My name is Jun-Youb (JY) Lee and I’m excited to be your church historian! I heard great things about Tokyo Union Church during my doctorate at Princeton Seminary, where I am in the religion and society program. I’ve visited Tokyo several times, but haven’t spent more than several days each time so I look forward to growing with you over the next several seasons.

I was born in Korea and baptized a Presbyterian. A part of my childhood was at the world’s largest church in Seoul which is Pentecostal. My family moved to New Zealand when I was ten where I attended an Anglican school, and I came to the US when I was fourteen. I’ve been mostly in the US since then, in and around Boston, Philly, NYC, and SF.

I studied history and business in college, and got a master’s in East Asian studies focusing on history before working in journalism and literary translation in Korea. I found a church I loved during my stay in Korea, and the theological depth of the senior pastor and the fun adventurousness of the young adult pastor got me interested in pursuing ministry.

I interned at a hospital and a university as an interfaith chaplain during my master of divinity, and also as a seminarian at a historically Black church. I have been a Sunday school teacher, pastoral resident, and young adult seminarian at Presbyterian and Baptist churches in Chicago, LA, and NYC during my doctorate. One of my favorite church experiences has been serving a trilingual church and working with both English and Korean language ministries.

In my free time, I like to travel and I have written a travel essay book in Korean. I run every day and love playing and watching soccer. I grew up playing bass in jazz bands, and played with the gospel choir in seminary. I also enjoy biking and have biked across the US, where I received boundless hospitality from Christians. I look forward to sharing and learning more about the love of God, peace of Christ, and joy of the Holy Spirit with you all.