Moving ahead with implementation of its "from everywhere to everywhere" approach that began with the relocation of the mission agency's international headquarters from New York City to Atlanta, the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church recently celebrated the opening of their new office in Seoul, South Korea.

At the dedication, Thomas Kemper, general secretary of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church, noted that mission today is no longer directed from north to south or from Europe and the United States to other parts of the world. "We say mission is ‘from everywhere to everywhere,'" he explained.

The Rev. Paul Kong, Global Ministries' Asia regional representative, cited several factors in Seoul's selection, including opportunities for partnership with and learning from the Korean Methodist Church, which is heavily involved in mission work; the presence of nongovernmental organizations and other potential partners; and proximity to China, where Christianity is growing.

The office is also in the financial and political center of South Korea, within eyesight of the presidential residence, the Blue House.

The opening of the Seoul, South Korea, office continues the mission and the development agency's emphasis on an international approach, which has included moving the headquarters to Atlanta, dedicating a regional office in partnership with Upper Room Ministries in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in April 2016, and planning for a regional office in French-speaking Africa in 2018 or 2019.

The agency's Seoul office has 10 staff members from diverse backgrounds related to the office, including seven people on site and three others in Atlanta, New York, and Nanjing, China.

"The office is for the whole of Asia," Kemper said. "But, being in Korea, we are also very aware of the tensions in this part of the world ... so we commit ourselves also to work for peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula."

The office was dedicated with a multicultural worship service and love feast at Kwanglim Methodist Church. Guests included ecumenical and Methodist leaders, seminary representatives, and staff with the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, Discipleship Ministries' Upper Room, and United Methodist Communications. The World Federation of Chinese Methodists, the Amity Foundation of China and the Asia Methodist Council were also represented.

The Seoul office is within blocks of where the first Methodist missionaries to Korea began working in the 1880s, starting schools and health care ministries and laying the foundation for a flourishing Methodist denomination.

The Korean Methodist Church is doing well today because of the work of the early missionaries, said Bishop Myung Gu Jun, presiding bishop of the denomination.

"We as the Korean Methodist Church welcome you with open arms and look forward to working in partnership with you," he said.

The Korean Methodist Church is providing office space free of charge for Global Ministries, which had made a donation for the building's construction.

"Once, you sent missionaries out to Asia Pacific regions; now, you are in Asia," said Bishop Chong Chin Chung of the Methodist Church of Singapore, as he congratulated Global Ministries staff at the dedication.

Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, president of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, said the new regional office in Seoul, South Korea, "Brings us to a new day."

"As we celebrate the opening of this new office, we make our ‘Global Ministries' more than just a name," said Jung, who also leads the Wisconsin Episcopal Area. "It is our lived witness to go, be present, and work where the need and the opportunity are the greatest."

He added that this is not a United Methodist ministry "to Asia" but instead a ministry partnership among Asian Christians and The United Methodist Church.

Following the event, Kemper said it is important that partners know The United Methodist Church isn't coming to Asia to expand.

The denomination's lawmaking assembly, General Conference, adopted enabling legislation last year for the creation of a provisional central conference for Southeast Asia and Mongolia. Kemper said the objective was to allow for ownership of the mission work by the people of the respective countries, not to expand the denomination.

This could mean that United Methodist churches would develop in some countries, while autonomous Methodist churches would develop in others, such as Cambodia, where United Methodists and Methodists from Singapore, Korea and China have helped grow the church.

Having an open spirit is important, Kemper said, "because it's about God's mission and not The United Methodist Church."

Kemper said the church has to think of mission globally and "as the full body of Christ as it's expressed in different cultures, languages, colors, and parts of the world."