사무장 Kwang-Woo Park is retiring

사무장 Kwang-Woo Park is preparing to retire from his position. As you already know, he is 75 years old. He was a vice president in charge of procurement at Arco Oil Company but took early retirement to serve as a personal secretary for Pastor Young-Gi Chai. Then, from 2003 and on, he took on the role of 사무장 and has worked at this church for 10 years without pay. In fact, he could have retired last August when Pastor Chai retired but served 1 more years for me to minimize any transition shock for this church.

Mr. Park does an incredible amount of work for this church. He takes care of the overall operation and overseas many different functions in this church. There isn’t an area where he’s not involved. His work includes life bible courses, seeker’s meetings, new membership management, secretarial work for the pastor, visiting quarters management including giving rides to visiting pastors, management and repair of church property, church bulletins, and even pew arrangements in the main sanctuary. It’s just amazing that he can do so much work at his age.

Before I became the Senior Pastor at our church, I did not think much about who would replace Mr. Park’s position once he retires. I thought his work could be divided among the church office workers, deacons, and Pastor Myung-hoon Choi if a right replacement could not be found. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it is not that simple. I felt the need to designate someone for the position, and just about that time Mr. Park started having eye problems and chronic fatigues. I didn’t know what to do.

But God has found the right person to take over at the right time. That person is Deacon Gang-Bae Lee. Deacon Lee used to run his own business but for the past few years, God has opened a way for his ministry as a house church speaker, and because of this new found calling, he was in the process of wrapping up his business so that he can devote his time to doing God’s work. I wasn’t fully aware of the situation in the beginning and actually thought he was looking for another business, but when I finally asked him about the position, he accepted my offer even though he felt a bit overwhelmed by it.

He has served as a deacon for the past 7 years and during that time he was in charge of fellowship ministry overlooking the kitchen, involved in information ministry, and involved in asset management ministry at our church. Since he knows how to manage big assets at our church, I feel that God has prepared just the right person for me. From now on until the end of June, two of them will be working together so that Deacon Park can hand off his work to Deacon Lee. Please give thanks and encouragement to one deacon who has served this church in full devotion for 10 years and to another who will be doing so soon.