Syngman Rhee (March 25, 1931 – January 14, 2015) was a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

who served as the

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states th ...

of the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

in 2000.

Early years

Syngman Rhee was born March 25, 1931, in Pyongyang, Korea (now

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

). As the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

was breaking out in 1950, Rhee and a younger brother fled North Korea, leaving behind his mother and four sisters. His family was hoping they would return in two or three weeks. Rhee's father had been a Christian minister and died in prison under the communists. Syngman Rhee never saw his mother again, but was reunited with his sisters, after decades of separation, in 1978.

Transition to the United States

As a refugee in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, Rhee recalled:

Church World Service came with food, blankets, most of all hope in the hopeless situation for the people who were struggling. The ministry of compassion touched me very, very deeply. That's one of the reasons why I was very active in National Council of Churches and Church World Service.

Syngman Rhee joined the Republic of Korea Marine Corps and in 1953 was sent to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for special training at the U.S. Marine School in Quantico,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He said he struck close friendships with Christian Marine officers and continued to correspond with them after he went back to

. His friends from Quantico sponsored him as a student at Davis and Elkins College in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, where Rhee majored in English and religion. From there, he went to Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, graduating in 1960. He was ordained in Louisville and a week later married Haesun Rhee, a long-time friend and medical doctor in South Korea.

Parish and college ministry

Syngman Rhee's first call was to serve two small congregations near Louisville. "That was a wonderful experience for me," he said. "I found what it means to be one in Jesus Christ." Rhee next served for 13 years as Presbyterian campus minister at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

. He began his campus ministry in the early 1960s and recalls that Martin Luther King Jr. made several visits to the campus. "I remember marching with him and the black students in Louisville," Rhee said. "That experience taught me what it is to be engaged in the ministry of racial justice." In 1978, Rhee left the

and to become coordinator for Middle East Missions for what was then the United Presbyterian Church. He was with that agency for seven years.

Academic career

After moving to Richmond, Virginia, in 1998 Rhee attended RKCPC (Richmond Korean Central Presbyterian Church). He served as the director of the Asian-American Study Center at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, before he moved to Atlanta in late 2014. There he served as the distinguished visiting professor for global leadership development at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur Georgia. He died after a brief illness on January 14, 2015.

Death

Syngman Rhee died on January 14, 2015, shortly after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He was 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhee, Syngman 2015 deaths Davis & Elkins College alumni South Korean emigrants to the United States Presbyterian Church (USA) teaching elders Union Presbyterian Seminary faculty American Presbyterians Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary alumni 1931 births