Tuesday, October 16, 2001

Brite cooperative to serve Korean students
By Heather Christie
Staff Reporter

Korean students seeking a master’s of divinity will be able to serve Disciples of Christ congregations through a new cooperative effort between Brite Divinity School and a California theological seminary affiliated with the Presbyterian church.

Brite Dean Mark Toulouse said the school is working with the San Francisco Theological Seminary in California, which has an extension program in Los Angeles, to serve the Korean and Hispanic populations in that area. Students would come to Brite from the Los Angeles program.Toulouse attended a conference a year ago and met with representatives from the San Francisco Theological Society who expressed a need for a school affiliated with the Disciples of Christ that could accommodate Korean studies. Toulouse said there are only four such institutions in the country.

After a year of planning the Korean Studies program, Brite Divinity School is starting the search for a Korean professor.

Toulouse said the school is looking for a professor who speaks Korean because the program is initially taught in Korean, gradually progressing to English. The candidate should also identify with the Disciples of Christ and have a doctorate in a theological field. The professor will tentatively start in Fall 2002 and the program will start shortly thereafter, Toulouse said.Toulouse said he anticipates approximately six students the first year, but expects the program to grow.

Toulouse said there is a growing number of Koreans, who study the ministry and identify with the Disciples of Christ.

“A good number of Korean disciples, who go to school at San Francisco Theological Seminary, end up serving the Presbyterian church rather than the Disciples of Christ congregation,” Toulouse said.

Toulouse said by finishing their studies at Brite, students would be able to serve the Disciples of Christ“Since (Korean students interested in the program) are affiliated with the Christian Church Disciples of Christ, they became interested in this institution because they want to finish here. We are very happy to do that,” said Stephen Sprinkle, director of field education and supervised ministry of Brite.The Korean population is one of the largest growing populations in the United States and there is a significant number of Koreans in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Toulouse said.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported the Korean population at 0.2 percent, or 3,210 people, in 2000.

“The Korean-American segment of our church is the fastest-growing segment of our church and so the necessity for quality theological education is uncontested,” Sprinkle said. “The Koreans want it and the whole church needs it.”

The program will help with diversity on campus, Toulouse said.

“I think all of our students would benefit from having a professor who is an expert in Asian Christianity and Korean Christianity in the United States,” Toulouse said.

Sprinkle said he hopes the program will increase the under-represented Asian population on campus.

According to the Office of Institutional Research, there are approximately 147 Asian students on campus this semester.

The exact number of Asian students will be available Nov. 1 when the 2001 fact book is finalized.

Heather J. Christie
h.j.christie@student.tcu.edu