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Jihyun Oh '06: Wilds Book Prize, Graduate Fellowship
Jihyun Oh, who is from Hallandale Beach, FL, holds the B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, MA, and a Master of Science from Florida International University in Miami. She is under care of Tropical Florida Presbytery and is seeking a call in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The Wilds Book Prize Columbia’s highest academic honor is given annually to the graduating student selected by the faculty for having the highest academic distinction throughout the Master of Divinity program.
The Columbia Graduate Fellowship is awarded annually to a student who has demonstrated exceptional academic ability. The fellowship may be applied to any advanced degree beyond the Master of Divinity.
Article by Chris Henry ’07
Jihyun Oh has a heart for the church, a mind for the academy, and the passion necessary to bring the two into conversation with one another. Oh, this year’s winner of the Wilds Book Prize and the Columbia Graduate Fellowship, has been recognized throughout her time at Columbia for her scholarly gifts and leadership abilities. But the road that led Oh to Columbia was a long and winding one.
Her initial memories of the church take her back to South Korea, where she attended with friends or even by herself, and she began to “better understand the meaning of the church for myself.” Upon returning to the United States, Oh attended a variety of different churches and remembers her mother’s role as the “unofficial Director of Christian Education at every one.” This meant that, as a high school student, Oh was teaching Sunday school classes to children. This cemented her involvement in the church and propelled her to active involvement with a Congregational church in Boston and the InterVarsity campus ministry at MIT, where she was a student. Though she enjoyed these experiences, and even interned with InterVarsity for a year following graduation, she did not see it as a vocation. Instead she saw herself not as a pastor, but as a well-trained layperson.
The seeds of her call were planted, however, and came to fruition a few years later at a church in North Miami. It was there at an installation service that she met Jin S. Kim, pastor of Church of All Nations in Minneapolis. After a brief conversation, Oh says that Kim simply looked at her and said, “Have you ever thought about going to seminary?” Kim then recommended Columbia Seminary, where he had completed his Doctor of Ministry degree. It was not long until Oh was visiting seminaries, including Columbia. When she arrived on campus and met the people, she says, “It just felt right.” This was the road that led Oh to Decatur, GA, in 2002.
As part of her studies at Columbia, Oh had the opportunity to travel to Cambridge, England, for a semester of study at Westminster College. She remembers it as one of the most helpful and enlightening experiences of her time at the seminary. During that semester, Oh took a class on Paul’s letter to the Romans and that sparked in her an interest in further study. When she returned to Columbia, Oh began work on an extensive independent study project exploring the relationship between faith and obedience in Paul’s letter to the Romans, as well as among major Reformed thinkers and Third World theologians. This study, done in cooperation with professors Martha Moore-Keish, Mark Douglas, and George Stroup, may lead to further academic work in the future.
While at Cambridge, Oh says that she had an “interesting wake up call” about the church. She says that the Christian churches in that part of the world are disturbingly “where the American church might be in 30 to 50 years, maybe even sooner.” Therefore, a semester in England afforded Oh lots of time to struggle with what the church was doing in its worship, ministry, and mission, and specifically how churches can do a better job reaching the unchurched. The semester of study and reflection on the role of the church in society energized Oh. Upon her return to Columbia, she continued as a leader both inside and outside the classroom. Oh remembers the classes as one of the highlights of her experience at Columbia: “I have a great appreciation for the staff and faculty at Columbia. Classes there were challenging in a very different way than MIT, because they made me struggle with my faith and beliefs and how to live that out in a ministerial capacity.” At Columbia, Oh says that she learned to think deeply about living in tension and uncertainty.
In addition to excelling at her studies, Oh planned a conference at Columbia to explore the challenges of multi-cultural ministry. This was a significant event in the life of the seminary last year and aided in Columbia’s reflection on the issues of race and multi-culturalism in the southern United States and in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Panelists for this event included Thomas Thangaraj, a distinguished professor of World Christianity at Emory’s Candler School of Theology, Scott Black Johnston, senior pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, and John White, dean of students at Columbia Seminary. Oh says that she will always remember this event as an important one in her seminary career. She also hopes that this dialogue will continue at Columbia.
To be selected as this year’s recipient of the Wilds Book Prize, Columbia’s highest academic award, came as both a surprise and an honor for Oh, who says “there are so many academically talented, motivated, and driven people in my class. To be chosen among them is an honor.” Oh also takes delight in the history of the award, “thinking about all the great people who have been past recipients, and the great ministry that they have been doing throughout the years makes this award even more special.”
Now, as she searches for a call to a congregation within the Presbyterian Church (USA), Oh sees her commitment to knowledge and her dedication to church ministry coming together in the role of pastor with a concentration in Christian education for adults. As Oh explains, “My heart is for the parish. I am attracted to adult education because I want to think deeply about theological, biblical, and ethical issues that people face in their everyday lives. My passion is for the church and for how church members live out their faith.”
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