Pastor Soo Kwan Lee Will Replace Me

I will be taking a sabbatical this year from July 1 to December 31. During my first sabbatical, I took a few weeks off to write a book. Now that Pastor Lee has been ordained and is available to replace me, I’ll be taking a longer 6-month sabbatical. I will resume my duties as Senior Pastor by leading the New Year’s Eve service at the end of this year.

I have received many invitations to speak from pastors of house churches, but I’ve had to refuse due to my tight schedule. My responsibilities at Seoul Baptist alone left me barely enough time to lead House Church Seminars and Conferences. I’m taking the opportunity during my sabbatical to help those churches that asked me to come by preaching and leading seminars. I’ve scheduled twenty-two meetings in the U.S., Korea and Indonesia. There is a copy of my schedule in our church members’ mailboxes. I’m asking the 333 prayer partners to follow my schedule and pray for me.

I will also be taking three other trips during my Sabbatical. My wife and I are visiting Turkey, where New Testament cities such as Ephesus and Laodicea were located. We will also visit Israel. We also plan to visit the Grand Canyon to see geological strata and fossil remains to confirm that these things were formed by a catastrophic event such as Noah’s flood, not a slow evolutionary process. The trip is sponsored by the Creation Science Institute. Then we will take a 9-day tour in Korea.

During this time I will also revise my sermon notes on 1 Corinthians. A publishing company is interested in publishing my sermons as a book. I chose 1 Corinthians because it deals with church life. I have a few thoughts on this subject.

During my Sabbatical, Pastor Lee will perform all the responsibilities of the Senior Pastor, including preaching on Sunday, conducting baptisms, writing the Pastor’s Corner, and leading The New Life Bible class. The only things he won’t be doing is visiting Friday house church meetings and preaching on Wednesday. He has his own house church to attend and needs to lead the Bible class that comes after The New Life.

Since I’m leaving my authority as Senior Pastor with Pastor Lee, I won’t be involved during this time. I ask all our members and leaders to direct letters, email, correspondence and reports intended for me to Pastor Lee. He will redirect them to me if necessary. If you have something to discuss with me, please talk with Pastor Lee. I will only communicate through Pastor Lee.

If we happen to be in Houston on a Sunday, my wife and I will worship at other area churches. However, I will keep the family prayer requests you submitted at the beginning of this year and will continue to pray over them.