A few months ago, I had an opportunity to take a course on evangelism taught by Rev. Dr. James Choung on SeminaryNow.
Dr. Choung does a fantastic job describing the difficulties of sharing the gospel message, ways to address some of the key spiritual questions asked by different generations of people, and he outlines a simple and effective way to explain the gospel story to anyone.
I was so moved by his course that I reached out to him to learn more about his ministry work, his academic background, and how he determined his calling.
I had such a fun time getting to know Dr. Choung that our conversation moved into a lot more areas like mentorship, ways he cultivates self awareness, why he pursued doctoral work on postmodern leadership development at Fuller Theological Seminary, the ways his parents modeled spirituality, and advice for parents who are raising children of color during COVID-19, amid the increased visibility of racism and violence toward minorities.
You can subscribe or download this two-part podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe to the video series on YouTube.
Here’s an overview of our conversations:
EP22: On Faith, Fatherhood & Spiritual Awareness
Rev. Dr. James Choung talks with us about teaching and creating spiritual spaces during COVID-19, why he has a growth-mindset and seeks out mentorship on a regular basis, ways he cultivates self-awareness, how he determined his calling to pursue work in Christian ministry, how his father impacted his spirituality and modeled ways to be a great dad and husband.
Listen or download the full podcast here:
EP23: Generational Views of Spirituality & Parenting Generation Z
Rev. Dr. James Choung talks about his academic research on generational views of spirituality and the key gateway questions asked by each generation. He talks about how these key spiritual questions dealing with what’s real, true, and beautiful are important for all of us to know how to answer. He discusses the impact of COVID-19 and increased visibility of hate and racism and how it is impacting our children. He provides parenting advice for those raising Generation Z kids. He also discusses ways to talk with our Asian and Asian American children about racism and discrimination.
Dr. James Choung
Rev. Dr. James Choung serves as Vice President of Strategy & Innovation — overseeing evangelism, discipleship, planting, growth, missions, multiethnic initiatives, and the Creative Labs — at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA. He is also ordained with the Vineyard USA, and has written both True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In and its follow-up, Real Life: A Christianity Worth Living Out. He speaks frequently at campuses, churches, seminaries, and conferences, and teaches seminary classes on culture, leadership development and evangelism. His work is featured in Christianity Today, Leadership Journal, Outreach Magazine, and Exploregod.com.
James wrote his D. Min. dissertation on postmodern leadership development at Fuller Theological Seminary, received his M. Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and studied management science and marketing at MIT. He has previously served on the pastoral staff of a Boston-area urban church plant, of a megachurch in Seoul, and led an LA-adjacent house church.
You can see a full list of podcasts dealing with spirituality and social justice here.
