Posted by Terry White on May 5, 2010 | No Comments
Dr. Sang Bok David Kim
The 2010 commencement of Grace College and Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, Ind., will feature the presentation of the Distinguished Alumnus Award to Rev. Dr. Sang-Bok David Kim. The recognition is selectively awarded to an alumnus or alumna for a lifetime of meritorious service and leadership that exemplifies the mission of the campus.
The commencement and presentation will take place Saturday, May 8 at 9 a.m. in the Orthopaedic Capital Center on the Grace campus, 610 Wooster Road, Winona Lake. The public is welcome to attend.
At the age of 11, Dr. Kim left his hometown of Pyong Yang, North Korea, for South Korea and finished his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963 at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Seoul National University. He completed the Master of Divinity degree in 1968 and Master of Sacred Theology degree in 1972 from Faith Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Penn. In 1977, he was awarded the Doctor of Theology degree from Grace Theological Seminary. He is also a recipient of honorary degrees from Washington Bible College and Capital Theological Seminary (Washington, D.C.) and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Ill.).
In 1960, Kim was president of the New Life Reform Movement, a national student movement in six major cities of Korea that sought to bring about ethical changes and improvement in society, army, and government. Kim escaped death three times during the April 1960 Student Revolution, which brought down the government of president Syngman Rhee. From 1962 to 1965, he was president of the International Friendship Society of Korea, an organization promoting friendship among the sixteen participating nations of the Korean War.
From 1978 to 1990 he served as president and chairman of Washington Christian Broadcasting Company in Washington, D.C., and as president of the Korean-American Youth Leaders Association in the United States. Five years later, he co-chaired the Global Consultation of World Evangelization held in Seoul, Korea with participants from 182 countries.
He was chair, from 2002 to 2004, of the International Coalition for World Inquiry, interviewing church leaders around the world regarding their visions for the twenty-first century. The coalition’s six volumes of findings were presented to the 2004 Lausanne Forum in Thailand. Kim was also founding chair of the board of the Iraq Evangelical Seminary in Baghdad. He co-chaired the Inter-Religious Dialogue between Islam and Christianity in Tehran, Iran in 2004, an event that brought together 300 Christian and 100 Muslim leaders.
His work in higher education spans 38 years, having served a number of higher education institutions: Indiana Christian University, Washington Bible College (Washington, D.C.), Wheaton College Graduate School (Ill.), University of Edinburgh (Scotland), Dallas Theological Seminary (Texas), Ashin Theological Seminary (Korea), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Ill.), and Torch Trinity Graduate School of Theology (Korea), where he served as president from 1997 to 2001 and, since 2001, has been president emeritus and the Distinguished Professor of Theology.
In the past 42 years, Kim has pastored churches in New Jersey, Indiana, and Maryland, as well as serving as senior pastor of Hallelujah Community Church in Songnam, Korea for the past 20 years. During his ministry at this church, the congregation has grown from 3,800 to 13,000 members. Since 2008, Kim has served as chairman of the World Evangelical Alliance, representing 450 million evangelical Christians worldwide.
He is the author of 76 books and has edited another 43 books, in addition to writing nearly 1,400 articles. Dr. Kim and his wife, Young-Ja Kim, have three daughters—Grace, Eunice, and Christine—and six grandchildren.
Kim will be preaching at Winona Lake (IN) Grace Brethren Church at 1200 Kings Highway in Winona Lake on Sunday, May 9 at the 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. services. On Tuesday, May 11 at 7:00 p.m., he will give a free community lecture at Rodeheaver Auditorium, 901 Park Avenue, Winona Lake. A formal reception for Kim will be held at the auditorium at 8 p.m.
