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OUR PASTOR
Pastor Jeremy Park was born in 1980 as the child of a Presbyterian pastor. At the age of 16, he embarked on a journey to study in the United States. The challenges of adapting to a new culture and language barrier made his teenage and college years turbulent. However, these experiences laid the foundation for him to empathize with the lives and struggles of immigrants under God’s grace.
At the age of 23, he received God’s calling and led the non-denominational missionary organization JESUSHOLIC in Los Angeles for 15 years. During this time, Jeremy focused on Korean-American youth immigrants who were often overlooked in mission fields. He saw God’s dreams within them. Through worship and ministry of the Word, he spread the gospel and vision, and worked tirelessly to strengthen the worship services of churches in the Los Angeles area.
In 2020, with a vision to “build a church that makes disciples of Christ who live out the unchanging truth in a changing world,” he founded Urban Pilgrims Church.
He studied missiology at Fuller Seminary to support his mission-oriented urban ministry. Jeremy is affiliated with KAICAM (Korean Association of Independent Churches and Missions), not bound by a specific denomination, to pursue innovative, healthy, and autonomous ministry.
In addition to his pastoral ministries, he actively communicates with the next generation through composing music, writing, photography, and social media activities, striving to introduce new paradigms of ministry for the future generations.
JEREMY PARK
LEAD PASTOR
OUR PURPOSE
We exist to raise up true disciples of Jesus Christ who live out the unchanging truth in a changing world.
Urban Pilgrims is a compound word combining ‘Urban’ and ‘Pilgrims.’ The urban represents the changing world, while the pilgrims represent the unchanging truth.
Our mission is to embed the unchanging ‘Originality’ of the Gospel within the changing ‘Modernity’ of contemporary culture, establishing worship and community in the city, and living out a missional life.
OUR THEOLOGY
Urban Pilgrims Church is a non-denominational
independent church.
We are founded on the Apostles’ Creed, the Westminster Confession of Faith, and Reformed theology. We emphasize being Bible-centered, the gospel of the cross, genuine conversion, and practical living.
OUR VISION
The history of monasticism spans from the early church era to the Middle Ages (AD.1- AD.15), serving as one of the two wings God used alongside local churches to advance His kingdom. Certainly, like the medieval church, monasticism faced several issues, such as excessive asceticism and the corruption of monks.
Nevertheless, the essential spirituality of the monastery was simple yet powerful. They lived a life of worship in the mountains and deserts to preserve the truth, engaged in communal living, and practiced caring for the socially vulnerable.
Urban Pilgrims Church embodies the Gospel not in mountains or deserts, but within the city, using the local church as a platform. For us, the wilderness is the ‘urban environment.’ Just like ‘John the Baptist,’ who prepared the way for Jesus, we are building God’s kingdom in the heart of the city.
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Worship to Revival
We are establishing a continuous, 365-day worship movement for worshipers who long for God’s presence and the revival of the city. This unceasing worship is dedicated to igniting the revival that is to come.
Community to Family
In the midst of the endless competition within the city, we are building a community of love where being is valued more than problems. We are one family in Jesus, transcending race, language, and culture.
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Local to Global
In the global village of Los Angeles, we aim to raise over 170 multiethnic immigrants and international students as disciples of Jesus, equipping them to become resources for world missions.
These individuals will one day return to their nations and families, spreading the Gospel in their native languages and cultures as future missionaries.
Missions begin not in distant lands but in the local community where the church is situated. We build God’s kingdom together by becoming friends with our multiethnic neighbors.
CULTURE PERSPECTIVE
The world is becoming not only more globalized but also increasingly urbanized. Cities are creating and constantly reshaping new cultures, significantly influencing people’s worldviews and values.
We have a responsibility to ‘translate’ and ‘transform’ these ‘changing’ cultures according to the biblical principles of God’s kingdom.
Culture is an important tool that God uses for missions. Culture itself is neither good nor evil. What matters is not the type of culture, but how and for what purpose we use it.
When our being is filled with unchanging truth, culture becomes an effective means of conveying the values of the Gospel to those living in the city.
VISION STATEMENT
We are pilgrims in the city who look to the heavens and walk towards our eternal home.
We are pilgrims in the city who live as the followers of Jesus Christ.
We are called to worship in our daily lives, families, jobs, schools, and communities.
We are pilgrims in the city who are the body of Christ in the Holy Spirit,
growing to be a loving church that values persons over problems.
We are pilgrims in the city who are prepared to leave for the place,
where God will send us, to share the gospel by serving neighbors with talents and love.
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