First Presbyterian welcomes first pastor of ethnicity

Jimmy Tomlin, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·3 min read

Apr. 8—HIGH POINT — In the 164-year-history of First Presbyterian Church, no senior pastor stepping into the pulpit has been anything other than a white male.

Until this weekend.

When the Rev. Peter Kim, the church's newly hired senior pastor, preaches his first sermon Sunday morning, the moment will represent a milestone. Kim is a Korean-American — he was born in South Korea and lived there until age 8 — and church leaders say his call to First Presbyterian reflects the congregation's desire not only to become more diverse itself but to reach out and minister to an increasingly diverse community.

"It's amazing how this traditional white church is wanting to do that," Kim said. "That's what excited me and pulled me back to this city and to this church, in particular, and we give the glory to God for that. With me being an ethnic person, and with the church's mission and vision for the city, we just felt like it was time to reach out to a diverse, growing community around High Point."

Kim, 55, and his family lived in High Point from 2003 to 2012, when he was serving a Korean-American church in Greensboro. But he was unfamiliar with First Presbyterian during that time.

"We would go to Krispy Kreme and to the public library, and all I had to do was turn 180 degrees and there it was," he said with a chuckle.

Kim's position at the church came about "by the grace of God," he said. "It's nothing I ever imagined, but more than I could ever want."

Members of the church's Pastor Nominating Committee see divine intervention, too, committee member Tim Grein said.

"We didn't go in with the thought of saying we needed to find more diversity, but we did," said Grein, who happens to be a descendant of the church's founding pastor, the Rev. Pleasant Hunter Dalton.

"We were aware that every minister before Peter was a white male, but skin color was a nonissue for us. Our job was to find the best candidate, regardless of diversity, and this is where our search led us. The reception Peter has gotten from the congregation has been overwhelmingly positive."

Kim was chosen from about 40 applicants, Grein said.

Kim, 55, and his family immigrated from South Korea to Texas when he was 8, and he committed his life to full-time ministry four years later at a traveling revival. He's been an ordained minister for 25 years, has planted churches, has done mission work and most recently taught international students at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte.

According to Kim, he feels called by God to bridge the gap between cultures because of his ethnic background and his ability to speak multiple languages. In addition to speaking fluent English and Korean, he is conversational in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

"Our mission as a church is to be multigenerational, multiethnic and multicultural," Kim said. "It's just beautiful, and that's what we're trying to work towards."

jtomllin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579