From enhancing the church’s social media to serving the lower class, Rev. Sung Chun Ahn is carrying his visions to Centenary UMC.
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles profiling the leaders of Berlin Borough’s places of worship. This week’s article highlights the life and work of the Rev. Sung Chun Ahn of Centenary United Methodist Church.
At the age of 16, Ahn was attending a prayer meeting in South Korea when he experienced the first of many epiphanies that would pave his way to pastorship in Berlin.
“At that moment, I felt the Holy Spirit working within me,” Ahn said. “I felt something strange and warm in my chest. Something came from out of my heart … I asked the Lord ‘why me?’ I was thinking about my purpose in life … without that moment, I wouldn’t be here.”
The East Asian native, who was appointed as pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in July, has marked his life by such revelations, all of which have somehow fostered his mission of serving marginalized people.
As the son of a pastor, Ahn spent his childhood and adolescence as a “Sunday Christian,” an individual who pragmatically attends services.
But by the time he was in his early 20s, Ahn committed his life to Methodism, receiving a bachelor’s of theology degree from Methodist Theology University in Seoul in February 2004.
That same year, he visited Northeast China, the closest border to North Korea, on a mission trip. He was parted with the communist nation by a bridge shorter than the Ben Franklin, as he describes.
Witnessing the persecution from across a river, Ahn was thunderstruck once more.
“It was an eye-opening moment for me, because I never experienced the people who needed my help. Seeing North Korea from China, I felt — God is calling me, because of them. Because North Korea and their people have no freedom to believe. They have no freedom to say. God called me to do something for those people.”
After his experience in Northeast China, Ahn confirmed his call to ministry at the age of 24.
His purpose to help the oppressed spilled across the Pacific when he relocated to South Jersey in January 2006. Following the death of his uncle, a Mt. Laurel resident, Ahn worked toward acquiring a student visa.
He enrolled in ESL classes at Camden County College and joined the First Korean UMC in Cherry Hill.
Immersing himself in the parish, one Sunday morning, Ahn helped the First Korean missionary serve food to the homeless in Camden. The city’s poverty-stricken conditions transported Ahn back to the streets of North Korea.
“Northeast China and Camden were eye-opening moments to see what I had never seen,” Ahn said. “I never experienced and was never able to see the people who needed my help — who are marginalized and very poor.”
Inspired to further his charity to those in need, Ahn spent a year at New Brunswick Theological Seminary and eventually received his master’s of divinity degree from Drew Theological School in 2009.
For nine years, he served as an associate pastor and music director of First Korean UMC, where led young adult and high school Bible studies and oversaw community center programs.
After devoting nearly a decade to First Korean, Ahn felt it was time to shift his religious leadership to a new community.
“I wanted to find a new way to grow myself,” Ahn said.
In early 2017, he learned of an open position at UMC, as the Rev. June Stitzinger-Clark was retiring in June.
Driving by Centenary UMC with his wife one February afternoon, Ahn was immediately allured by the church’s welcoming nursery school sign. As the father of three small children, Ahn felt he could provide the church with a youthful vigorance. Coincidentally, Centenary UMC was looking for enlivening leadership.
“I believed the church had the possibility to reach out to young people,” Ahn said. “My vision and the church’s vision matched.”
Ahn is working to renovate the church’s online presence, including its website and social media, reaching out to the community more effectively.
Just in the two months since being appointed, Ahn has been especially embraced by fellow churchgoers and employees, which Ahn deems a revelation in and of itself.
“The members took care of my business as theirs,” Ahn said. “They treated me as family, even though we met for the first time and had different ethnicities.”
Now guiding Centenary UMC, Ahn’s mending of the marginalized continues to resound throughout his mission. He stresses the caritas through sermons and prayer concerns in the church bulletin.
Every third Sunday, he visits Parkwood Care in Atco, providing worship and support to underprivileged in assisted living.
“There are always people that need my help and the church’s help. There are people who need the love of God and the grace of God through me and the church. We have open minds, open hearts, open doors and open arms,” Ahn said. “I always try to be aware those who are not able to have that kind of grace.”
