Dean Pak Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
The original story was published on the Diverse: Issues in Higher Education website on March 15, 2021. The following is an excerpt only. Please click here to read the full article.
Dean Brings Clear Convictions During Divisive Time in Methodist Church
By Jessica Ruf
It’s a momentous time for Dr. Sujin Pak to take the helm as dean of Boston University’s School of Theology, the oldest Methodist seminary in the U.S.
That’s because the United Methodist Church — the second-largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. — is currently splintering over LGBTQ rights. And, following years of heated dispute, it is likely the church, along with its 13 million members, will formally split come its annual general conference in August.
But if anyone’s equipped to deal with conflict, it’s Pak — a theologian and LGBTQ advocate, whose personal and academic life share a common theme: reconciliation.
Raised in a deeply Methodist family, Pak never shied from addressing the darkest parts of Christian history and its treatment of non-Christians. In fact, she says it felt like her duty that she contend with those difficult histories, which is why, for her undergraduate honors thesis, she chose to explore Jewish-Christian dialogue.
“I was devastated by the oppressive history of Christianity towards Jews,” says Pak, who has also researched ways in which Christian scripture has been used against Muslims and women. “That oppressive history translated out to many other bodies and persons across Christian history, so it was very much an exploration of recognizing those terrible histories and how do I reconcile those.”