Korean Ethnodoxology Initiative

Reprinted with permission from WEA Connections, Vol 9, No. 2-3, 2010
World Evangelical Alliance, www.weaconnections.com

Korean Ethnodoxology Initiative
Equipping Ethnocentric Korean Missionaries
with Culturally Appropriate Worship-Arts Skills

By Jaewoo Kim and Paul Neeley

According to the Korea World Missions Association, there are 20,445 Korean missionaries in 169 nations.[i] Many of these missionaries are planting churches, and there are growing needs for culturally appropriate worship-arts ministries. But just as many western missionaries in the past unintentionally brought their own culture and arts to the countries where they served, Korean missionaries, without proper training and resources, are ministering from their own ethnocentric cultural backgrounds.

From a different standpoint, the contemporary praise and worship movement that began in the west in the 1960s swept the Korean churches during the 1980s and1990s, having a huge spiritual and cultural influence among the younger generation in Korea. The explosive effect of this movement resulted in many worship leaders, musicians and artists in Korean churches who can be used by God for His global cause…. especially if they understand critical contextualization of worship and art forms.

In 2003, the book Let the Nations be Glad by John Piper was translated and published in Korea. This book made explicit the connection between worship and missions, and thus provided a crucial theological basis for interdependence among Korean leaders in the fields of mission and arts. The impact has been huge and implications seem endless. However, because there are so few specialized people and opportunities for training in this area of ethnodoxology, the power of a strategic connection between worship-arts and missions has still not been realized on a practical level.

There are several important challenges for Korean mission leaders seeking to implement culturally appropriate arts into their ministries. First, the relatively short history of Korean missions only focuses on the proclamation of the gospel message, rather than on building sustainable local churches with local leadership in a culturally appropriate context. Second, there are few institutions and inadequate infrastructure available to help Korean worship-artists get theological and practical training in utilizing and contextualizing arts in missions. Third, the typical hierarchical leadership style in Korean culture hinders creative collaboration within organizations and even on the mission field.

In order for Korean mission leaders to deal with these challenges, it is vital to teach the importance of contextualizing arts for missions in as many local churches, seminaries, and mission agencies as possible. Korean mission agencies must recruit and develop worship-arts specialists. Korean worship-arts missionaries must have their own network to foster visibility, accountability, and long-term sustainability. Finally, tested and proven models must be introduced to Korean missionaries and churches for effective multiplication.

To help reach these goals, we have developed the Korean Ethnodoxology Initiative (KEI), working in several areas:

1. Resources: Develop more ethnodoxology resources in Korean, including some originally written in Korean, some translated materials, and some media resources.

2. Opportunities: Establish easy ways for Korean and Korean-American worship musicians to go on short-term trips in Asia that focus on ethnodoxology. Then they can bring their experience and insights back to their host churches and mission groups, and train their own colleagues.

3. Training: Establish classes in ethnodoxology in schools, and seminars for Korean mission agencies. Help Korean and Korean-American worship leaders get a bigger picture of global Christian worship, and understand the model of being a catalyst for creation of new worship forms by local people in Kingdom work.

Korean missionaries work in almost every nation. How marvelous it will be when more of them are better equipped to make this vision a reality: All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. Psalm 86:9.

Paul Neeley is a missionary ethnomusicologist who has worked for 20 years to promote indigenous Christian music and arts in various countries. He is President of the International Council of Ethnodoxologists (www.worldofworship.org).

Jaewoo Kim isa director of King’s Region Worship Ministry, which assists Korean missionaries and church leaders in worship-arts and global outreach.