Southwestern South Korean graduates impact their native country

Three alumni from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary are making an impact in their home country of South Korea as professors at three separate seminaries, giving to their students the fruits of the education they received in Fort Worth. 

Dongyeol Lee and Kyunghwan Oh attended Southwestern within the last ten years in the Jack D. Terry School of Educational Ministries, earning their Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Another alumnus, Sinwoong Park, earned his Master of Arts in Christian Education at Southwestern.

Chris Shirley, dean of the Terry School and professor of educational ministries, and Jack D. and Barbara Terry Chair of Religious Education, knew all three students and is appreciated by each of them. Shirley said Southwestern Seminary continues to contribute to ministry internationally. “Global impact is one of the core values in the Terry School,” he said. “We equip men and women to lead, disciple, teach, and biblically counsel not just for ministry domestically, but internationally as well. So I am encouraged when I see our graduates serving and teaching throughout the world; this is not just global impact—it’s also kingdom impact.”

Dongyeol Lee

Lee graduated from Southwestern in the spring of 2020 and returned to his alma mater, Hapdong Theological Seminary in Woncheon-dong, Suwon-si, South Korea. Coming to Fort Worth in 2012, Lee said he looks back fondly on his eight years at Southwestern.

Lee is now a professor of Christian education and has been implementing the lessons he learned.  “I have taught students here for more than two years,” Lee said from South Korea. “Everything I learned in SWBTS is now being used to teach students and serve the school. I am so grateful and honored to be able to tell my story.”

Before coming to Southwestern, he worked in a Christian publishing company, producing materials for children and teenagers. After prayer and researching several seminaries, “I decided to study abroad to specialize in Christian education at Southwestern because I heard from many people that Southwestern was one of the best schools to study Christian education,” Lee said.

Lee graduated with a Master of Arts in Christian Education at Southwestern in 2013, and then he immediately began working on his Ph.D. Lee said he was impressed with the Christian education legacy at Southwestern. “The school has more than 100 years of history teaching Christian education and has a solid curriculum that has been accumulated. I decided, without hesitation, to go straight to Southwestern,” Lee said.

“When my family returned home after studying, my two daughters turned 8 and 10 years old,” Lee said. “I started studying first, but a few years later, my wife started studying and majored in Christian education also.”

“I had a fantastic time at Southwestern. Even now, I miss it so much. Above all, I was able to learn Christian education better than I expected from the best professors. In particular, I served for a long time as an assistant to Dr. Ross when I was a Ph.D. student,” Lee said of Richard Ross, senior professor of student ministry. “All the things I learned from him at that time are helpful to me. Not only what he taught, but also the heart he had toward students, the way he treated them, the way he led the class, the know-how he constantly researched and organized the class as a professor.” 

Lee also cited Shirley and other professors and their classes. “I’m sure each of them is the best professor in the world in their field,” he said. “Their teaching and concern and love for me allowed me to finish my studies without giving up until the end. As a result, now I have become a professor of Christian education like them and am working to resemble them somehow.”

Lee added that the lessons he learned as a teaching assistant (TA) were also helpful. “I used to set up online classes and manage online students while serving as a TA,” Lee said. “Now, Korean seminaries are also expanding online classes. So, I am serving the school and helping to set up online classes.”

“I am now introducing the strengths of SWBTS to the various students I teach,” Lee said, “and some have already gone to the seminary or are considering going to it. I am truly proud of SWBTS and will continue to introduce it to students.”

Kyunghwan Oh

For Oh, who earned his doctorate in the fall of 2020, he most remembers the “passionate lectures and meticulous consideration of the warm professors,” that he found at Southwestern. “The excellence and convenience of school administration and the precious encounters with colleagues were special. Above all, there was a library where I could concentrate on my studies, and there were many books and materials, and the learning atmosphere was very good.”

Oh, who has served as assistant professor in the Christian Education Department at Chongshin University in Seoul, South Korea since the fall of 2021, said he draws upon his years at Southwestern as he teaches the theology of education, philosophy of education, and family ministry.

Just seven years ago in the fall of 2015, Oh became a student taking classes in Christian education at Southwestern, after serving as a part-time children’s minister in South Korea. He said he chose the seminary because of its reputation and location “in a big city” that allowed him to engage in ministry with practical application outside of the classroom. 

He and his wife came and quickly learned that his education at Southwestern was going to be hands-on as well as “head-in,” he said.

“Above all, what I learned at school was very practical, and it was a great help to my pastoral activities and career,” Oh remembered. “I have seen many students at seminary struggling because of the gap between theory and practice. However, Southwestern tried to synthesize theory and practice, and not only did it brilliantly but also taught many wisdoms that can be applied to the real world of ministry.”

Between the “passion and academic excellence” of the professors and the “discussion style of teaching,” Oh said he now is getting to implement and demonstrate what he learned. “Even now, in my classes, I use the class method of sharing and growing together with students through discussion during and after my lectures,” he explained.

Both Lee and Oh became good friends while at Southwestern, Oh said. “We keep in touch and fellowship with each other and dream of the kingdom of God together.” He also knows of several other alumni who encouraged him to come to Fort Worth. “Pastor Kiyoung Kim, who is currently a professor of Old Testament at Korea Baptist Theological University, answered questions I had about the school before entering Southwestern, and it was of great help.”

Oh said he keeps up with some of the students who are still at Southwestern, such as Sungwan Kim, who is now a TA for Shirley, and also those with whom he graduated.

Simon Sinwoong Park

Returning to serve as a professor at his alma mater, Korea Theological Seminary, where he earned his Master of Divinity in 2001, Simon Sinwoong Park earned his Master of Arts in Christian Education from Southwestern in 2008. “I selected SWBTS because the school was well-known in the field of educational ministry.” 

Park went on to earn his Th.M. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 2010 and his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 2013. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1995 from Kosin University in South Korea. 

Park, who is also an online adjunct professor at Evangelia University in Anaheim, California, said Ross and Shirley made strong impacts on him and that he also remembers retired Professor of Foundations of Education Rick Yount’s class, Principles of Teaching. “I was impressed as we learned taxonomy in his book, Created to Learn, because it is closely related to designing and building curriculum,” he said, especially because his teaching was “useful for curriculum designers because those levels help the designer to target the learning objectives.” 

Following Park’s return to South Korea, he worked as the president of an educational institution in South Korea from 2017 to 2020, which developed Sunday school materials for kindergarten to 6th grade, youth, and adults, he said. “Dr. Yount’s learning taxonomy is helpful for the curriculum planner because it clearly makes known the objectives a Sunday school teacher would target,” he added.

Park said he recommends Southwestern to others, “because the seminary is conservative” and “from theological perspective, I agree that SWBTS is one of most conservative seminaries because the seminary believe the inerrancy and sufficiency of the Scripture.” In addition to the academics, Park recalled some of the greatest strengths of Southwestern were the discipleship and family ministry programs, and the seminary’s encouragement for him to be involved in a local church, which was at Northwood Church in Keller, Texas.