Korean women are nurtured in a culture dominated by patriarchy and often understand God within this context, another form of authority that is easily displeased and quick to judge. Although it is rare to find pastoral ministry programs sensitive to women's needs, the author shows how such programs would transform women's lives by introducing them to a God to love and understanding and empowering them to help transform society.

The Grace of Sophia reaches out to Korean North American women, including former victims of severe religious and cultural suffering in Korea and current casualties of racism, classism, and sexism in North America. By sharing her own views on racism, the patriarchal Korean society, and multifaith understandings of wisdom, author Grace Ji-Sun Kim offers strength for the journey to empowerment and hope in the search for a liberative Korean North American women's Christology.

This book offers a critical-constructive study of Korean women’s self-esteem from a feminist practical theological perspective. Jaeyeon Lucy Chung recognizes two different and yet related problems: the absence of scholarly work on women’s self-esteem from non-white, non-Western groups in the field of practical theology, and the lack of attention to the low self-esteem prevalent in Korean women’s sociocultural and religious context. Chung employs in-depth interview studies while drawing on theoretical resources of psychology, theology, and cultural studies to develop a relational-communal theory of self-esteem, and a systematic, communal understanding of pastoral care practice. The project offers insights into the life experience of Korean women, especially self-esteem, and it reveals some of the ways self-esteem can be fostered.

The Liberative Cross offers a theological grounding of the orthopraxy that calls North American Korean women to live as imago Dei, mirroring the perichoretic fellowship of the triune God in contemporary social relations through living in imitatio crucis and imitatio relationis. In so doing, this book emphasizes three elements. First, an appropriate theology of the cross meets the challenges or concerns of developing reality. Second, it is a feminist theology in the sense that it seeks to retrieve a theology of the cross that is life-giving and liberating for women. Third, it is a social trinitarian approach to the theology of the cross that can reveal the essence of God to be in relation, mutuality, and community in diversity. The constructive work achieved in this book makes a great contribution to pastoral and ecclesial praxis and imagination.

This book offers a critical-constructive study of Korean women’s self-esteem from a feminist practical theological perspective. Jaeyeon Lucy Chung recognizes two different and yet related problems: the absence of scholarly work on women’s self-esteem from non-white, non-Western groups in the field of practical theology, and the lack of attention to the low self-esteem prevalent in Korean women’s sociocultural and religious context. Chung employs in-depth interview studies while drawing on theoretical resources of psychology, theology, and cultural studies to develop a relational-communal theory of self-esteem, and a systematic, communal understanding of pastoral care practice. The project offers insights into the life experience of Korean women, especially self-esteem, and it reveals some of the ways self-esteem can be fostered.

This project is a unique compilation of theological reflections and stories of faith from Korean American women in various forms of ministry in the church. The main goal is to share their stories to provide a window of understanding into the trials of Korean American women in ministry a window that may serve as a mirror for other women who know what it is to be marginalized, overlooked, or prejudged based on their gender, ethnicity, culture, or appearance. The book's uniqueness is found in its various genres of writing from sermons and theological reflections, to poetry and stories of personal journey from women of various generations. Readers will be encouraged, inspired, and affirmation for other Asian American women called to Christian ministry. Their stories and voices add clarity, wisdom, and hope, enriching the overall landscape of writings in this field.

This volume considers what it is to be a women in the context of the Korean-American church. Drawing on participant observation, interviews, and a review of historical documents, Jun Ha Kim focuses on four major issues: the role of religious institutions within ethnic communities, the role of Christian churches as patriarchal institutions, issues of status inconsistency and role conflict in marginalized communities, and the relative importance of gender and race-ethnicity in shaping the identities of women of color.

Kim explores the religious impact, particularly that of the Korean Methodist Church, on the lives of Korean immigrant ilse (first generation) in the United States. To most of these women, America is new soil, and they need to adjust to a different cultural and social environment. Consequently, they may be confused and frustrated. As a community center, the Korean church plays a significant role in their lives. Kim examines the church, to determine if it is helpful or detrimental to these women as they adjust to their lives in the United States. Although the history of Korean immigrants in the United States is almost 100 years old, resources about Korean immigrants, particularly women, are scarce. These women have long been invisible and unheard in American society as well as in the Korean community and church. Their experiences as minority women and their painful struggle for survival in patriarchal Korean churches reflect not only the plight of women but also genuine human struggle.