Korean pastor requests colloquy
A Korean pastor from the North Atlantic District has requested a colloquy so he can become a pastor in WELS. Rev. Kwang Hoon (Peter) Wee is a member at Our Savior’s, New Brunswick, N.J., and currently serves as its minister of evangelism, helping with outreach to the Korean and Chinese communities in the area.
A colloquy is an in-depth interview with a pastor who has left another church body due to its false teaching or practice and now wants to serve as a WELS pastor. “His personal and family background, his theological training, his understanding and confession of scriptural doctrine and practice—all are part of a thorough review to understand the colloquy candidate and his reasons for requesting a colloquy into WELS,” says Rev. Donald Tollefson, North Atlantic district president. “The goal is to provide assurance so that when a candidate completes the colloquy process, all those involved can say, ‘We believe, teach, and confess the same scriptural truths.’ ”
Wee had served at a nondenominational campus ministry at Rutgers. When he and his members needed a place to worship, he approached Our Savior’s and its pastor, Rev. Mark Johnston. Johnston and Wee began talking about doctrine. From those discussions, Wee discovered what he had been missing. He decided he wanted to become a WELS pastor and began studying confessional Lutheranism with area pastors through a program put together by the Pastoral Studies Institute. Now he has requested a colloquy to become a WELS pastor.
A colloquy is a rigorous process involving a committee consisting of one of the WELS vice presidents, a member of the faculty of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, and the president of the district where the applicant lives. “There is great responsibility in being involved in the colloquy process to ensure, as much as humanly possible, that goals and desires for requesting and going through a colloquy are plain and understood by all involved,” says Tollefson. “There is, however, also great privilege in being involved in this process so that, with God’s guidance, it will lead to a common bond and unity with another called servant to proclaim the Word of the Lord and lead souls to Christ.”
Formal notice to the WELS constituency of a colloquy request is required by the synod’s constitution. This notice is included below.
REQUEST FOR COLLOQUY
Kwang Hoon (Peter) Wee, Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, formerly a Christian & Missionary Alliance pastor and now a WELS member, has requested a colloquy for the purpose of serving in the pastoral ministry of WELS. Correspondence related to this request should be sent by April 15 to North Atlantic District President, Donald Tollefson, 40 Coleman Rd, Long Valley NJ 07853; [email protected].
