Rev. Juyeon Jeon was born and raised in South Korea. She was raised in a Christian family and deeply felt called to God’s mission in her teens. This led her to attend theological school in Korea. She graduated from Mokwon University (one of three Methodist schools in Korea) with a Bachelor of Theology and a Master of Theology. She would have pursued her ordination in the Korean Methodist Church, but she experienced gender discrimination because of the stance on women’s ordination by some within the denomination. Nevertheless, she persisted. She relocated to the United States in 2008. Her academic background in the States includes a Master of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois and a Master of Arts degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.
Rev. Juyeon loves children and youth and has several years of experience serving as a pastor or a director of children’s ministry both in Korea and the States. In the United States, she served Kingswood United Methodist Church in Buffalo Grove, where she started as an intern pastor and eventually became the associate pastor. Her main ministry was adult education, and she also helped create the social justice committee. Since 2016, she has served at Epworth United Methodist Church in Chicago as their solo pastor. There, she has learned about and fulfilled a lot of urban ministry needs including: community organizing, serving the homeless shelter at the church, overseeing the community children’s program, and advocating for reconciling ministries. She also has served Genoa Faith United Methodist Church since 2018. She served the congregation with love and care. She has done creative ministries with children and youth: pray-ground, kids’ cooking and art class, and virtual confirmation class. Under Covid pandemic, she has also shown adaptive leadership providing online service and zoom small groups.
Rev. Juyeon has a passion for embracing the arts in worship and ministry. She loves creative worship, photography, singing, dancing, coffee breaks, and listening to people’s stories. She appreciates valuable time with her husband and her almost six-year-old daughter. She is blessed with an open heart to listen to God, to reach out to all people, and to build a beloved community.
