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The Rev. Dr. Horace Underwood Project
Historical Overview
The Rev. Dr. Horace G. Underwood Project at New Brunswick Theological Seminary supports Korean and Korean-American seminary students through program initiatives and scholarships. Korean and Korean-American students comprise approximately 10 percent of the students studying at the Seminary, and all seek this special Seminary because of its historic ties to the Korean Presbyterian Church and its founder, The Rev Dr. Horace G. Underwood.
Dr. Underwood, an 1884 graduate of New Brunswick, served his entire ministerial career in Korea from 1884 to 1916. Dr. Underwood established many churches, including Saemoonan Church, the Presbyterian Church in Korea, and also founded Yonsei University. In 1891 he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of New York.
New Brunswick Theological Seminary recently celebrated his 150th birthday with a service of thanksgiving and traditional Korean dinner. The Seminary is please to be the seminary of choice for Koreans and Korean-Americans preparing for their ministry to spread the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.
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The Underwood Project
New Brunswick Theological Seminary has nurtured and valued a close relationship with Korean churches and educational institutions since 1985. Because of its unique bond with Korea, the Seminary established the Underwood Project in 2001.
The Underwood Project's mission is to strengthen relationships between the Seminary and educational institutions and churches in Korea and Korean-American churches in the United States, and, in the spirit of Dr. Underwood, to promote pedagogical and ministerial discussions on the Seminary's commitment to cross-cultural and global education.
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Project Director: The Rev. Dr. Hak Joon Lee
In early 2007, the Seminary appointed The Rev. Dr. Hak Joon Lee, an esteemed member of the Seminary faculty, as Academic Director of the Underwood Program for Theology and Ministry. Dr. Lee provides educational and administrative leadership to Underwood Project initiatives. Some of those initiatives include:
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The Underwood International Symposium
The first annual Underwood International Symposium was held in Korea in March 2008. Fuller Theological Seminary president Dr. Richard Mouw delived the keynote address. The symposium was co-sponsored by Saemoonan Church, the first church established by Dr. Underwood. Yonsei University and Presbyterian Theological College and Seminary also supported the conference.
Summer Mission to New Brunswick
The first annual Underwood International Symposium was held in Korea in March 2008 and has continued each Spring. The symposium is co-sponsored by Saemoonan Church, the first church established by Dr. Underwood. Yonsei University and Presbyterian Theological College and Seminary also supported the conference. The keynote speakers for the Symposium have been President Richard Mouw of Fuller Theological Seminary (2008), and Dr. Thomas Long of Emory University (2009). The speaker for 2010 will be Dr. Susan Moore of University of
Edinburgh.
The Underwood Scholarship
The Seminary seeks $250,000 to establish a scholarship for a Korean or Korean-American student preparing for ministry at New Brunswick Theological Seminary. The scholarship, restricted to Korean-Americans, includes full time tuition, books and fees. The recipient will be known as The Rev. Dr. Horace G. Underwood Scholar.
At the 150th celebration of the birth of Dr. Underwood, the Seminary awarded the first five students with this scholarship, made possible through the generous gift of the Myungsung Presbyterian Church of Seoul in Korea.
Horace G. Underwood Professor of Global Christianity and the Underwood Center for Global Christianity
New Brunswick Theological Seminary is seeking support to call a faculty person to serve as its first Horace G. Underwood Professor of Global Christianity. In addition to teaching courses in missiology and world mission history, the Underwood Professor will assist the Seminary in establishing the Underwood Center of Global Christianity, which will coordinate and expand the Seminary's relationships with schools, churches and programs around the world. In the 19th century, the Seminary counted among its graduates many who served as pivotal missionaries in the many parts of the globe, including Samuel Zwemer in the Middle East, David Abeel, one of the first missionaries in China, and Horace G. Underwood in Korea. It is our hope that the Seminary will help lead the church in the 21st century to embrace the richly diverse gifts of the global Christian community and to share the gospel with those hungry for hope and thirsty for grace. Our goal is to endow the Underwood Chair of Global Christianity with gifts totaling 1.5 million dollars.
The Underwood Memorial
The Seminary has recently commissioned a sculptor, Dr. Charles McCollough, to create a bust of Dr. Underwood to be placed in perpetuity in Gardner A. Sage Library. Dr. Underwood spent many hours in Sage Library preparing for ministry. The Seminary is grateful for a donation from the United School of Theology at Yonsei University towards this end.
Promotional DVD
Through the generosity of Praise Presbyterian Church in Somerset, New Jersey, the Seminary has produced a DVD highlighting the ministry of The Rev. Dr. Horace G. Underwood and its roots in the Seminary's rich mission history. View it in either English or Korean.
Book
Dr. Hak Joon Lee, Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics and Academic Director of the Underwood Program for Theology and Ministry, and Dr. John Coakley, L. Russell Feakes Memorial Professor of Church History, are currently working on the editing of a book together on Dr. Underwood's legacy. More information will follow when it nears completion.
Your Participation
Questions may be addressed to The Rev. Dr. Hak Joon Lee, Director of the Underwood Program for Theology and Ministry at 732-247-5241 (ext. 115) or hjlee@nbts.edu.
You may participate in this project through your giving to New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Please be sure to note on your check that it is to help under write The Underwood Project.
Checks Payable to: NBTS (The Underwood Program).
New Brunswick Theological Seminary
17 Seminary Place
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
You may also donate on line:
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