The First United Methodist Church of Flushing (FUMC)

From The Peopling of New York City

FUMC is a 99% Korean Church. The other one percent consists of Blacks, Chinese, Korean-Whites, and Korean-Hispanics. Regardless of their vast majority Korean membership, the church makes special efforts to reach out to the different races present in Flushing. When they evangelize on the streets, they share pamphlets written in English, Korean, Spanish, and Chinese. Also, they learn a few phrases in those languages before they head out to the streets. The youth group pastor, Young Choi explains that racial tension is present in Flushing not simply because of its multicultural characteristic, but because of difference itself. People are not able to understand and acknowledge difference.

Every Saturday, the adult group goes outside to reach out to the jobless and homeless people on the streets. They give out free donuts and coffee. The youth group members go to nursing homes. Once in a while, they also go out to the parks to clean up garbage. The church hosts a nursery school program for children 1-3 years old on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Church provides Summer School, Vacation Bible School during breaks, and an elderly school for the elderly held on Wednesdays. On Sunday nights, an English class is held. The church also provides scholarships for high school students within the community, and also for students in China. Every year, the youth group holds a revival titled Creation Night, to which over five hundred people of several races attend. Just this past Saturday, April 26, 2008, several Whites, Blacks, Chinese, and Spanish were visible in the crowd of people attending Creation Night.