We Welcome Pastor Christopher Jacob Kurien

. . . and Say Farewell to Pastors KyungMo and SunAe Koo

From Beth Auman, Staff-Parish Relations Chair

In May our District Superintendent was asked if Pastor Koo and Pastor Lee-Koo would consider an appointment back to their home conference (Peninsula Delaware) to fill a sudden vacancy. After much thought and prayer, the Koos accepted the appointment to Christ United Methodist Church, in Salisbury, Maryland, effective July 1, 2019. On Sunday, June 23, we wished them well and thanked them for their service to Lincoln Park these last two years.

Also effective July 1, the Rev. Dr. Christopher Jacob Kurien will be appointed to Lincoln Park Community United Methodist Church.

Born to missionary parents in Kerala, India, Dr. Kurien received his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Union Biblical Seminary in Pune, India, in 1985, and was ordained by the Church of South India (Methodist/Anglican and Presbyterian merged denomination). He served or founded several churches in India before coming to the US for further study.

Our new Pastor served a Clinical Pastoral Education residency in Houston before attending Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. He received his Doctor of Ministry degree there in 2001. Upon graduation he received a transfer of orders to the Eastern PA Conference of the United Methodist Church.

There he was appointed as Senior Pastor to St. Matthews UMC in Reading until he left , in 2005, to become District Superintendent of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. After his term as District Superintendent, Pastor Chris was named Executive Director of Connectional Ministries for the Conference. Before his appointment to Lincoln Park, he was appointed to Lansdale First UMC, Lansdale, PA.

Pastor Chris’s wife Christy is a math teacher at Reading HS and has commuted here through all of his appointments. They have three adult daughters, Susan, Ann, and Elsen, who’s married to Manu. In his free time Pastor Chris enjoys traveling, hiking and genealogy.

We welcome the Kurien family to Lincoln Park Church!