Dear Theophilus Archive: Sept. 1999

"Rekindle My Heart" - Emmanuel LIFE Conference 1999

Emmanuel church hosted its 11th annual LIFE Conference on the dates of Thursday Nov. 17 to Saturday the 19th. The theme this year was "Rekindle My Heart" and the keynote speaker for the event was Rev. Min Chung, a familiar face to Emmanuel church. He served here as a youth pastor from 1987 to 1990 while attending seminary in Philadelphia. Since moving on from Emmanuel Church, Rev. Chung founded Covenant Fellowship Church in Champaign, Illinois, which has been successfully reaching out to hundreds of college students each year. 

Rev. Chung’s biography reads much like our Pastor Paul’s. He attended the University of Illinois where he served in the traveling praise team called Alpha Omega. Then, in 1987, he moved onto Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, Pennsylvania and began serving at Emmanuel Church as a youth pastor. It may also be noted that Rev. Chung, who presided over Pastor Jong Park’s wedding in Chicago last summer, will be officiating Pastor Paul’s wedding next June. 

During LIFE, Rev. Chung delivered a total of three messages, in addition to the two sermons he gave during the Sunday worship services following the conference. He also lead two seminars titled "Spiritual Leadership" and "Christian Dating," which comprised sessions one and two, respectively. 

Session three was split into two seminars, one facilitated by Mr. Thomas Skinner from BTS and the other by Rev. Young Kim from Grace Covenant Church. Mr. Skinner discussed the topic of "Juggling Life’s Priorities," while Rev. Kim talked about the difference between "Biblical Servanthood vs. Selfishness." 

For the first time in the history of LIFE Conference, the Emmanuel Church choir backed up the praise team during worship time. It truly encouraged an awesome time of worshipping our God and expressing our love for Him through song.