From:Revgommer@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 4:22 PM
To: Bishop@nyac.com;chang.kmci@gmail.com. csone@optonline.net
Subject: Building Funds Questions – Korean Church

Dear Bishop:

This all sounds as though the leadership of our church has handled a “difficult situation” in a poor way. Are these matters of injustice in the claims of those who cry out about the fraudulent use of building funds and trust funds of the Korean Church in New York? Real leaders not only do things right… but in the critical points of decision making…do the right thing. What is the “right thing” in his matter? It is an embarrassment to the whole community of faith.

Chuck Gummer

The United Methodist Council on Korean-American Ministries

RE: Can Korean-American Ministry Plan ignite to burn the messy
scandals?

Dear Rev. Paul Chang:

Greetings.

As the executive Director of the Korean American Ministry Plan, you are holding an important leadership position for the Korean churches. I understand, your honorable duty is “in building God’s kingdom in this nation and beyond,” of course including this church too.

Recently I hastily emailed to you my message which failed to be acknowledged. As the problem was directly related with the Korean ministry, I thought it demanded your attention as the important position assigned to you. Again it demands your attention.

The incident originated from the greed for money and led the church into a destructive course by the ordained clergies and some egomaniac members regardless the immoral nature of their actions. (Money laundering for illicit purposes, Mission fund abuse, doctoring minutes, faking elections, embezzlement, intimidation, politicking, etc. Special training for the trustees, elders and others could have eliminate such mishaps)

They unconscionably financed the litigation with the stolen church money against the innocent family for their evil purposes. The end result was that they tortured the innocent members in the court with attempted murder charges to cover up the looting of the Building Trust Fund and other abuses. According to the judge, the episcopacy ominously deceived his honor as if the case church related.

Now the church should, at least, be able to recover the abused money for the church from the abusers as partial restoration of justice, law and order in the church.

On July 6th Sunday, during the services, Rev. Chul Woo Chang painfully described the communist cruelty that executed his pastor uncle and tortured his nephews in the labor camp in order to achieve the Marxist utopian goal.

In the attached court case, Steve Park and his colleagues employed much more cruel tactics than the communists to loot the church money. They sued us to be sent into the jail as murderers. The communists persecuted them as they did not follow them. But the church guys paradoxically persecuted the innocent members who did follow the church rules but their crooked way. Under the circumstances, Rev. Chang’s intention is questionable why he is stalling the audit to clear the complex abused money problems.

Rev. Chul Woo Chang and Bishop Jeremiah J. Park were expected to resolve this matter in a graceful way. But their conflicts of interests seem to have clouded their transparency before God.

Their apathy could be considered a danger signal to the accountabilities of the UMC and the Korean Christian community as if the salt lost its taste.

The young leaders like you should do an objective analysis such incidents and accordingly upgrade the civility of the Korean ministry.

This church has been in a situation like Zimbabwe which made the preaching a mockery for a decade. Who can stop this mockery? I believe you ought to do it as you are in the vital leadership position.

In any event, this church should not be left alone as a black-marketing. The situation was created by the ordained clergies and so called church officers. However, these characters are still active in the power structure of UMC, which challenges you as the director as well as other clergy bureaucrats. Faith should be able to penetrate into the apathetic system. Obama phenomena can be said nothing but a reflection of the genuine human desire longing for a new sign. Can you ignite it?

The attached message is a petition to Bishop Park to recover the misused church funds outside the Bible zone. We should not allow anyone to mock the teachings of Christ in the name of the church.

Please let the Bishop implement the audit and to investigate the criminal racketeering in this historic Korean United Methodist Church and Institute and restore law and order in the name of Christ.

Please share the message with other leaders in honor of our Christian way of life for a renewal. The Korean clergies have duty to remove the dark shameful images from this historic church.

Thus, the Korean-American Ministry Council can initiate its moral duty in honor and in ever more graceful ways. If not, “These stones will cry out.”

Remember a UMC slogan, “Open heart, open mind, open door.” Is any door open? I hope you can say, “Yes.”

Please contact if you need further information.

May God bless you.

Chae S. Sone

A petition to Bishop Jeremiah J. Park to recover misused Church money

Dear Bishop Jeremiah J. Park:

Current and earlier events need the attention of your office because they will test the meaning of Christian values and of honor among Koreans.

Recently, you advocated, “No torture”, and with other religious luminaries you have marched to the United Nations to protest against the torture and abuse of suspected terrorists held at U.S. facilities in Guantanamo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. However, why have you not condemn the torture and abuse of the innocent members within your church?

Unwittingly it seems to appear the double standard of morality in the episcopacy as you overlooked the torture agony within a Methodist church.

More specifically, Mr. Steve Park, and other church officers, had deliberately and consistently tortured and abused my family for many years while the church remained silent. He and his church underlings used the church’s name and trust fund to malign my family and me in order to rid of us from the church. It was to cover up the looting of the church money.

For instance, for one of the three frivoouls lawsuits, Mr. Park falsely accused my son and me that we planned to kill him, his family, his attorney, and other church members in one of his court depositions:

12 A “He said watch out, you asshole,
13 Specifically said you asshole, you watch out, if
14 You don’t watch your step; I’m going to kill you.
…
5 A “I’m going to kill your whole family.”
6 Q That’s what Dr. Sone said to you?
7 A “Yes.”
P. 62; 9-17, 21-23.
9 Q You’re claiming that Dr. Sone
10 threatened to kill you and your whole family?
11 A “Yes.”

Furthermore, he substantiated his assertion that more than 10 persons had witnessed our threats to murder. His witnesses included Reverend Wontae Cha, Y. S. Kim, K. D. Shin, Y. H. Lee, Y. J. Kim, D. J. Chun, Paul Choi, Y. J. Kwon, and I. C. Lee.

Rev. Cha is a good colleague of yours according to information.

Because of his false allegations, my son and I were on trial at the New York State Supreme Court in Nassau County. He used the church’s funds to finance his lawsuit against us. In his lawsuit, Mr. Park also demanded $4,000,000 in damages, while pushing us into the jail as felons.

His lawsuit had nothing to do with the church and was simply a personal vendetta against us. My only offense against Rev. Cha, Mr. Park and others was to strictly observe my fiduciary duty as the chairman of the Board to protect the church’s Building Fund. Nevertheless, according to the court records, officials from the church hierarchy and Steven Park had deceived the judge as if the case was a church-related during an ex-parte conference.

Now, Bishop Jeremiah J. Park must be responsible to identify the persons who were at the secretive meeting with the judge. He must investigate all and any conspiracy against the church and its members. The bishop’s actions matter much with the prestige of the episcopacy.

The year 2008 is the 87th anniversary of the Korean United Methoidst Church and Institute. Bishop Jeremiah J. Park, Reverend Won Tae Cha, Steven Park, Young So Kim and other such characters one day must come to the church and faithfully explain to the worshippers for the justification of the looting for either personal gain or criminal racketeering against the innocent loyal members.

The cowardly leadership owes an explanation to the fellow church members about the mismanagement of church finances: For example, an $180,000 building renovation contract lost for nothing. It only enriched the related parties. Or, another example when the chairman of the board of trustees embezzled $70,000 he is awarded with church money to pay for his legal fees and for part of his embezzlement. Also his faction paid the fines for the sanctions and the contempt of court with the trust fund although they had to pay. Another irony is Methoidst Mission Fund donated $50,000 to the trust as if an incentive to the looting

The judge and NYS Attorney General advised to recover the funds from the abusers. But, why anyone in the church leadership has done anything about these malfeasances?

Now, the time has come to your office to clarify the ultimate moral issues. On July 15, 2007, the church decided to hire a certified public accountant (excluding Korean CPA) to audit the church finances starting from year 2000. The audit is to determine if any fraud has occurred. But, since then, Reverend Chang, the current pastor, who is a friend of yours according to information, has not yet started it.

The church must recover the stolen funds from Mr. Park and the embezzlers. Perhaps, the church may file an insurance claim for the stolen funds so that the insurance company can compensate them. But, you, the bishop, must enforce church rules and order to help this church recover financially as well as morally. Otherwise, the church has no standing as “a light house” to the dark world.

Now, remember that any decent mind cannot allow our historic church to be built on the foundation of the age-old scandals, but on “the rock”. Most of all, the church should be liberated from evil capitulation still in power. If Mr. Park and others like him have succeeded to scapegoat the church scandals on an innocent family, then they would have said, “Halleluiah!!” The church should be maintained as a house of prayer, but a “den of robbers.” (Matthew 21; 13)

Without any further delay, you must recognize that the Korean United Methodist Church and Institute has been under the control of the spiritually-dead clergies and criminals who are filled with demons, falsehoods, hatreds, and deception. It does appear to be a moral crisis of the Korean Church, the NY Annual Conference, and, perhaps, the United Methodist denomination.

I am praying for your spiritual victory in good faith and for the renewal of our historic church. The Book of Discipline guarantees open meetings and free speech. Why can’t we have an open debate for the renewal at the church or a public media? The congregation wants your spiritual leadership as the bishop of the NY Annual Conference as well as the top church leader of the Korean immigrant Christian community.

Please let me remind your office that it is my duty and mission to continuously protect the church’s common interests, according to the church’s rules and the Christian teachings. That is my only way to seek justice and to restore our family name as I have learned from the church throughout my life.

Alas! The church is spiritually, morally broken as it is now.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Chae S. Sone and family

Please forward the e-mail petition to:
Reverend Jeremiah J. Park, Bishop
New York Annual Conference
White Plains, New York
e-mail address: Bishop@nyac.com

Reverend Chul Woo Chang
e-mail address: chang.kumci@gmail.com

Let us pray for the Bishop to do His will accordingly. Especially it is a wakeup call for Korean Christian community – It is a cyber age.

This is why working with churches which are in decline can take on the tone of an intervention rather than a consultancy. Often, those in leadership at such “churches” are so adept at denial and avoidance that Orwell’s advice “We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men” seems a great starting place for dialogue.

In these instances the Jeremiah approach to turnarounds (rooting out, pulling down, destroying THEN building and planting) is the least pleasant but the most effective strategy.

I think your book will offend more than it helps, but those whom it helps will be more than a few … and they will be eternally grateful … as will those who are touched by those turn around churches. A brave, necessary and timely book.