
School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies, University of Hawai‘i
at Mānoa, as a project of the Centennial Celebration of Korean
Immigration to the United States.
.
Contents
Introduction
Appointments by Year
Alphabetical List of Ministers
Name Index
Release Notes
photographed at a conference in Chemulpo in October . Standing on the le(cid:1026) end in
the back row is Seung Ha Hong. Hong arrived in Hawaii in February and took charge of the Korean Evangelical Mission
until illness prompted him to return to Korea. (cid:1029)e preachers are pictured with missionaries E. M. Cable and C. S. Deming. (cid:1029)is
photograph is reproduced from (cid:1029)e Korean Mission Field, , no. (March ).
K M A
H M C: –
P
rior to the first official appointment of Under this charter, Methodists constructed a
ministers of the Hawaii Mission of the sanctuary seating two hundred persons. Unfor-
Methodist Episcopal Church at the end of tunately, trustees soon began to quarrel about the
December , many Methodist ministers had building debt, and some members began to find
been leading and ministering churches for Cau- fault with their minister. Turner le(cid:1026), and his succes-
casian, Japanese, and Korean congregations. (cid:1029)is sors were unable to recapture the original enthusi-
introduction describes the historical background asm. (cid:1029)e transient congregation withered to four
of the appointment. men and three women. In the downtown
property was sold to the Anglican (Episcopal)
Church, which was just making its entry into
(cid:1029)e Beginning of Methodism in Hawaii Hawaii at the invitation of King Kamehameha IV
and Queen Emma.
Protestant Christianity in Hawaii was established In , a fellowship of Japanese Christians in
in by the Congregational denomination (the San Francisco heard of the plight of Japanese sugar-
present United Church of Christ). By the plantation laborers in Hawaii. (cid:1029)ese immigrant
Hawaiian Congregational Board claimed , workers were mostly young and unmarried. (cid:1029)ey
converts in a population of little more than ,. were lonely, and the lack of customary restraints
In the Methodist bishop in San Francisco made them susceptible to vice and immoral prac-
appointed the Reverend W. S. Turner to establish tices. Eventually, the Reverend Kanichi Miyama,
a Methodist church in downtown Honolulu.1 For ordained a deacon of the Methodist Episcopal
the next two years the charge flourished. John T. Church in , was sent to Honolulu on March
Waterhouse, a prominent merchant, contributed 16, 1888. On July , , a Japanese Methodist
land. In King Kamehameha IV granted a char- Church was organized as a part of the Pacific Coast
ter, making it the only Methodist church in Amer- Japanese Mission. (cid:1029)is was the beginning of the
ica opened under a royal charter granted by a second attempt at Hawaii Methodism.
king. While the Japanese work was going on, the First
. For the details of the beginning of Methodism in Hawaii, see
Rev. and Mrs. Richard H. Bimson, Hawaii Mission of the Methodist
Church: – (), –.
5
. In the back row, from le(cid:1026) to right, are Chin T'ae Ch'oe, Yi Che Kim, Yu Sun Kim, and
Hong Kyun Shin. In the front row, le(cid:1026) to right, are Young Shik Kim (?), Sun Il Yee, Chi Pum Hong, and Chan Ho Min.
Methodist Episcopal Church was reconstituted in In the spring of , when the Methodist Gen-
when the Reverend Harcourt Peck, the secre- eral Conference met in Los Angeles, it was decided
tary of the Honolulu YMCA, was appointed pastor that the Hawaii work should no longer be a part
by Methodist Bishop Merriman C. Harris of San of the Pacific Coast Japanese Mission but should
Francisco. (cid:1029)e Reverend Peck also became the be organized as the Hawaii Mission of the Cali-
first superintendent of the Honolulu Methodist fornia Conference. (cid:1029)e First Session of the Hawaii
churches. In , Dr. George L. Pearson succeeded Mission was held at the First Methodist Episcopal
the Reverend Peck in Hawaii as the superintendent Church in Honolulu, from December to Decem-
and pastor of the First Methodist Church. All the ber in .
work in Hawaii was still a part of the Pacific Coast Prior to the coming of Japanese contract work-
Japanese Mission. ers, Chinese workers were brought to Hawaii in
6 KOREAN MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS
and assigned to plantations on all islands. important role in persuading his church members
Chinese-language services were begun by the Con- to go to Hawaii. When recruiters of immigrants to
gregational and Anglican churches. In , a fra- Hawaii encountered difficulty in convincing Kore-
ternal agreement was made between the Hawaiian ans, the Reverend Jones assured them of the pleas-
(Congregational) Board and the Methodists that ant weather, educational opportunity and higher
the Methodists would be in charge of Japanese and wages, free housing, and medical care4 and encour-
Korean work and that the Congregationalists were aged church members to go to Hawaii.5 with Jones’s
to care for the Chinese and Hawaiians.2 encouragement, fi(cid:1026)y members (men and women)
of Nai-Ri Church6 applied to immigrate, along with
some laborers at Inchon Harbor.7
(cid:1029)e Arrival of Korean Methodists When the first group of Korean immigrants
gathered to embark at Chemulpo on December
(cid:1029)rough dealings among representative of the , , Jones “held a large tent meeting in order
Hawaii Sugar Planters’ Association (); Horace to inspire them with laudable ambitions and pre-
Allen, the American minister to Korea; and David pare them for the strange experiences so soon to
W. Deshler, owner of the East-West Development overtake them.” In addition, Jones “supplied them
Company in Korea,3 the first boatload of Kore- with a liberal amount of good literature” and “also
ans landed at Honolulu Harbor on January , . handed a few of the leaders among them letters of
Among the passengers were many fellow church introduction to Superintendent George L. Pearson
members of Nai-Ri Methodist Church in Che- of the Methodist Mission in Hawaii.”8
mulpo (also known as Yong-dong or Chemulpo During the ten-day voyage from Nagasaki to
Wesleyan Church). Honolulu, exhorters Chung Soo Ahn9 and Yee
(cid:1029)e Reverend George Heber Jones, minister of Chai Kim10 from the Chemulpo Nai-Ri Methodist
Nai-Ri Church and superintendent of the Meth- Church organized a prayer meeting in the steer-
odist Church in the Chemulpo region, played an age of their ship and carried on Christian work
. Bimson, Hawaii Mission, . It was further agreed later that ship service at the Nai-Ri Church was and for Sunday-evening
the work among the Japanese and Filipinos would be divided on a worship service was – during . (cid:1029)e th Annual Meeting
geographical basis. W. Vernon Middleton, Methodism in Alaska and Korea Mission Methodist Episcopal Church (), .
Hawaii: New Patterns for Living Together (New York: Board of Mis- . Soon Hyun, Powa yuramgi, .
sions of the Methodist Church, ), . . John W. Wadman, “Educational Work Among the Koreans,”
. For a detailed account of Korean immigration to Hawaii, see Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the Governor of
Wayne Patterson, (cid:1029)e Korean Frontier in America: Immigration to the Territory of Hawaii, December , —December , , .
Hawaii, – (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, ). . Shinhak wolbo [Biblical and church monthly] (Seoul, June
. (cid:1029)ese conditions were spelled out in the recruitment “poster,” ), –. Ahn was also an interpreter together with Jin Shoo
and such posters were posted at various port cities, such as Wonsan, Chung. Chung is one of the few whose names were not mentioned
Inchon, Pusan, and Mokpo. It is not certain how large the poster in the early Methodist publications in Korea.
was. Copies of a “notice” (one each in Korean and English) of x . Yee Chai Kim arrived in Hawaii with his wife and a seven-
inches are kept at the Department of Special Collections, University year old son, Chan Jay Kim, according to the “passenger list.” Chan
of California, Los Angeles ((cid:1029)e Hei Sop Chin Archival Collection, Jay was actually his brother, however, not a son. Honolulu Star-Bul-
Collection (cid:1093)). letin, November , . Korean Passengers Arriving at Honolulu,
. For details of the Reverend Jones’s involvement, see Soon –, compiled by Duk Hee Lee Murabayashi, is on the Web
Hyun, Powa yuramgi [Travel log of Honolulu] (Seoul, ). site http://www.koreancentennial.org/resource/resource.html.
. (cid:1029)e average number of attendees at Sunday-morning wor-
TO HAWAII METHODIST CHURCHES 7
among the fellow emigrants. Exhorter Yee Chai went to Korea and came back with Kim. Kim was a
Kim preached the gospel at the prayer meeting.11 local preacher of Kanghwa Island, just across from
By the time they landed in Honolulu, they had Chemulpo. (cid:1029)e manifest of alien passengers for
a Methodist Episcopal Church organized. Fi(cid:1026)y- this voyage contains the note, “Kim was ticketed
eight of the first group of 102 immigrants were to San Francisco but elected to stop in Honolulu
members.12 (cid:1029)ey were greeted at the Immigration to assist Rev. Wadman.” Both Moon and Kim, how-
Station by the Reverend Pearson, who had been ever, went on to the United States mainland shortly
apprised of their coming.13 therea(cid:1026)er.
(cid:1029)is first group of Korean immigrants was sent
to Mokuleia Camp of Waialua Plantation on the
North Shore of Oahu. A second boat of sixty-four Establishment of the Korean Methodist
Korean immigrants arrived on March , . Churches in Hawaii and the Revival of
(cid:1029)e interpreter on board was Soon Hyun, who Hawaii Methodism
attended Nai-Ri Methodist Church while he was
employed at the East-West Development Com- (cid:1029)e fi(cid:1026)y-eight-member “Korean Methodist
pany. (cid:1029)is group was sent to Kahuku Plantation on Congregation” on the first boat to Honolulu started
the North Shore of Oahu. “informal” worship services together with the
As more Koreans arrived, the Reverend Pear- immigrants from the second boat not long a(cid:1026)er
son followed up his good work, visited all the they settled in the Kahuku-Waialua area, probably
plantations where Koreans were dispatched, and sometime in March .15 (cid:1029)ey were already in
succeeded in opening a few night schools in Eng- contact with Methodist Superintendent George
lish for the benefit of Koreans.14 Pearson, to whom the Reverend Jones of Che-
(cid:1029)e last two Koreans landing in Honolulu from mulpo had written a letter of introduction.
the S.S. Mongolia on August , , were Kyeng Soon a(cid:1026)er his arrival in October , Chung
Ho Moon and Woo Chai Kim. Moon was a local Soo Lim “reorganized” the worship service at the
preacher of Nai-Ri Church and immigrated to Kahuku-Waialua Korean Church,16 closely follow-
Hawaii with his family on March , . Moon ing the North American Methodist discipline.17
. Patterson, (cid:1029)e Korean Frontier, n. in Powa yuramgi, Hyun states that he arrived in Honolulu with
. George Heber Jones, Korea: Land, People, and Customs sixty-plus Koreans on March , (p. ), but he says in the Auto-
(Cincinnati, ), . Since fi(cid:1026)y members of the Nai-ri Church biography that he arrived about February , , with about
were among the first group, eight new members may have been Koreans (p. ). (cid:1029)e passenger list includes sixty-four immigrants on
converted during the voyage. the second immigrant ship, which arrived March , . Regard-
. Wadman, “Educational Work Among the Koreans,” . ing church establishment, Hyun simply states in Powa yuramgi that
. Wadman, “Educational Work Among the Koreans,” –. he, Chi Pum Hong, and Chung Soo Lim established a Methodist
. Soon Hyun, Powa yuramgi, . Worshipers must have traveled church in the Kahuku-Waialua area (p. ) but gives a more detailed
by train from Waialua to Kahuku or vice versa, approximately a ten- account in the Autobiography. His statement on the church “reorga-
mile distance. nization” in the Autobiography is followed by the sentence, “In the
. Korean Independence Historical Association, (cid:1029)e Reverend month of August. Rev. Pearson came to Kahuku and preached at the
Soon Hyun Collected Works, Vol. XVIII, Autobiography and Other Korean Methodist Church,” giving the impression that the “reorga-
Writings (herea(cid:1026)er Autobiography), manuscript (), . Soon nization” took place before Pearson’s preaching in August.
Hyun returned to Korea in and probably wrote Powa yuramgi . In Korea, Methodist churches started to conduct worship
from memory and published it in Seoul at the end of . It is not services according to the Northern American Methodist discipline
clear when he wrote his Autobiography. Statements in Powa yuramgi from January .
and in the Autobiography do not match in some cases. For instance,
8 KOREAN MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS
Meanwhile in Honolulu, Chung Soo Ahn and
Pyeng Kil Woo (later known as Pyung Koo Yoon)18
contacted Superintendent Pearson to organize the
Korean Evangelical Society in Honolulu in Novem-
ber . It is likely that Woo, Ahn, and Chi Pom
Hong19 were leading the Society until the arrival
of Seung Ha Hong.20 Upon his arrival in Honolulu
on February , , Seung Ha Hong took charge
of the Mission as a local preacher. In March ,
the Mission moved to a larger house on Emma and
School Streets.
(cid:1029)e Korean Evangelical Mission received reg-
ular church status in April from John W.
Wadman, who succeeded Pearson as Hawaii Meth-
odist Mission superintendent at the end of .
From May , they started sending Pyeng Kil Woo,
Kyo Tam Lee and Hyung Choo Lim as local preach-
ers to various plantations. In July the Hono-
lulu Korean Church moved to a larger house at
Nuuanu Street. About this time Seung Ha
Hong returned to Korea due to his poor health,
and Chan Ho Min from California took charge of
the Church.
When the First Session of the Hawaii Mission
of the Methodist Episcopal Church was held
December and , , there was one Cauca-
sian church, eleven Japanese churches, and nine-
. Dae-Sook Suh, ed., (cid:1029)e Writings of Henry Cu Kim (Hono- of Seung Ha Hong, Pyung Koo Yoon, and others (p. ), but he did
lulu: University of Hawaii Press, ), . Woo was orphaned at an not specify the establishment date or organizer. Hyun’s Autobiogra-
early age and was taken into the family of his paternal aunt. Pong-gil phy includes several names but points out that Seung Ha Hong was
U was his childhood name, following the family name of his aunt’s appointed as a local preacher (p. ). (cid:1029)is statement is followed by
husband. Woo arrived in Honolulu on October , .In the pas- “In the month of November the same ” and gives the impres-
senger list, Woo’s name is spelled as Pyeng Kil Woo. It is likely that sion that the Honolulu church was established either earlier than
Henry Cu Kim spelled the name differently. It appears that Woo November or in November. However, Seung Ha Hong arrived in
changed his name not long a(cid:1026)er his arrival in Hawaii. Honolulu on February , , according to the passenger list.
. According to the list of arriving passengers, Hong’s parents Man-yul Lee points out that Hong was still in Korea at the end
and sister arrived on October , , and Hong arrived on Decem- of . Man-yul Lee, “Hawaii iminkwa Hankook kyohoe” [Korean
ber , . However, his sister, Mollie Hong Min stated that his immigrants and Korean church], paper presented at the Korean
brother came together with their parents. Jessie M. Martin, “Min, Americans in Hawaii: (cid:1029)eir Life and Experience conference, Center
Mollie Hong,” in Notable Women of Hawaii, ed. Barbara Bennett for Korean Studies, University of Hawaii, January –, , p. .
Peterson (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, ), . (cid:1029)e On the other hand, Bernice Kim states in her master’s thesis, “(cid:1029)e
Hong family might have traveled together to Japan but Hong took a Koreans in Hawaii” (University of Hawaii, ), that in the
later boat to Hawaii for some unknown reasons. Reverend C. P. Hong gathered some people and started church work
. Hyun wrote in Powa yuramgi that this was due to the efforts in Honolulu.
TO HAWAII METHODIST CHURCHES 9
of Sun Il Yee as an elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church, March 11, 1917.
teen Korean churches. One Caucasian minister was superintendent of the Night Schools and Gospel
appointed to the English church in Honolulu, and Society.
six Japanese ministers were assigned to six Japanese (cid:1029)e following list of ministerial appointments
churches for . Five other Japanese plantation was compiled from Official Minutes of Annual Ses-
churches were yet to be supplied with ministers. At sion of the Hawaii Mission of the Methodist Epis-
the same time, nine ministerial appointments were copal Church (present United Methodist Church)
made for Korean churches in Hawaii. Eight other for the corresponding years (the name of the Con-
plantation-churches were yet to have ministers.21 ference changed subsequently). A minister’s known
In addition, Pyung Koo Yoon (Pyeng Kil Woo) was affiliated church in Korea prior to is included
appointed editor of the Korean Christian Advo- in parentheses. From , a minister’s appoint-
cate, Hun Joo Song as the publisher of the Korean ment to a church with other than a Korean congre-
Christian Advocate, and Chi Sung Yee (Lee) as the gation is noted in parentheses.
. Journal of the First Session of the Hawaiian Mission of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, , –.
10 KOREAN MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS
Description:appointed the Reverend W. S. Turner to establish In the back row, from left to right, are Chin T'ae Ch'oe, Yi Che Kim, Yu Sun Kim, .. Chin Tai Choi.
