IN MEMORIAM: Rev. Andrew K. Chun

July 12, 1970 – July 15, 2009

Rev. Andrew K. Chun, a genial, gifted Korean-born pastor, leading churchman, champion of the poor, and witness for Christ, died July 15 following a heart attack. He was 39.

Chun was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1970, and emigrated with his parents to the U.S. at age 7. The family settled in Anaheim, Calif., where Andrew attended grade school and high school.

He graduated from Calvin College in 1993 and received his Master of Divinity degree from Calvin Theological Seminary in 1997, the same year that he married Sarah Donghee.

In 1997 Chun was ordained to ministry in the Christian Reformed Church in the Han-bit Korean Church of Rochester Hills, Mich. In 1999 he accepted a call to Anaheim (Calif.) CRC.

Chun’s service to Christ came to full blossom when he became senior pastor of Covenant CRC, North Haledon, N.J., where he was installed in 2001. His sudden death ended a promising ministry all too soon.

Chun was fluent in both Korean and English, and was at home in both cultures. He was deeply concerned about the plight of the poor and the downcast. A man of warm, personal sympathy, he was an encouragement to many. Congregational evangelism was for him as much a matter of prayer as it was a practice.

Chun’s many gifts were soon recognized at both the classical and denominational level, and his advice was widely sought. He served Classis Hackensack both as its secretary and president. He served the denomination on the Faith Formation Committee, the board of Calvin Theological Seminary, and the denominational Judicial Code Committee.

Chun delighted in his young family. He is survived by his wife, Sarah, and their children Hope, 7; Noah, 5; and Hannah, 2.