Han-Ca congregations learn to belong without losing themselves.
What does it mean to belong — and not belong — at the same time?
That question quietly shapes immigrant life, but it presses even more deeply into the soul of immigrant churches. For Korean diaspora churches in Canada, this tension is not theoretical, abstract, or merely sociological. It is lived every Sunday — in the choice of language for worship, in generational misunderstandings, in denominational debates, in theological controversy and in the silent prayers of parents hoping their children will not drift away.
This is a story about paradox. More precisely, it is a story about learning to live inside paradox without collapsing into fragmentation.
It is the story of how Korean Presbyterian churches in Canada have learned to live between two powerful forces — what I describe as a centrifugal force, the outward push to preserve identity, and a centripetal force, the inward pull toward assimilation and integration. And it is the story of what happens when those forces collide inside a denomination wrestling with secularization, sexuality, institutional authority and cultural change. This is not merely sociology; it is theology unfolding in history.
The Immigrant Church: Pilgrim or Settler?
For decades, immigrant theology has portrayed diaspora communities as pilgrims — strangers at the margins, sojourners between worlds. The imagery is biblical and deeply compelling: Abraham leaving Ur, Israel wandering through the wilderness, exiles weeping by Babylon’s rivers, the early church calling itself “aliens and strangers.” Even John Calvin described the Christian life itself as a pilgrimage toward the heavenly kingdom.
Within that framework, Korean immigrant churches were interpreted as borderland communities — spiritually creative precisely because they existed in liminal space. Theologians like Sang Hyun Lee emphasized that immigrant identity, situated at the “frontier” between cultures, carried unique theological potential.
There is real truth here.
Yet something crucial was missing.
Immigrants do not only wander; they eventually settle. They purchase buildings, organize presbyteries, send children to universities, serve on denominational committees and shape institutions. Pilgrims, over time, become settlers. And once pilgrims settle, the theological imagination must expand.
Earlier models of immigrant theology sometimes treated marginality as if it were a permanent spiritual requirement — as though authenticity depended upon remaining outside the center. But immigrant churches inevitably develop dual identities: spiritually oriented toward the kingdom as pilgrims, yet socially embedded as settlers within concrete institutions.
That dual identity is not a contradiction; it is the birthplace of paradox.
Centrifugal and centripetal: the two forces within
To understand this dynamic, imagine two invisible forces operating within immigrant churches.
The centrifugal force pushes outward. It seeks to preserve language, tradition, theological inheritance, and cultural memory. It whispers: keep worship in Korean; teach children their history; guard evangelical faith; remember where you came from. It protects identity.
The centripetal force, by contrast, pulls inward toward the center. It urges participation in mainstream denominational life, integration into national structures and contribution to broader society. It encourages second-generation leaders to attend denominational seminaries, learn institutional polity, and shape the larger church. It seeks belonging.
These forces are not enemies. They are tensions that must be negotiated.
Healthy immigrant identity is not achieved by choosing one force over the other, but by learning to inhabit both. This negotiation — neither isolation nor surrender — is what I call paradoxical coexistence.
From ghetto to gateway: why Korean churches joined the PCC
The historical background deepens the paradox. Canadian Presbyterian missionaries played significant roles in establishing Presbyterianism in Korea in the late nineteenth century. The Gospel that transformed Korean church history came, in part, through Canadian mission networks. Nearly a century later, Korean immigrants arrived in Canada and many affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC).
Yet this affiliation was far from smooth. Language barriers hindered participation; cultural misunderstandings generated suspicion; some white-majority presbyteries feared fragmentation.
Still, Korean churches persisted. They desired not isolation, but participation.
By the 1990s, Eastern and Western HanCa presbyteries were formed within the PCC — bilingual structures allowing Korean congregations to function within Presbyterian polity while maintaining linguistic and cultural identity. This was not separation from the denomination; nor was it full assimilation. It was institutional paradox.
The results were transformative. Korean pastors began attending presbytery meetings in large numbers. Elders were trained in polity. Women were ordained. Second-generation ministers emerged. Korean leaders eventually served in denominational roles of influence. A structure once feared as a ghetto became a gateway to participation.
Centrifugal preservation had enabled centripetal integration.
Selective Integration: Women’s Ordination
The ordination of women within HanCa presbyteries illustrates how paradoxical coexistence functions constructively. Though many Korean churches historically leaned conservative, the HanCa presbyteries implemented women’s ordination in alignment with PCC polity. The first woman pastor was ordained in 1998; within a decade, women elders and ministers were serving actively, and a woman became Moderator of the Eastern HanCa presbytery.
This development did not represent theological collapse. Rather, it showed selective integration — cultural patriarchy was challenged while evangelical commitments remained intact. Korean immigrant churches proved capable of reform without surrender.
They were not reactionary enclaves; they were discerning communities negotiating faithfulness within institutional belonging.
The Collision: LGBTQ Ordination
If women’s ordination represented constructive adaptation, the debate over LGBTQ ordination exposed the limits of assimilation. As Canadian society secularized and major Protestant denominations embraced same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination, the PCC moved through extended processes of listening and policy change, culminating in decisions facilitating LGBTQ ordination.
For Korean presbyteries, the impact was seismic. Their opposition was not simply cultural conservatism; it was grounded in biblical interpretation and theological conviction. At General Assemblies in 2017 and 2019, Korean representatives insisted upon the authority of Scripture and the protection of conscience.
They were accused of sexism and cultural backwardness — despite having already ordained women. The stereotype collapsed under scrutiny.
Yet the most surprising development was this: they did not withdraw. “Rather than capitulate or separate, they chose to remain — and to dissent.”
Why stay?
Observers expected mass departure. That did not occur. Although some congregations left and painful fractures followed, the majority of HanCa churches remained within the PCC.
Why would conservative immigrant churches remain inside a progressive denomination?
The reasons were layered. The PCC preserved freedom-of-conscience provisions allowing ministers to abstain from participating in LGBTQ ordinations. Korean leaders believed they could remain evangelical within the denomination. The historical memory of Canadian mission to Korea weighed heavily. Remaining allowed Korean presbyteries to advocate for other conservative and minority congregations.
And perhaps most importantly, Korean Christians often accept living within politically progressive societies without theological surrender. They can distinguish between civic coexistence and ecclesial conviction. They chose tension over isolation.
The Pain and the Shadow
Paradoxical coexistence is not romantic. It carries real cost. Congregations split. Friendships dissolved. Some churches misinterpreted others as compromised. Others were accused of bigotry. Membership declined.
Meanwhile, another danger emerged — not from progressive theology but from institutional pragmatism. As immigrant churches matured, some drifted toward managerial models of success. Attendance and offerings became metrics of worth. Pastors were pressured like corporate executives. Leadership anxiety intensified. In such moments, conflict ceases to be a spiritual struggle and becomes corporate downsizing.
When survival eclipses discipleship, paradox degenerates into hypocrisy. The church risks becoming an organization obsessed with stability rather than a community oriented toward the cross.
Center and Margin Reimagined
Diaspora theologian Jong Soo Park offers a profound reframing: the true center is not defined by the mainstream but by the presence of God. If God dwells at the margins, the margins become the center. If God is absent from the mainstream, the mainstream cannot claim centrality.
This vision liberates immigrant churches from anxiety about institutional status. Korean presbyteries in Canada are not merely surviving within a progressive denomination; they are testifying to a theological claim: “That faithfulness can endure inside tension, that dissent need not destroy unity, and that identity can remain intact without retreat.”
A Glimpse of Korea’s Future
The paradox unfolding in Canada may foreshadow Korea’s own ecclesial future. As immigration increases and demographic decline reshapes Korean society, new questions will arise: Will Korean denominations allow multilingual presbyteries? Will immigrant pastors rise to denominational leadership? Can bilingual second-generation ministers serve without suspicion?
Just as North American missionaries once evangelized Korea and Korean diaspora churches now influence Western denominations, so too immigrant pastors may one day shape Korean ecclesial structures.
Paradoxical coexistence is not a Canadian anomaly; it may become a Korean necessity.
The Final Word
Korean immigrant churches in Canada embody something rare. They are conservative and progressive, marginal and central, pilgrim and settler. They resist radical secular theology while rejecting fundamentalist withdrawal. They ordain women yet oppose LGBTQ ordination. They remain within progressive institutions yet maintain theological dissent. This is not confusion; it is disciplined complexity.
In a polarized age, where institutions fracture under pressure and communities retreat into ideological silos, immigrant churches may offer an unexpected model: hold identity firmly, engage the mainstream courageously, refuse simplistic binaries and accept tension as part of discipleship.
Paradoxical coexistence is not weakness — it is faithfulness lived in history. And perhaps, in a fractured world, it is one way the kingdom of God advances quietly but persistently through imperfect communities learning to belong without losing themselves.
Main Graphic: 2025 Summer Bible School at Korean Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia
