I wrote about this for Good Faith Media in my new piece, “Finding Belonging at Beer Camp.”

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Finding Belonging at Beer Camp

I have felt out of place most of my life.

I was the Korean immigrant child in the classroom who couldn’t speak English. I spent four years in ESL classes learning the language. I became fluent, but the fluency came later than the feeling did.

Even as a small child, I knew what it was to walk into a room and wonder whether I belonged. The church didn’t fix that.

I was a girl in a Korean immigrant congregation. Like many immigrant churches, ours carried a heritage that preferred men over women. Men held sole leadership responsibility. Women were largely relegated to the kitchen and the Sunday School classroom.

So when I felt a call to ordained ministry, the call itself made me feel out of place. Women were not encouraged to go to seminary, and certainly not to the pulpit.

The academy did not fix my feelings of displacement either. When I finished my Ph.D. and began teaching theology, people assumed I had finally arrived at belonging. I had not.

My discipline has been shaped by more than two thousand years of predominantly white, patriarchal, Eurocentric thought. As an Asian American woman theologian, I have spent a career wondering whether there was room for my voice, or for a different way of doing theology altogether.

I brought what I had. It was often disregarded, or moved to the margins, or treated as a specialty item rather than as theology proper; as though I were doing this work from somewhere outside the room.

Waiting For a Room

I kept waiting for the room where I would stop feeling like a guest. But perhaps those of us who feel out of place have something to offer precisely because of this. Our questions are different, and so are our insights.

I am not alone in this, and I don’t think the feeling belongs only to immigrants or to women. Many Christians who have left evangelical and conservative churches know it intimately. They no longer fit within the theology or the structures of the churches they grew up in and genuinely loved. Some, whom sociologists call the “nones” and “dones,” have left the church altogether.

But many others have not stopped looking. They are searching for community in a world that does not quite accept them as they are.

They want a faith that makes sense. They want somewhere to deconstruct and reconstruct without being handed a label on the way out. They are looking for rooms where they can ask a hard question without being called a name, where doubt is not treated as failure, where theology is permitted to grow and change, and where they do not have to leave part of themselves at the door. That is not complicated to describe, but it is remarkably hard to find.

I have spent a long time writing about that kind of community. Walking into one is another thing entirely.

Belonging at Beer Camp

For the past three years, I have spoken at Theology Beer Camp, and this fall I will bring my podcast, Madang, there as well. The three-day conference that brings together theology nerds and craft beer was founded by Dr. , a theologian and podcaster. Tripp has spent fifteen years making serious theology available to people outside the academy.

What interests me is that he did not set out to build an institution. He was doing live podcast events at breweries in Los Angeles and listeners elsewhere kept asking why he only did them there. So he tried one somewhere else.

He expected fifteen or twenty people. A hundred and fifty came.

The first full camp was in January 2017. The timing was deliberate, allowing Rosemary Radford Ruether, the great feminist theologian, to speak the day after the U.S. presidential inauguration. That inauguration was not what most people expected when Tripp scheduled the first event.

It happened anyway and it has happened every year since. Nine years later, it draws hundreds, most of whom buy a single ticket and arrive knowing no one.

Ask Fuller what he loves about it and he does not talk about the lineup. He talks about meeting the person he has only ever known from a chat thread or an online class—someone who shows up convinced they are the only person they know who cares about this stuff, and who leaves knowing they are not.

I have come to understand that this kind of belonging does not simply happen because everyone means well. It is built, decision by decision, and most of the decisions are unglamorous.

Theology Beer Camp has no green room, so speakers and attendees eat, drink, and argue in the same spaces all weekend. I have poured beer for people who had just heard me lecture.

Trauma-informed counselors and clergy are on site and clearly marked, with no job other than to sit with anyone who needs it. There are AA meetings throughout the weekend for people in recovery, because “beer” is in the name and no one wanted that to function as a closed door.

The host congregation is fully open and affirming. The venue was chosen on the Missouri side of Kansas City rather than the Kansas side, specifically so that queer attendees would be safe.

None of that is simply atmosphere. It is architecture.

The results show up in what people say afterward. “I knew I had ‘people’ that existed somewhere (not just in my head),” one attendee wrote. “At camp, I found ‘my people.’”

A seventy-two-year-old woman who came by herself reported meeting people older than she was and much younger than she was and being reassured that she was doing just fine in deconstructing her faith. Another described a weekend in which she was surprised to feel spiritually moved at an event that skews intellectual and openly invites skepticism to the table.

I understand the skepticism and I would rather name it than pretend it away.

The name sounds frivolous—Beer Camp. The biblical scholar James McGrath has attended repeatedly and put it plainly: the title makes it sound like a lark and it is genuinely fun, but every time he has gone, it has been profoundly spiritual and transformative. Both things are true at once and I think that is the point.

Seriousness and joy were never actually opposites. We were simply taught that reverence had to look grim.

What moved me most, though, came from a woman who wrote that at one point during opening night she looked around at a sea of bearded, flannel-clad men and existing in a female body, still felt entirely safe. She added that this is no small thing.

She is right. For those of us who have spent our lives scanning rooms to see whether we are welcome, that is very close to everything.

Real Community

Jesus did not preach community as a concept; he built one out of specific, unpromising people, and then he ate with them.

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (First John 1:3).

Fellowship with one another and fellowship with God are named in the same breath, as though the second is difficult to sustain without the first. This is why we go looking.

The longing for belonging is not a weakness in our faith. It is faith doing what faith does.

So here is what I have come to believe. Those of us who have spent our lives feeling out of place are not merely victims of a room that failed us. We know exactly what a room needs. We know where the doors are because we have stood outside them. That knowledge is a vocation.

We are called to build the rooms we were looking for and then to leave the door open behind us. There is something powerful about walking into a space and realizing you do not have to explain why you are there. You simply belong.

Beer Camp returns this October to Kansas City, in person and online, one month before the election, asking what the kin-dom of God looks like when the world feels like this. If you have been searching for people who take that question seriously and take you seriously too, then you would not be out of place there. Nobody is.

*Editor’s Note: In-person tickets for this year’s event are sold out, although you can sign up to be on the waiting list here. Online tickets are available here.

Special Events:

1. Join me and Dr. Steve Harmon at Ardmore Baptist Church on Thursday, September 3rd, for a book talk on Earthbound and US’s Theological Imagination.

   

2. Join me at the Wild Goose Festival this weekend. Use discount code “A-GK” for 50.00 off registration. I will interview on his new book for Madang Podcast, share a Conversation on Main Stage with and do a talk on When God Became White and Christian Nationalism.

3. Please join us at this Climate Justice Conference, “Another World is Possible,” at Ewha University with GreenFaith.

   

   4. Theology Beer Camp

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Madang is the outdoor living room of the world. Here, we invite you to sit and tune into unreserved, remarkable conversations with renowned authors, leaders, public figures, and scholars on religion, culture, and everything in between.

This is the 63rd episode of Madang Podcast featuring Dr. is an interfaith minister, educator, and activist. Her lifework centers the deep healing that is essential to personal and social transformation. Liza was the founding director of OneLife Institute, which for almost 20 years nurtured the well-being of frontline changemakers. Liza is the producer and co-editor of The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman audio collection. Today, she is on Madang Podcast to share her new book, Soul Medicine for a Fractured World: Healing, Justice, and the Path of Wholeness.

On this episode of Madang Podcast hosted by Baptist News Global, Dr. and I talk about her book, Soul Medicine for a Fractured World. We discuss liminal space, Howard Thurman, Post-Traumatic Growth, collective trauma, wounds that heal and so much more.

Listen to Madang Podcast on Spotify, Apple, Facebook Reels, or wherever podcasts are streamed.

I am grateful to the sponsors of this Madang Podcast episode:

1. Orbis Books:

   I am so grateful to Orbis Books for sponsoring this episode of Madang Podcast.

   Soul Medicine for a Fractured World offers an integrative path toward healing and social transformation, rooted in our kinship with one another, the Earth, and all of life. Please get your copy of Soul Medicine for a Fractured World from Orbis Books by using the discount code MAD for 30% discount. Go to www.orbisbooks.com and order your copy today.

   

2. Homebrewed Christianity

   a) ’s Theology Beer Camp 2026 is a one-of-a-kind gathering featuring leading voices in theology, history, philosophy, justice, and faith. The event offers thought-provoking talks, live podcasts, engaging workshops, and plenty of opportunities to connect with others who are curious, questioning, and passionate about exploring life’s biggest questions. Whether you’re deeply rooted in faith, deconstructing, or simply interested in thoughtful conversation, Theology Beer Camp is a welcoming place to learn, laugh, and build community.

   https://theologybeer.camp/

   b) “The Christ Empire Couldn’t Keep” is a free 6-week online course from Homebrewed Christianity. This course traces the holy alliances, imperial creeds, and stubborn resistance that have shaped Christianity-from Rome to right now. Join Joerg Rieger and for this online course beginning August 27^th at 1p.m. EST. www.homebrewedclasses.com

3. Please join me at the Wild Goose Festival. I will be giving talk on When God Became White and Christian Nationalism, and I will be discussing how race, gender, history, and power have shaped both the church and society. I will also do a Madang Podcast recording with . Use discount code “A-GK” to get 50.00 off registration. Go to www.wildgoosefestival.org

   

   Loving Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

   Special Events:

   1. Please register for Earthbound Retreat at Crieff Hills, August 28-30, 2026. *If financial barriers will prohibit you from attending please email Kristine, director@crieffhills.com to inquire about a subsidy from the Wellness Fund.

   

   3. Book giveaway! Subscribe and support my Substack for a chance to win one of 5 copies of Here I Am. If you are already a supporter, please just message me that you want to win a free copy.

   4. Join me and Dr. Steve Harmon at Ardmore Baptist Church on Thursday, September 3rd, for a book talk on Earthbound and US’s Theological Imagination.

   5. Please join us at this Climate Justice Conference, “Another World is Possible” at Ewha University with GreenFaith.

      

      .

Please read my new article for Good Faith Media, “Women’s Equality Day Is a Call to Justice” and join the conversation about why women’s equality is an ongoing justice issue for all of us.

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Women’s Equality Day is a Call to Justice.

August 26 is forever etched in my mind and body, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. It was a very hot and humid summer day when I went to the hospital at six in the morning and, after much difficult labor, gave birth to my firstborn at 9:23 p.m.

August 26 is special for another reason. On that day, we celebrate the certification of the 19th Amendment, which granted many women in the United States the right to vote.

Women’s Equality Day

In 1971, Representative Bella Abzug pushed Congress to designate August 26 as Women’s Equality Day.

Women’s fight for voting rights began in the mid-19th century, when several generations of suffragists marched, wrote, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience. Some held vigils and went on hunger strikes.

Many were met with fierce resistance as opponents heckled, imprisoned, and physically abused them. Then, in 1917, New York adopted women’s suffrage. President Wilson supported an amendment in 1918.

On May 21, 1919, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the amendment. Two weeks later, the Senate passed it, and on August 26, 1920, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed a proclamation that transformed the American electorate. However, the amendment didn’t extend voting rights to all women.

Black women were effectively not allowed to vote until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting. In 1975, the “minority languages provision” of the Voting Rights Act allowed most Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women, Native Americans, Hawaiians, members of the Latino community, and others the right to vote. Women’s Equality Day honors the continuing commitment to fight for equal rights for women.

Congress first celebrated it in 1972 and designated it as a national observance in 1973. The day reminds us to work toward a just society where women have an equal voice and can achieve full equality in all aspects of life.

Much work remains and we must actively promote awareness of pay gaps and equal opportunity. We must move beyond symbolic recognition toward substantive equality and justice.

A Call to Justice

Equality is not just a political ideal. It is a theological imperative grounded in the belief that everyone bears the image of God.

Church history is dominated by patriarchy, but we must work for the equality of women, as a gap remains between legal equality and lived equality. There are persistent inequities and problems regarding women’s leadership and representation.

Many denominations continue to limit and restrict women’s gifts, refusing to ordain them. Women continue to be victims of domestic violence, and many churches remain silent about this harmful and destructive problem.

Violence against women causes physical, sexual, and psychological harm. Women of color continue to face racism and sexism, as intersecting forms of discrimination can render women invisible and marginalized.

The church needs feminist theology to push boundaries and understand that God is inclusive, accepting, loving, and embracing of all people. If women have equal rights under the law, then why does the church still struggle to recognize women’s full equality?

Women’s Equality Day reminds us that justice is never complete. Much work lies before us.

As people of faith, we are called not only to celebrate the progress that has been achieved but also to dismantle the systems that continue to deny women their full humanity and flourishing.

Equality Is Holy Work

Working for equality is a spiritual practice and holy work. Equality is not simply about legal rights; it is about whether women are truly able to flourish in every sphere of life.

Women’s Equality Day goes beyond commemorating the past. It invites us to continue the work of justice.

The church has an opportunity and a spiritual responsibility to embody the radical equality proclaimed in the gospel. When women are fully seen, heard, and empowered, the whole community reflects God’s image.

Jesus showed us the way. He revealed his resurrected body to a woman, Mary Magdalene, a highly significant and prophetic moment. Mary became the first apostle and shared the good news with the disciples.

The Spirit of God is poured not just upon men but upon all people (Joel 2:28) and the Spirit empowers us all to actively engage in doing God’s work of justice. Working for women’s equality is participating in God’s reign as we are called to build the kin-dom of God here on earth.

Women’s Equality Day is a wonderful occasion to extend that theological vision and emphasize that true equality means not only equal rights but also the full recognition of women’s gifts, leadership, and humanity within the church and the wider world.

Much work remains before us.

*Please also read my other Good Faith Media article, “Women’s Ordination and the Future of the Church.”

Special Events:

1. Please register for Earthbound Retreat at Crieff Hills, August 28-30, 2026. *If financial barriers will prohibit you from attending please email Kristine, director@crieffhills.com to inquire about a subsidy from the Wellness Fund.

3. Join me at the Wild Goose Festival. Use discount code “A-GK” for 50.00 off registration.

4. Book giveaway! Subscribe and support my Substack for a chance to win one of 5 copies of Here I Am. If you are already a supporter, please just message me that you want to win a free copy.

5. Join me and Dr. Steve Harmon at Ardmore Baptist Church on Thursday, September 3rd, for a book talk on Earthbound and US’s Theological Imagination.

6. Listen to Susan Shaw share Intersectional Theology on Madang Podcast. This book is helpful to understand how different oppressions are used to continue to oppress women and marginalized peoples.

After 10 long years of co-writing with my Earlham School of Religion colleague, Steve Angell, we are finally reaching one of the final stages of publishing our book, Inner Light. It has been a long but rewarding road, and I am excited that we are now reviewing the typeset pages of Inner Light.

Our book began with a casual conversation in the hallway more than 10 years ago. We talked about how wonderful it may be to co-write a book together someday. At that time, we had no idea what we would write about or focus on. The idea simply floated in the air, waiting for the right moment and time to take shape.

When we actually came around to the possibility of collaborating on a book, we considered subjects that reflected our interests and areas of research. Since the Holy Spirit has long been an important subject for me, we decided to explore it together.

After many conversations, reflection, and ideas, we narrowed our focus on the Holy Spirit to our respective disciplines: Quaker Studies and Liberation Theology. We became interested in exploring how these two theological traditions understand the Holy Spirit and how the Spirit continues to shape Christian life, theology, and ethics. From these conversations, the concept for Inner Light was born, and we began our journey of writing together.

Co-writing is not always easy, but it has been an important part of my life as a theologian. Over the years, I have had the privilege of collaborating with several wonderful co-authors. I co-wrote Mother Daughter Speak with my daughter, Elisabeth Lee, and Healing Our Broken Humanity with Graham Hill. I also co-wrote three books with Susan Shaw: Intersectional Theology, Surviving God, and Feminist Theologies. We have become wonderful friends and collaborators along the way with a deep appreciation for each other’s scholarship, writing, and work. Each of these projects has been thought-provoking and enriching, and I have learned so much through the process.

Every co-author has deepened my own theological understanding and shaped my own intellectual and spiritual journey. Collaboration invites us to step outside our comfort zones and to be challenged by people who think differently, write differently, and sometimes even believe differently. For me, these experiences have been essential to my life as a theologian, as it stretched my understanding of the Christian faith and practice. It is something I will continue to cherish.

Writing is always a growing experience and to find wonderful friends to co-write is a treasure not easy to find. Therefore, I am deeply grateful for every writing partner who has invited me into their theological world—to co-learn, co-think, and co-write.

My collaboration with Steve Angell has done the same. Through this project, I have learned so much about the Quaker tradition and our rich Christian history, and about how these traditions continue to shape our theology, pneumatology, and ethics today.

My hope for Inner Light is that it will offer readers a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit and challenge us to consider how the Spirit moves in our lives and in the world. The Holy Spirit is not simply a theological concept to be studied. The Spirit challenges, disrupts, guides, and transforms us, calling us beyond ourselves and moving us toward justice. It makes us uneasy with the injustices around us and pushes us to act.

After more than a decade of conversations, writing, revising, and learning together, Steve and I are nearing the end of this writing journey. I am excited and grateful for the coming birth of our book. I am deeply grateful for where the Spirit has led us as friends, colleagues, and now as co-writers.

Inner Light is the result of more than ten years of collaboration, friendship, theological exploration, and a shared desire to understand more deeply how the Holy Spirit continues to move us toward a more just and compassionate world. I hope that our book will accompany you on your own faith journey as you wrestle with how we are called to live faithfully in such a time as this and how the Spirit continues to guide, challenge, and transform us.

*My latest Madang Podcast hosted by Baptist News Global is on Parenting Beyond Boundaries in Mark’s Gospel, co-written by Drs. Sung Uk Lim and Amy Lindeman Allen. It is a wonderful collaborative book which I highly recommend.

Listen to Madang Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Facebook Reels, or wherever podcasts are streamed.

Special Events:

1. Please register for Earthbound Retreat at Crieff Hills, August 28-30, 2026. *If financial barriers will prohibit you from attending please email Kristine, director@crieffhills.com to inquire about a subsidy from the Wellness Fund.

3. Join me at the Wild Goose Festival. Use discount code “A-GK” for 50.00 off registration.

4. Book giveaway! Subscribe and support my Substack for a chance to win one of 5 copies of Here I Am. If you are already a supporter, please just message me that you want to win a free copy.

5. Join me and Dr. Steve Harmon at Ardmore Baptist Church on Thursday, September 3rd, for a book talk on Earthbound and US’s Theological Imagination.

   

Jesus proclaimed a gospel of justice, dignity, equity and inclusion. Throughout his ministry, he challenged the patriarchal norms of his day by welcoming women as disciples, speaking with them publicly, healing them, and affirming their faith and leadership. He consistently restored the dignity of those who had been marginalized and oppressed as he performed miracles and engaged in his minitry.

I am sharing an excerpt from Feminist Theologies, co-written with Susan Shaw, drawn from the chapter “Feminist Perspectives on the Bible.” Here, we explore how feminist biblical interpretation invites us to read Scripture with fresh eyes, paying close attention to the voices, experiences, and agency of women. It is an invitation to recover the Bible’s liberating message and to ensure that our theology leads us toward justice rather than oppression.

FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES ON THE BIBLE

As the central text in traditional Christian theology, the Bible has played an inestimable detrimental role in the oppression of women and other minoritized people and the maintenance of patriarchy. In the hands of dominant men, the biblical text has been interpreted to subordinate women in the home and silence them in the church, enslave Africans, carry out genocide against Indigenous people, exclude, mistreat, and torment LGBTQI+ people, discriminate and enact violence against people with disabilities, and wage campaigns of war, and environmental degradation and destruction.

On the other hand, women and other minoritized people have also found encouragement and radical empowerment toward liberation and justice in the biblical text. Rather than reading the Bible as a text that supports and enables dominance, oppression, and violence, feminist readers interpret the Bible as a call for authentic living, love for all people and the Earth, and justice as a marker of Divine desire.

Feminist biblical critics recognize that the storytellers, authors, and editors of scripture were themselves socially located in times, places, cultures, and languages very different from our own. Rather than understanding the Bible as a text given directly by God, feminist readers see the Bible as a refection of the faith struggles of particular people within their own contexts.

Like contemporary readers, these people had limited experiences and vision; they were products of their cultures; they had their own biases and prejudices; and all of these things come through in the text alongside their wrestling with how to be the people of God. For feminists, that means that we read the text both for the places it refects and enables bigotry, discrimination, and violence and for the places it calls us to be our best selves, acting out of love, building just structures, and transforming the world toward peace, sustainability, and justice.

Much of the history of Christian biblical interpretation shows how interpreters, mostly Western men, read the Bible to attain, maintain, and expand power. As the Church organized and institutionalized itself, it created hierarchies and soon relegated women to submissive roles, claiming that, because Jesus was a man, a woman could not stand in the stead of God as a priest. The Church also engaged alongside nation-states and authoritarian leaders to build empires, amass wealth, and extend control over people around the world. For a long time, the Church even kept the Bible out of the hands of laypeople, leaving its interpretation to an educated, male, priestly class that often read the text to ensure they themselves would stay in power.

Biblical texts became justifcation for the torment and execution of (mostly) women as witches. In reality, these were usually single older women, natural healers, and outsiders who threatened male power and the status quo or who owned land somebody else wanted. Biblical texts were used to justify the enslavement of Africans and the systematic rape of enslaved African women, which inevitably came with the institution of slavery. Colonizers used biblical texts to support the doctrine of Manifest Destiny and the Doctrine of Discovery to justify their brutal and genocidal theft of land and resources from Indigenous people in the Americas and, again, the systematic rape of and physical violence toward Indigenous women.

Biblical texts rationalized the imperialism of missionary movements that purported to be fulfllments of the commandment to make disciples but were actually (and continue to be) tools of Western colonization of much of the world. Many people continue to use biblical texts to target LGBTQI+ people as inherently sinful, abominations, groomers, and dangers to children and society. White Christian nationalists at this very moment are drawing on biblical texts to justify limits on reproductive choice, forced pregnancy, exclusion of women from public life, early marriage, challenges to contraceptive access and sex education, and even repeal of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. (p. 23-25).

Special Events:

1. Join me for Homebrewed Team On-line Class, “Unsettled Ground” hosted by Tripp Fuller and Diana Butler Bass.

2. Please register for Earthbound Retreat at Crieff Hills, August 28-30, 2026. *If financial barriers will prohibit you from attending please email Kristine director@crieffhills.com to inquire about a subsidy from the Wellness Fund.

3. Join me at the Wild Goose Festival. Use discount code “A-GK” for 50.00 off registration.

4. Book giveaway! Subscribe and support my Substack for a chance to win one of 5 copies of Here I Am. If you are already a supporter, please just message me that you want to win a free copy.

5. Join me and Dr. Steve Harmon at Ardmore Baptist Church on Thursday, September 3rd, for a book talk on Earthbound and US’s Theological Imagination.

I explore this in my new piece for Good Faith Media, “BTS and the Enduring Power of ‘Arirang.’” I’d love to hear from you! Has their music, message, or global influence impacted you? Please read the article and share your thoughts in the comments.

BTS and the Enduring Power of “Arirang”

Our family immigrated to Canada from Korea in 1975. During my childhood, I attended Korean Language School every Saturday morning and frankly, I disliked it.

While my friends were enjoying their weekends and Saturday morning cartoons, I was dragged to school to learn the Korean language, culture and history. We were introduced to Korean culture, practiced traditional Korean fan dances, learned about Taekwondo, and explored the traditions of our homeland.

Although I resisted going each week, many of those lessons have stayed with me more than fifty years later and I have even come to appreciate them.

A Song of Sorrow and Resistance

One memory stands out very clearly: regularly singing Korea’s most beloved folk song, “Arirang”. Today, when I hear it or see the lyrics printed out, it evokes feelings of nostalgia, longing and home. It reminds me that, although I grew up in Canada, part of my heart has always belonged to Korea.

The song is more than six hundred years old. Its exact origins are unknown, although many believe it tells the story of separated lovers. Over the centuries, however, it has become much more than a love song. It has become the soundtrack of the Korean people’s history, culture, emotion, love, sorrow, joy and resistance.

During the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910–1945), when patriotic songs were banned, “Arirang” became an unofficial anthem of resistance. It was sung during the March First Independence Movement of 1919 and by those who longed for freedom under colonial rule.

“Arirang” carries the painful memory and struggle of a people who experienced colonization, cultural erasure and war. Koreans were forbidden to speak their own language, pressured to adopt Japanese names, and stripped of many aspects of their cultural identity. Remembering this history helps explain why many Koreans today empathize with people around the world who are experiencing violent occupation and displacement.

Our collective memory teaches us what it means to long for justice and freedom. Thus, for generations, Koreans have sung “Arirang” as an expression of sorrow, resilience, hope and national identity.

BTS Carries “Arirang” to the World

I was deeply moved to see Korean pop group BTS incorporate “Arirang” into their artistic work after completing their mandatory military service in Korea. Watching millions of people around the world participate in this treasured Korean folk song fills me with pride and joy. What was once a song my classmates and I reluctantly sang on Saturday mornings has become a global anthem and conversation about Korean identity.

Arirang is BTS’ tenth album. It incorporates themes of separation, reunion, and strength, with the folk Arirang woven into “Body to Body,” the opening track.

The album debuted at number one in over 25 countries and is currently the top-selling album of 2026, breaking streaming records on Spotify and Apple Music. BTS is now in the middle of their Arirang World Tour, which included a performance at the FIFA World Cup closing ceremony.

I admire BTS’s willingness to share Korean culture with the world. I also admire their advocacy and justice work through the UN and other global organizations.

Breaking Out of the Box

Although Arirang is a best-selling album, BTS has reported that they will not submit their work for Grammy consideration. They cited concerns about it being placed in a separate new “Asian Pop Performance” category, which has sparked deep conversations on how artists are categorized. BTS’ message, “that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language,” resonates far beyond the music industry.

Too often, people of color are placed into boxes that emphasize difference rather than excellence. As a result, they are often pushed to the margins. BTS’ stance reminds us that diversity should be celebrated, and not as a tool of marginalization.

BTS was expected to sweep next year’s Grammys with Arirang. Throughout their career, they have been nominated multiple times and have both performed and been presenters at the awards show. Their worldwide popularity brings millions of viewers to the show, leading many to believe that the Grammys use BTS to boost viewership while snubbing them for awards.

BTS’s Grammy decision is a form of resistance against being pushed into restrictive boxes. BTS is opening doors, not only for Asian artists, but for all whose gifts have been marginalized and limited by stereotypes and narrow expectations.

As an Asian immigrant who spent much of my childhood trying to fit into Canadian culture, I never imagined that one day Korean culture would be globally celebrated. Growing up, I sometimes felt embarrassed by my differences and my cultural heritage. Today, I feel immense pride in my Korean heritage through artists and singers from Korea.

BTS’ resistance is giving many of us in the margins the courage to fight back against being placed in the boxes that restrict us.

When people around the world sing “Arirang,” they are not simply singing a beautiful melody. They are participating in a song that carries centuries of history, resilience, sorrow and hope. They are joining a tradition that has sustained generations of Koreans through suffering, and has inspired them to keep moving forward.

“Arirang” is no longer just a song I was required to learn as a child in Korean Language School. It is a reminder of who I am, where I came from, and the enduring strength of the Korean people.

For that, I will always be grateful.

BTS | Body to Body

Special Events:

1. Book giveaway! Subscribe and support my Substack for a chance to win one of 5 copies of Here I Am. If you are already a supporter, please just message me that you want to win a free copy.

2. Join me at Asbury United Methodist Church for worship and book signing on August 9, 2026.

3. Please register for Earthbound Retreat at Crieff Hills, August 28-30, 2026. It is going to be a weekend of eco-theology, organic farming and something for everyone.

4. Come to the Wild Goose Festival. “Use discount code “A-GK” to get 50.00 off registration. Go to www.wildgoosefestival.org

5. Join me and Dr. Steve Harmon at Ardmore Baptist Church on Thursday, September 3rd, for a book talk on Earthbound and US’s Theological Imagination.

I am excited to be included among individuals such as Bishop Mariann Budde, George Mason, Beth Allison Barr, and William H. Lamar IV. Each has made meaningful contributions through courageous leadership, prophetic witness, and a commitment to justice.

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I am grateful to Good Faith Media for this recognition and to the amazing for writing such kind words about me. This recognition encourages me to continue the work of public theology—to proclaim a Gospel that seeks justice, embraces hope, and affirms the dignity of every person created in the image of God.

Good Faith Media’s “25 Who Inspire List”

Written by , who is the founder and host of the Homebrewed Christianity podcast.

Grace Ji-Sun KIm is a theologian who has written more books than some people have read — more than two dozen at the last count. Somehow, each one manages to make you feel like she wrote it just for you. She wrote the Homebrewed Christianity Guide to the Holy Spirit, which means I got to watch up close as she took the most misunderstood, under-theologized member of the Trinity and made the Spirit feel as close as breath. That is not an accident. Grace thinks with breath. She draws on the Korean concept of chi — wind, energy, life-force — and suddenly the Holy Spirit is not a dove on a stained-glass window but the very air your lungs are borrowing right now.

She was born in South Korea, educated in Canada, and teaches in Indiana, which means she has been the only person in the room who looks like her more times than anyone should have to be. She wrote a book called Invisible about exactly that. And then she kept showing up. Kept writing. Kept preaching. Kept making space at tables that were not built for her and then — this is the Grace move — pulling up a chair for someone else.

Grace is funny, sharp, and kind in a way that is not performed. If you let her, she will change the way you think about God.

*I am a contributing editor to Good Faith Media. Please read some of my latest articles here.

**I have done many Christianity’s book discussions, online classes and spoken at Theology Beer Camp. Enjoy this discussion with Dr. on my book, When God Became White.

Special Events:

1. Join me at Asbury United Methodist Church for worship and book signing on August 9, 2026.

2. Please register for Earthbound Retreat at Crieff Hills, August 28-30, 2026. It is going to be a weekend of eco-theology, organic farming and something for everyone.

3. Come to the Wild Goose Festival. “Use discount code “A-GK” to get 50.00 off registration. Go to www.wildgoosefestival.org

4. Join me and Dr. Steve Harmon at Ardmore Baptist Church on Thursday, September 3rd, for a book talk on Earthbound and US’s Theological Imagination.

5. Grateful to Upper Room for sponsoring Madang Podcast. Save 20% on Disciplines 2027 at The Upper Room! Visit store.upperroom.org/Madang - and use promo code MADANG at checkout.

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I am grateful for this interview and am excited that my book, When God Became White, will be translated into Korean later this year.

Was Jesus White?… “Let’s Read the Bible Without the Illusion of Whiteness”

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