Pastor visits Korea as part of cultural exchange

LIBERTY -- A local pastor is sharing his two-month experience in Korea with local churches and organizations to discuss what being a Methodist pastor is like over there.

While in Korea, he also saw plans for construction of the Scranton Memorial Hall and Church in Seoul, which is a Methodist church center for worship and education.

Pastor Sam Mohn, who serves at both Churchill United Methodist Church in Liberty and Trinity United Methodist Church in downtown Youngstown, said as part of the Korean Co-Op Program that began in 2025, he was asked if he would be interested in hosting a Korean pastor. However, the plan later changed, with him being asked to travel to Korea instead.

Mohn spent six weeks in Korea, with a stop in London, England, where he met with Bishop Hee-Soo Jung of the Ohio Episopal Area.

"He was the driving force behind the Korean Co-Op,'' Mohn said.

He said for many years, missionaries were sent from Cleveland to Korea as part of the co-op with Dr. William Scranton and his mother, Mary Scranton. Dr. Scranton founded medical clinics and hospitals for the less fortunate and his mother formed schools.

"Through their efforts, they opened a successful women's university in Korea. Our bishop credits sending these missionaries to Korea with helping the people there, including himself. He said he is a product of the help from the missionaries who came from Ohio to Korea," Mohn said.

While Mohn was functioning as a pastor in Korea, he was appointed to serve the Sam Young Church, which is a Korean Methodist Church.

"For me one of the biggest challenges to overcome was the language barrier. I don't speak fluent Korean and the people in Korea speak some English, but not as much as we do. While I was experiencing ministry in Korea, there were three pastors from Korea traveling through Ohio to see how we do ministry here," Mohn said.

He said the churches in Korea face some of the same challenges that American churches face, including fighting for people's time to attend services when they are busy with their own schedules and their children's schedules.

"They are trying to fit their faith into that busy schedule," he said.

Mohn said he credits the Koreans for making time to be at church even if it is not on a Sunday. As part of a young adults professional group, Mohn said a church met at 3 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon followed by an activity.

He said he felt his time in Korea allowed him to experience a different culture and learn about history. Mohn said he toured the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea accompanied by a Korean Army chaplain.

"To me, seeing how the people put their faith into action by going out to the streets and bringing people back to the church. We had activities for both adults and children at the church. They would get information about the people they brought in and then follow up with them after," Mohn said.

Mohn, who has been in ministry for five years and has served the two churches for the past three years, said the worship service in Korea is very similar to the United States with similar songs and prayers.

"To me their worship service is almost identical to ours. The first half of the worship is mostly music and prayer. You see the leading pastor kneeling behind the altar in prayer," he said.

Mohn said one of the tasks while he was there was to help grow the English speaking ministry. He said this was done by preaching with a translator app that translated English into Korean. Mohn also taught a Sunday school class and taught elementary and middle school children how to bake.

"They understand some English, but we format our sentences differently than Koreans," he said.

He said at the traditional worship service, it was mostly older Koreans but there were congregations with a younger adult population.

"Prayer to me is the center of Korean Methodism. They have daily prayer services and Wednesday evening prayer services. There is a Friday evening prayer service where people pray aloud," Mohn said.

While Mohn said this was his first trip overseas to serve as a pastor, he has been to the Holy Land and last fall was in London retracing the steps of John Wesley, who is the founder of the Methodist movement.

He said a question he is often asked by people is the safety of being in Korea.

"I always felt safe there and never felt I was in any threat of danger. People also asked what life was like in general in Korea. They have stores and malls and there is Lotte World, which is like Disney World. It seemed like there were less cars there," Mohn said.

He shares details about the trip during different worship settings and with local groups.

Mohn said a fundraising drive is taking place to build the Scranton Memorial Hall and Church. He said Bishop Jung has pledged a goal of $1 million from Ohio for that project, which will be a 2,200-square-foot building to be completed this October.

It will offer both training and spiritual growth to pastors and laity, as well as help those students and scholars on mission strategies and cultural and international partnerships.

In addition to Mohn, two other pastors from western Ohio were on the trip.

"The Koreans were very gracious and hospitable to us while we were there," he said.

Mohn said the bishop of Ohio is a product of the Korean Methodist Church, which is why there is a push from Ohio to have the center constructed and continue with Ohio ministers traveling to Korea.

Mohn said throughout this year, he has been asked to speak at different churches and other places about his experience in Korea.