A History of the Gospel Paradox in American Christianity

On World Communion Sunday, Dr. William Yoo will preach and teach the Adult Education class for the day - “A History of the Gospel Paradox in American Christianity: When the Pursuit of Racial Justice Requires Confrontation.” Dr. Yoo is the author of the book What Kind of Christianity: A History of Slavery and Anti-Black Racism in the Presbyterian Church, which was part of a Racists Anonymous Fellowship Book Study recently here at Covenant.

Dr. Yoo has previously written about the transnational histories of American Protestant world missions in Korea and Korean American immigrant religious communities as well as the histories of Presbyterianism and Protestant theological education in the United States. His latest book covers the history and legacy of slavery and anti-Black racism in American Presbyterianism. His current research interests include tracing the histories of racial injustice, settler colonialism, and slavery in the United States and examining Indigenous, Black, and Asian American theologies of freedom and resistance.

He is also a minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA) who desires to write, teach, and preach honest narratives of the past integrating Reformed understandings of confession and illumination. His conviction is that deeper engagement with history will aid us in more faithful and effective participation in our present ministries exhibiting God’s love, justice, grace, and righteousness. When studying the development of Christianity in the antebellum United States, he is motivated to find both beautiful moments of awe-inspiring faith and ugly episodes where it is difficult to discern the divine presence. He began teaching at Columbia Theological Seminary in 2014. He and his spouse, Sarah, a middle school educator in Atlanta Public Schools, reside in Decatur, Georgia with their two teenage children and two cats.

• Funding for Dr. Yoo’s visit came from memorial funds given in memory of Rev Bill King, who served Covenant from 1978 thru 1998.
• Funding for the subsidy of Dr. Yoo’s book came from the Sparks Education Fund, honoring the memories of Rev Jim and Pauline Sparks.