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By Melissa Lauber

SEOUL, Korea (July 17, 2014) - In a conference room on the campus of Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, Bishop Marcus Matthews "felt the world tilting," as a delegation from the Baltimore-Washington Conference learned about United Methodist education throughout the world.

In that room, the Rev. Young Min Pak explained about his ministry as the United Methodist Church's Asian Office of the Global Education Fund. Part of this fund was originally intended to go for technological support. However, it's now sent to other countries because the technology that exists at Yonsei has created one of the leading libraries in the world.

In the $40 million facility, students can, for example, access any one of a thousand newspapers and tens of thousands of electronic books on a large touch screen or on their smart phones. However, as the student tour guide shyly confesses, overdue library books can limit his access.

The spirit contained in this mixture of human experience and high tech potential has led Pak, who works for the General Board of Higher Education, and others at the university to create the Global Institute of Theology, a one-year graduate school designed to gather students and scholars from around the world to study theology and its practical applications.

The Institute, which opens in March 2015 in Songdo, Korea, exists, Pak said, "to raise up global Christian leaders."

The new school will attract 100-125 students who can be considered pioneers from different parts of the world, invite them to Korea for academics and practical education that reflects a variety of emerging ideas about the church in a global culture and then return them to their homelands to do ministry.

In the United States, "ideas of cross cultural experiences tend to be limited and narrow-minded," Pak said. The Global Institute of Theology will explore the Bible and the church's response to its teachings from the unique context of people living and doing ministry in Asia, Africa and Central America.

"When I heard from Rev. Pak about this new model of Christian education, I felt the world tilting," said Bishop Marcus Matthews, resident bishop of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. "As Americans, we must either be a part of this new global church or we will be left behind. We must realize we are a part of it and that we can make a significant contribution still."

The Rev. HiRho Park, director of clergy lifelong learning for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry who coordinated the BWC's trip, saw God's hand in the vision for the Global Institute of Theology.

"Bishop Matthews was president of the Board of Higher Ed when this program began; the Rev. J.W. Park, the dean of the Cabinet, is a Korean-American and the delegation visited at a time when the Institute was looking for partners and other support.

"This is really God's time. We're here together at this moment in the history of world theology," she said.

The Rev. Edgardo Rivera, superintendent of the Frederick District, agreed and was inspired by the broadened understanding of the global church. "We need to learn from each other and open up our minds," he said. "We know there's not only a single way of doing things. It's a good challenge."

"Educating clergy and laity is at the heart of who we are as United Methodists," Matthews said.

The denomination is affiliated with 800 colleges and universities outside of the United States and 125 colleges and 13 seminaries within the U.S.

These schools, the General Church, the Baltimore-Washington Conference, and its local churches all form a pipeline for the lifting up of young adult clergy leaders, one of the four areas of focus for the denomination," said Park. "This is ours, this is us."

Young leaders throughout the world will be involved with the church only if they think it's relevant, Pak said. "To do that, we need to show people the meaning of life and make their life meaningful."