What is Storyline?
Storyline is a Spirit-filled church for young adults. Based in Seoul, Korea.
Vision
A world where the stories people tell themselves have been renewed by the gospel.
Purpose
To unite the Church to the greatest story ever told and empower believers to flourish for a hope-filled future.
Our Core Values
We aim to disciple and raise up courageous and compassionate Christians.
Be fully present.
In an age of chaotic distractions and infinite scrolling, learning how to be fully present in solitude or in community is rare but essential.
Sabbath rest and acknowledging our limits are also enormously important for being fully present because our hearts default to self-salvation and works-righteousness.
Identify your storylines.
Often times it is not our experiences that shape us but the storylines we tell ourselves regarding them. We want to activate your superpower to identify and edit your storylines.
Make the gospel your motif.
The gospel is the central motif running through the entire Bible and we want it to be the dominant theme running through your worldview and lifestyle. It alone gives you power to be realistic without being cynical, optimistic without being naive. Only the gospel gives us a self-image to be incredibly bold and tenderly empathetic. It alone confronts our pride and shame and properly reorders the affections of our heart.
Excellence with a sprinkle of fun.
To be salt and light, we believe the church needs to pursue excellence by listening to congregants and designing ministries and missions with empathy and creativity (via design thinking and contextualization) while being empowered and led by the Spirit. In everything we do, we also believe it's essential to glorify God by having fun.
Our Lead Pastors
Pastors Christian and Erin have experienced mountain peaks and valley lows. They formerly led New Philadelphia Church in Seoul, growing it from 80 people in one location to 600 in multiple cities. At the ten year mark, they were suddenly asked to resign. This started a hiatus from ministry which brought them through a wilderness of pain, disgrace, and being cut off from colleagues and disciples. After six years being hidden, they sensed God's call to return to ministry through various prophetic voices. Late 2023, they planted Storyline Church in their living room with a heart to mentor young people.
Christian specializes in preaching the whole counsel of God's Word and challenging people to live for a story bigger than their own. He also carries an anointing to set people ablaze with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Christian served 7 years as a full-time minister with Korea Campus Crusade for Christ in New York City and Seoul. He then led New Philadelphia Church for 10 years. With a big heart for the Great Commission, he's served on countless missions trips to Kazakhstan, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Cambodia, and the Far East. He's also been a featured speaker in Australia, America, and Hong Kong. Erin and Christian are married with two kids and they love rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles, his hometown team!
- Google UX Design Certificate 2022
- M.Div. Torch Trinity Graduate University 2014
- B.S. New York University Stern 2001
Erin leverages her empathy and communication gifts to speak the word of God to the heart with clarity and precision. She carries a prophetic gift to speak the heart of God, clothing people in wardrobes of dignity.
She led Emmaus Campus Ministry for 5 years, expanding it from Yonsei University to Korea University and Seoul National University. She also served alongside Christian as the co-lead pastor of New Philadelphia Church for 7 years. Erin has served in orphanages in India and evangelized to prostitutes and lady boys in Pattaya's red light district. She's also been a featured speaker in numerous youth and young adult retreats and conferences in Korea, Australia, America, and Shanghai. Erin was born in Queens and grew up in Long Island, NY.
- B.A. Binghamton University 2006
Statement of Faith
The Gospel
We believe that the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ is the central motif of the entire Bible. It is the foundation of our faith and the fuel which compels us to love God with all our heart and grow toward maturity.
Trinity
We believe that God is one, existing in three distinct persons who are co-existent, co-eternal, and co-equal: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Bible (Sola Scriptura)
We believe the Bible is the inspired and inerrant word of God in their original manuscripts, with supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
Christ Alone (Solus Christus)
We believe Jesus Christ of Nazareth is fully God and fully man. Christ is the ultimate protagonist of the Bible's stories. It all points to him. No one can come to the Father without Jesus the Son. He was born of a virgin, stewarded a public ministry of supernatural miracles, died on a cross to pay the penalty of our sin, rose physically in the body, ascended to heaven, and makes intercession for his people at the right hand of God the Father.
Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is a person with a definite identity and personality as a rational and functional being. He is not just a force, power, or influence. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ and empowers them with power to be witnesses through the baptism of the Spirit (often subsequent to salvation). We believe all spiritual gifts and anointing power are still in operation today as the Spirit wills.
Man's Condition
Human beings were created good in God's image and therefore carry inherent worth (Imago Dei). But by committing sin, the entire human race was subject to the slavery and curse of sin (Original Sin). We still carry the image of God but we have no ability to repent, trust, love and please God unless his grace comes and our nature is regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
Grace Alone (Sola Gratia)
We believe that salvation is by grace alone, a gift of God applied to every human heart whom God chooses, so no man can boast. God's election is not influenced or determined by our works or decisions, God sovereignly chooses to have mercy on whom he will have mercy. Grace is unmerited favor.
Faith Alone (Sola Fide)
We are justified, forgiven and counted righteous before God, through faith alone in the finished work of Christ. Our works contribute nothing to our justification. We are justified through faith alone but not through a faith that is alone. True saving faith is not void of repentance, holiness, and good works. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
For God's Glory Alone (Soli Deo gloria)
God not only initiates salvation by sending His Son to the Cross, he not only sows the seed through a gospel preacher, but he also makes sure that the soil of one's heart is responsive to the gospel. In other words, regeneration precedes faith. Many in the church today find this offensive. Salvation is of the Lord from beginning to end. This is why God alone is worthy of all glory.
The Church
We believe the invisible, universal Church consists of all who God ransomed throughout human history, both Jew and Gentile. All are redeemed via one covenant of grace, mediated by Jesus Christ, who is the substance of all Scripture's narratives. Commitment and service in a local, institutional church is essential (when one is able) to experience grace to grow. A faithful local church challenges and renews human culture from its trajectory of idolatry, greed, arrogance, and evil.
The Lord's Supper and Baptism
Jesus has entrusted the church with two ordinances: water baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism symbolizes what takes place internally for a person who identifies with Christ's death and resurrection. Full immersion is preferable when possible but we recognize all modes of baptism, including infant baptism. The Lord's Supper helps us remember the Cross of Jesus Christ. These are sacred practices that symbolize our salvation until Christ's return and are not a means of salvation.
Christ's Return
We believe in the bodily and visible return of Jesus Christ following a period of intense tribulation for the Jewish people and the Church. Jesus first came on a donkey as a Lamb but he shall return again on a horse as a Lion, bringing justice and taking vengeance on his enemies. He shall establish his kingdom on earth and usher in a mass salvation for Israel.
Final Judgment
We believe all humanity will partake in an ultimate Judgment Day (the great white throne judgment, Rev 20) at the end of the age. Those whose names are written in the book of life will enter God's glory in the new Jerusalem. But unbelievers will have their place in the lake of fire (hell).
