The name “Light and Love” carries a question that we continue to hold close:
What kind of church do we dream of becoming?
We dream of a church where families grow together in faith, every generation shares in the same Word of God, and Scripture is faithfully understood and lived out in everyday life.
We continue to ask what calling God has entrusted to Light and Love Church in this time and place.
We will not hide these things from their children;
we will tell the coming generation the LORD’s praiseworthy deeds,
his power, and the wonders he has done. — Psalm 78:4
A Dream Rooted in My Mother’s Faith
My dream for the church did not begin in a seminary classroom. It was planted in me during my childhood through the life of my mother.
Before she married, my mother was not a Christian. Then my older brother became seriously ill. No one could clearly explain what was wrong, and no one seemed able to treat him. Quite unexpectedly, a doctor suggested that my parents attend church. By God’s grace, my brother recovered, and through that experience my mother began her life of faith.
At the time, our family lived in a very remote rural village. To travel beyond the village, we had to take a boat or cross a mountain pass on foot before we could reach the nearest bus route. Getting to church was no easier. In the summer, we had to cross the river by boat, and in the winter, we had to endure the cold and walk along snowy paths. It could take hours to reach the church, yet even under those circumstances, my mother faithfully made that journey every Sunday.
As my own faith began to take root, one scene from my childhood came back to me with particular clarity. In the middle of winter, my mother was leading all three of her sons across a frozen river on the way to church. At the time, I did not understand what that journey meant. I simply held her hand and followed. Looking back now, I realize that the road to church was also a road of faith—one my mother quietly walked before us.
Her journey of faith involved more than the long road to church. For many years, she also endured opposition from family and relatives because she believed in Jesus. Yet she did not abandon her faith or turn away from those who opposed her. She continued to pray and serve, and eventually led her entire family to Christ.
As a child, I did not fully understand what I was witnessing. Now I do. My mother was the teacher of faith in our home. She did not explain faith only with words. She showed us what faith looked like through the long road she traveled and through a life that refused to give up. Her faith was visible. It was passed on to our family, and it eventually shaped the person I am today.
Even now, I regard my mother as my greatest teacher in the faith. My dream of a church where families grow together in faith comes from witnessing her life. Through her, I learned that one person’s faith can transform a family, that a parent’s faith can be passed on to the next generation, and that an entire family can one day worship and serve God together.
Faith begins with a personal commitment, but it does not remain with one person. It is passed on through the life of a family and grows deeper as that family walks through hardship together. This is why I dream of a church where parents live out their faith before their children, where that faith is carried into the next generation, and where the whole family grows in the knowledge of God together.
A Church Where the Whole Family Grows in Faith
Today, it is becoming increasingly difficult for an entire family to share its life of faith in the same church. Work, distance, language, culture, education, and generational differences often lead family members to attend different churches. Even within the same church, they may find themselves scattered across different worship services and communities.
We understand why this happens. Each generation has its own language, culture, and spiritual needs. At the same time, we believe we must take this question seriously:
If families cannot share their life of faith together, how will faith be passed on to the next generation?
Anyone can go through a spiritually dry season. There may be times when a person’s desire for church grows weak or interest in faith begins to fade. But when grandparents, parents, and children share their faith within the same community, they can hold one another up through those difficult seasons.
Pastors provide direction, teach the Word, and care for the congregation. But the closest examples of faith in a child’s life are their parents. When parents stand before God’s Word, pray, worship, and live out their faith, their children begin to understand what faith truly means.
Faith does not remain inside the church building. It grows around the family table, through everyday conversations, and during the difficult seasons a family walks through together.
This is why we dream not merely of a church where families attend together, but of a church where families grow together in God’s Word.
A Church Where Every Generation Shares the Same Word
Our vision does not mean that every generation must always worship in the same room or in the same way. On certain Sundays, all generations may gather for worship together. But the deeper direction we value is this:
Every generation reflects on the same passage of Scripture each week.
Children, youth, young adults, and older generations may each have worship services and gatherings suited to their stage of life. Even when their gatherings are different, they can still share the same biblical passage. Pastors and teachers can teach that passage in ways that speak to the understanding and daily experiences of each generation.
When this happens, conversations about faith can begin naturally at home.
Parents can ask their children:
“What did you learn from today's passage?”
Children can ask their parents:
“What did this passage mean to you, Mom and Dad?”
Grandparents can share stories of God’s grace from the years they have lived, while younger generations can bring their questions about school, work, relationships, identity, and the future before God’s Word.
When a family shares the same Scripture, faith no longer remains something that happens only on Sunday. It becomes part of the life of the home. The church is not meant to replace conversations about faith within the family. The church is meant to help those conversations begin and continue.
A Church That Bridges Generations in Korean Immigrant Families
Our church stands within the lived reality of Korean immigrant families.
Some families include grandparents who have worshiped in Korean for many years. Others include members of the 1.5 generation who grew up between Korea and the United States, as well as second-generation children who were born here and are more comfortable speaking English. Young children are growing up between two languages and two cultures.
This is not simply a question of which language we should use in worship. It is a question of how families can share their faith and pass it on to the next generation.
Many Korean immigrant families wrestle with practical questions:
“Should we worship in Korean?”
“Should we worship in English?”
“Should parents and children attend separate worship services?”
“How can one family share a life of faith together?”
I do not know these questions only in theory. I was born in Korea and moved to the United States as an adult after graduating from college, so Korean is more natural for me. My wife grew up in the United States, so English is more natural for her. Our child was born here and is growing up between both languages and cultures.
This is the reality of our family, and it is also the reality of many Korean immigrant families.
We want to help families keep differences in language and culture from dividing their life of faith. Each family member may have a language in which they feel more comfortable, but different languages do not have to mean a divided faith.
To help families listen to God’s Word together across language differences, we have developed and begun using an AI-powered real-time interpretation program. This is more than a technological experiment. It is a ministry effort designed to help families hear the Word together, worship together, and grow together in faith.
We do not want differences in language to divide families in their life of faith. Instead, we want the church to become a bridge connecting generations, languages, and cultures.
A Church That Faithfully Teaches Scripture
Another defining commitment of the church we envision is the faithful teaching of Scripture.
I have had the opportunity to study God’s Word in seminaries shaped by Methodist, Baptist, and Lutheran traditions. My theological education includes M.Div. and Th.M. studies, as well as doctoral studies in Old Testament. I was raised in the Presbyterian tradition and am now ordained in the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA).
Experiencing these different denominations and theological traditions allowed me to see the breadth and depth of the Christian faith. At the same time, one conviction became even clearer:
The church must handle the Word of God carefully, honestly, and faithfully.
I believe it is especially important to understand the Old Testament because it is difficult to understand the whole Bible without understanding it well. The New Testament opens upon the promises and longings of the Old Testament. The sacrificial system helps us understand the cross more clearly. The law helps us grasp the depth of grace, and the covenant helps us see the Bible’s larger story of the kingdom of God.
Rather than using Scripture to support ideas we already hold, we want to listen first to what the biblical text actually says. The church needs more than good advice or moving thoughts. The church needs the Word of God.
We dream of a church that respects the biblical text, clearly proclaims the gospel, and faithfully teaches the will of God.
A Church That Understands the Word and Lives It Out
Understanding Scripture faithfully does not end with knowledge. God’s Word must lead into life.
I studied hermeneutics at several stages of my theological education. During my final hermeneutics course, I was looking through the table of contents of our textbook when something caught my attention. After many chapters devoted to context, historical background, literary genre, and theological interpretation, the final chapter was simply titled “Application.”
At that moment, the direction of biblical interpretation became even clearer to me.
Biblical interpretation does not end with the question, “What does this passage mean?” It must also lead us to ask, “How should we live in response to this Word?”
God did not give us Scripture merely to be studied. He gave it so that we might know and trust him, worship him, and live according to his Word. A pastor’s calling, therefore, does not end with interpreting the Bible. Pastors must also help people discern how to live out God’s Word within family life, work, suffering, relationships, parenting, culture, technology, and society.
During the week, I work as a web developer for the State of Illinois, where I encounter the realities of work and everyday life. I know what Monday looks like. I know the pressures of the workplace, the responsibilities of family, the complexity of life, and the weariness that comes with it.
A sermon must be more than something that sounds inspiring on Sunday. It should help God’s people endure Monday—and beyond that, help them live Monday faithfully.
We dream of a church where faithful understanding of Scripture and faithful living belong together.
A Church That Lives in the Hope of God’s Kingdom
Christian theology often uses the phrase:
Already,
but not yet.
The kingdom of God has already begun through the coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross, rose from the dead, and reigns over the whole world even now. The kingdom of God, therefore, is not only a distant future hope. It is a present reality already at work among us.
The kingdom becomes visible in the proclamation of the gospel, in families that love one another, in acts of mercy toward our neighbors, and in communities that faithfully follow Christ.
We are not people who simply endure life on earth while waiting for heaven. We are people who participate in what God is already doing in this world.
Yet the kingdom of God has not been fully completed. Christ has not yet returned, and suffering, sin, and injustice still remain. We therefore hope for the kingdom that will one day come in its fullness while living today as the people of God’s kingdom.
We receive the gifts God gives us in everyday life with gratitude. At the same time, we willingly offer ourselves for mission, service to our neighbors, and the proclamation of the gospel because this world and the people in it are precious to God.
Our hope does not lead us to turn away from reality. It gives us the strength to live faithfully within it.
An Honest Invitation
Our church is not perfect. We are not a large or outwardly impressive church. But we believe this is a community worth building together.
We want to become a community where we do not hide our questions about faith or the struggles of life, but learn, wrestle, grow, and live together within God’s Word.
Are you part of a Korean immigrant family navigating two languages, two cultures, and multiple generations? Are you looking for a community where your whole family can belong, grow, and worship together?
Then we would love to meet you.
We are a small community. Because of our size, we know one another by name and can share one another’s joys and sorrows closely. We want to walk through the different seasons of life together, holding one another up as we follow the path of faith.
A church that connects generations through the Word, builds up families through the gospel, and lives out the hope of God’s kingdom in everyday life.
We want to build that kind of church together with you.
Come and see.