Tags
American Academy of Religion, book review, Here I Am, Judson Press, Korean American Clergy, Reading Religion
Read this new book review of my edited book, Here I Am (Judson Press). It was reviewed by Grace Sintim Adasi for AAR’s Reading Religion.
Here I Am: Faith Stories of Korean American Clergywomen
Editor(s): Grace Ji-Sun Kim
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Prussia, PA: Judson Press, October 2015. 160 pages. $16.99. Paperback. ISBN9780817017637. For other formats: Link to Publisher’s Website.
Review
A story lies within every person, waiting to be told. And when each person appropriately owns his or her story, the world may be assured of some veracity in the telling of it. It has become increasingly essential for minorities and the marginalized to own their narrative and have it documented. A bevy of Korean American clergywomen of the Presbyterian Church have here recounted some selected fragments of their lives to possibly depict their brokenness in the world they live in.
Here I Am, published in 2015, carefully highlights prevailing social wrongs and suggests how with the proper deployment of Christian faith and teachings, they could be righted. Here I Am, as a title in itself, affords readers the opportunity to see the ownership of the narrative alongside its announcement of survival in spite of challenges. These stories are presented in a whole and unashamed fashion, such that people of various genders, races, religions, and socio-cultural backgrounds can relate to the narrators.
Segmented into three parts—theological reflections, theology, and sermons of Korean Americans—Here I Am serves as a space for ten women to reveal their life experiences. Three others share their thoughts via a foreword and an epilogue, and the included history of Korean American Presbyterian clergywomen helps to enrich readers’ understanding of these faith-based writings. These Korean American Christian women reflect on parenting, racism, exclusion of foreigners, homosexuality, ethnocentrism, homelessness, sexism, acceptance, barrenness, and miracles, among other things; and finding balance and hope amidst them all.
About the Reviewer(s):
Grace Ji-Sun Kim 