Jennifer Hwang describes the parish she grew up in as a
tight-knit community filled with Korean Americans from all stages of life.
Though in high school and college she left the faith, the community of St. Paul
Chung Church in Fairfax was waiting for her when she returned. Now she teaches
religious education for the high schoolers and helps lead the English-speaking
young adult group. “Everyone (at the parish) is very attentive and loving,” she
said. “Even though I fell away for a bit, they still were really interested and
praying for me. It feels like one big family.”
Hwang and more than 600 members of the Korean Catholic community
celebrated the parish’s 25th anniversary with Mass and a reception Oct. 3.
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge thanked the parishioners for their witness. “We are
all God’s holy family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and yet at the same time
we are ever so grateful to you, the members of St. Paul Chung community, for
the rich tradition, culture, history, beauty, music and reverence that you
bring not only to your community but to the church here in the United States
and to this local church in Arlington.”
Decades ago, Koreans in the metropolitan area attended what is
now St. Andrew Kim Church in Olney, Md. In the mid-1980s, St. Paul Chung was
established as a mission in the Arlington diocese. Priests from the diocese in
Wonju, South Korea, led the parish and continue to staff it. The current pastor
is Father Tae Jin “Benedict” Kim. The community traveled from parish to parish
to worship each Sunday afternoon until they found a location for their church,
bought the land and began building the church.
Thomas Hahn, a member since 1991, remembers watching his children
shovel dirt at the groundbreaking ceremony. The church was dedicated by Bishop
John R. Keating in 1995 and St. Paul Chung was named a parish the following
year. “Among the over 100 Korean communities in America, we are the largest
(and) we are one of the few parishes, rather than a community,” said Hahn. “To
me that matters a lot.”
In 2006, the parish built a youth center with classrooms and a
basketball court. “We built the building without any outside financial
assistance,” said Hahn. “That’s another thing I’m very proud of.”
Today, the parish has five Sunday Masses for its 7,000
parishioners. As a national parish, it attracts Korean Catholics from around
the diocese. The parish has adult continuing education classes on a variety of
topics and a Korean language school for the younger generation, in addition to
religious education. The parish produces radio segments with messages from the
parish priests and also broadcasts television programs from South Korea.
The anniversary Mass was celebrated almost entirely in Korean and
was accompanied by a choir, a flutist, a drummer and a bell choir. Many
attendees wore traditional Korean clothing. U.S. and South Korean flags flanked
the altar, which was adorned by flowers arranged in the shape of the numerals
25.
At the end of the Mass, the parish presented Bishop Burbidge with
a certificate signifying that parishioners prayed 1,294,148 rosaries in honor
of the anniversary. Several parishioners also transcribed the New Testament in
Korean for the occasion. Women carrying fans fringed with bright pink feathers
performed a traditional dance for the congregation. At the reception, clergy
cut the cake and instead of blowing out the candles, used their hands to fan
out the flames.
Parishioner Moon Kim came to the United States with his parents
in 1964 and is one of the founding members of the parish. “When you emigrate to
this country, everything is strange,” he said. “When you come to the Korean
Catholic Church, everybody feels like we are in Korea.” Usually after the 10
a.m. Mass, parishioners gather for lunch and socializing, said Kim. “After six
days of speaking English only and working in this country, Sunday feels like
coming back home.”
