Korean Central Presbyterian Church gathers on Route 29 in Centreville, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., where it has served Korean and English-speaking believers since 1973. Affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America, the church operates as a "glocal" community (global and local) with a Korean congregation on the Centreville campus, an English congregation that meets alongside it, and a DC Campus across the river in Arlington. Four Sunday services, daily early-morning prayer, and a roster of pastors, ministers, and ruling elders shape a congregation that has grown for more than fifty years around its vision of raising disciples who live out their faith in their homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods.
Founded in 1973, Now in Its Fourth Pastorate
The church traces its roots to November 4, 1973, when founding pastor 윤명호 (Yun Myung-ho) established the congregation. He was followed in succession by 이원상 (Lee Won-sang) and 노창수 (Noh Chang-soo), who each shepherded the church through decades of growth. The current senior pastor, 류응렬 (Ryu Eung-ryul), is the fourth pastor and also serves as a visiting professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He holds degrees from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (B.A., M.A.), Chongsin Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Gordon-Conwell (Th.M.), and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Ph.D. in Preaching), and has authored several books on preaching and Christian life, including My Beloved Book, Genesis and The Preachers and Preaching that Moved the World. The church remembers its late second pastor, 이원상.
A "Glocal" Vision: Disciples in Word, Prayer, and Witness
KCPC describes itself as a "Glocal Church," a community called to raise disciples shaped by Scripture, prayer, and evangelism, then sent into the surrounding region and the wider world. Members are first invited to experience grace-filled worship, then to grow through small groups and discipleship training so that their character is renewed and their lives filled with the Holy Spirit. From there they are sent as "salt and light" into their families, workplaces, and society. The church also invests heavily in the next generation: it calls for raising children, adolescents, college students, and young adults who will be godly in their homes, excellent at work, faithful in the church, and humble-yet-bolder believers in the world. KCPC is rooted in the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition, accepts the Bible as the infallible Word of God, and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
Sunday Worship on the Centreville Campus
Sunday worship at the main campus is offered in four Korean-language services plus an English service that runs in parallel:
- 장년 1부 (1st Korean service): 8:00 AM in the 1st Worship Hall.
- 장년 2부 (2nd Korean service): 10:00 AM in the 1st Worship Hall.
- English 2nd service: 10:00 AM in the Multi-purpose Room.
- 장년 3부 (3rd Korean service): 12:15 PM in the 1st Worship Hall.
- 4부 청년 (4th / Young Adult service): 2:30 PM in the 2nd Worship Hall.
Sermons are preached in Korean and English by the pastoral staff and, frequently, by visiting missionaries and guest preachers. Every service is livestreamed, and a complete sermon archive, organized by service type (Sunday, Friday emergency prayer, Saturday dawn prayer, Thursday women's service, and special services), is available on the KCPC YouTube channel.
Early Morning Prayer, All Week Long
KCPC has built its life around daily prayer. Weekday dawn prayer (새벽기도회) meets Monday through Friday at 6:00 AM in the 2nd Worship Hall; on Saturday the gathering begins at 6:30 AM in the 1st Worship Hall. Thursday evenings add a women's worship service (목요여성예배), and on Wednesday evenings at 7:15 PM the AWANA program for children fills the Multi-purpose Room with games, Scripture memory, and small-group time. Selected Korean-language sermons are also rebroadcast on CGNTV at 10:00 AM on Sundays and 10:00 PM on Thursdays, extending KCPC's reach to Korean speakers across North America.
Three Congregations Under One Roof (and One Across the River)
The Korean Congregation (한어권 회중) is the historic core of KCPC and remains the largest body. The English Congregation (영어권 회중) describes itself as a community that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior, and King, worships God in spirit and in truth, and seeks to be transformed and sent by the gospel into lives of love and service. The DC Campus is described as a church rooted in the legacy of evangelism and community service in the D.C. metro area; it meets for worship on Sundays at 10:00 AM at Woodlawn Secondary School, 1601 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, and is staffed by pastors 권혁찬 (Andrew H. Kwon), 이유석 (Eugene Lee), and intern 박주영 (Joo Park).
Children and Students: Promiseland, Agape, All Stars, Joshua Generation
KCPC runs one of the more layered next-generation ministries in the region. Promiseland is the children's church school with classrooms grouped by age: Nursery (infants), Preschool, K-Grade 1, Grades 2-3, and Grades 4-6. Each group has its own chapel room and dedicated staff. Grades 4-6 meet at 10:00 AM during the 2nd service; K-Grade 1 through Grade 3 also gather during the 3rd service at 12:15 PM. Middle and high schoolers split by language: the Korean-language Agape (한어중고등부) meets at 10:00 AM in 말씀채플, while the English-language All Stars (중등부) and Joshua Generation (고등부) meet at 12:15 PM in the Well youth center. AWANA continues the discipleship on Wednesday nights.
For college students and young adults, John Yun (윤석현) pastors the English college ministry, and 이승현 (Seunghyun Lee) serves as director of the Korean young-adult ministry that gathers for the 4th service on Sunday afternoons. The "좋은 이웃부" (Good Neighbor Ministry), pastored by Tina Kang (강티나), is a particularly distinctive outreach: it ministers to children and adults with disabilities during the 12:15 PM hour in room #2116.
Women, Seniors, and the Small-Group Web
Women's ministry is anchored by 김명선 (Myung-sun Kim), who also serves as the church's worship director for the 3rd service. The Thursday Women's Service (목요여성예배) brings women together midweek, while the senior adult ministry led by 최정호 (Joung-ho Choi) cares for the growing number of retirees and older members. Small-group fellowships known as 공동체 (numbered 1 through 10) form the backbone of pastoral care: each community is shepherded by a designated pastor and supported by an assigned elder, and members gather in homes around the region for Bible study, prayer, and mutual encouragement. The discipleship pathway also includes a fall-semester Bible Academy, the QT (Quiet Time) School for daily devotional training, and seasonal events such as the 순모임 small-group registration drive held each semester.
Pastors, Ministers, and the Session of Elders
The pastoral team includes roughly twenty ordained pastors and licensed ministers alongside a session of ruling elders (장로). Pastoral portfolios are organized by ministry area: 예배찬양 (worship and praise) under 오준석 (Joonseok Oh); 교육 (education and discipleship) under 김병우 (Byungwoo Kim); 목양 (pastoral care) and 가정 (family) under 배명훈 (Myunghoon Bae); 선교 (missions) under 오영수 (Youngsoo Oh); 훈련 (training) under 유희성 (Heesung Yoo); 행정 (administration) under 박상근 (Sangkun Park); 정보미디어 (media) under 마성흠 (Sungheum Mah); 새가족 (new family) and 중보기도 (intercessory prayer) under 이대경 (Daekyung Lee); 커뮤니티 전도 (community outreach) under 한정민 (Jeongmin Han); and 청년부 (young adults) under 이승현 (Seunghyun Lee) and 홍다니엘 (Daniel Hong). The session of elders carries parallel responsibility for pastoral care, administration, finance, missions, worship, fellowship, media, children's ministry, new family ministry, training, family and senior ministry, and youth ministry (Korean and English). New members complete a four-week new-family course held every three months, after which they receive voting rights as full members.
The Sent Christian School and 중앙한국학교
Two affiliated schools extend the church's reach to families. The Sent Christian School is a Christian day school operating alongside KCPC, and 중앙한국학교 (Joong-Ang Korean School) is a Korean-language heritage school that meets on the church grounds. Together they give Korean-American families a single location for Sunday worship, weekday Christian education, and Saturday Korean-language and cultural learning.
Blessing Park: Building for the Next Generation
KCPC is in the middle of a building campaign called Blessing Park (블레싱파크). The project envisions expanded facilities to serve the church's growing ministries for children, students, and the wider community, and dedicated giving toward construction is collected through the church's online giving platform.
Visiting KCPC
First-time visitors arriving on Sunday are directed to designated "new family" parking spaces, then welcomed by greeters who walk them to the service and help register children for Promiseland. After worship, visitors are invited to the New Family Welcome Room, where they meet the senior pastor, receive a welcome letter, and are paired with a 바나바 (Barnabas) mentor who guides them through their first months. A four-week new-family course is offered every three months and leads to full church membership. Services are streamed online for those unable to attend in person, and a full sermon archive is maintained on the church's YouTube channel. The main campus sits at 15451 Route 29, Centreville, VA 20121; the DC Campus meets at Woodlawn Secondary School, 1601 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington.