Authors

Church of All Nations Staff

Jin S. Kim – Pastor and Head of Staff

Jin is the founding pastor of Church of All Nations, chartered as a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation in 2004. He was born in Korea in 1968, came to the US with his family in 1975, and grew up in Columbia, SC and Atlanta, GA in a multiethnic environment. He holds degrees from Georgia Tech, 1990, Princeton Seminary, 1993, and a doctor of ministry from Columbia Seminary, 2005. He is currently Moderator of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area and Chair of Cross Cultural Alliance of Ministries, serves on the boards of Greater MN Association of Evangelicals and Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches, and as a PCUSA delegate to the National Council of Churches, and was formerly president of Presbyterians For Renewal. He is also a part of the Jewish-Presbyterian Dialogue and the Special Committee on the Belhar Confession. He was a preacher at the 2004 and 2008 General Assemblies of the PCUSA, and has spoken at numerous conferences, colleges, seminaries, presbyteries and churches, both in the US and abroad. Jin has a passion for multicultural ministry and a vision for the visible unity of the global church. His household includes wife Soon Pac, Claire Nicea, 10, Austin Athanasius, 8, and Jin’s parents. He is an avid golfer, enjoys volleyball, basketball, racquetball & Monopoly, and will one day pick up ice fishing (?).

Mauro Souza - Assistant Pastor

Mauro was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1956, but was “born again” in 1970. He sensed a call to ministry in 1974, then served as a youth leader for the Independent Presbyterian Church in Sao Paulo, and graduated from Independent Presbyterian Seminary in Brazil, 1976. He was ordained as a pastor by Harvest Ministries in Orlando, FL, April 2006, and founded Seara (Harvest) Church on April 16, 2006 to minister to the growing Brazilian community in the Twin Cities. In August 2007, Seara Church merged and became a constituent ministry of Church of All Nations. He later completed the Commissioned Lay Pastor training. We thank God that this was a match made in heaven, and that Mauro will now serve the entire congregation as Assistant Pastor. He also serves on our presbytery’s COM. Mauro is married to Hae, also on staff at Church of All Nations, and they raise two teenagers together.

Dana Caraway – Pastoral Assistant

Born in 1980, Dana has the distinction of sharing the same birthday as Church of All Nations – Jan. 4! She graduated from Princeton Seminary in 2006 and is a candidate for pastoral ministry with Los Ranchos Presbytery. She studied for a semester in Korea while at Whitworth College, and spent a year in Ghana as a PCUSA Young Adult Volunteer. After learning as a padawan, er…intern, for three years, she now serves as Pastoral Assistant to our Senior Pastor. Dana is an amateur harpist, loves the outdoors and enjoys classical music, though she’s growing to appreciate Led Zeppelin and the Bee Gees – she’s finally becoming civilized! She’s a great sport and helps out in any and every way around the church. Everybody loves Danish!

John Nelson – Coordinator of Internship Program

Born in 1980, John grew up on a farm near Blue Earth, MN. Raised Lutheran/ELCA, he attended Bethel University, and did his M.Div. at Bethel Seminary. He met his wife Mickel’ in 2001 while working for ACR Homes where she still works.  He is partnering with Pastor Jin as the new Coordinator in order to refine and advance our amazingly redemptive and transformative Internship ministry.  He also leads a study on Revelation, eschatology and empire during our adult Sunday School hour, and serves as the administrator of this blog.  Unlike Jesus and the typical Minnesotan, John cannot put hammer to nail, but he was an outstanding intern at Church of All Nations (CAN) for two years and an excellent student at Luther Seminary where he is wrapping up his M.Th.  John is a candidate for pastoral ministry with the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, and serves on our presbytery’s Nominating Committee.

Church of All Nations Interns

Hikari Nakane – Parish Resident Intern/College Ministry

Born in Tokyo, Japan in 1981, Hikari’s family came to Chicago when she was 9. She became a Christian in high school and graduated from Bethel University, and received a Master of Arts at Fuller Seminary. She was a translator for 13 mission trips to Chihuahua, and is fluent in English, Japanese and Spanish. She has a passion for exploring the intersection of multicultural and missional theology, and is finding genuine community, healing and a renewed sense of a pastoral call at Church of All Nations. Hikari is having the time of her life leading our Campus Ministry, taking students out to coffee and getting involved in their lives. She also serves on our presbytery’s Mission and Witness Committee. Even though she admits to being a “functional atheist,” she is the envy of all the interns for at least being functional.

Maggie Chandler – Parish Resident Intern/Youth Ministry

Born in 1983 and raised in Elbow Lake, MN, Maggie grew up kind of anxious and athletic. A graduate of Northwestern College she leads our youth ministry full-time. She loves the youth of our church as they navigate their teenage years, and shares her faith honestly and vulnerably. She is also one of our Parish Resident Interns and lives at the “Girls House” near the church, a real place of Christian hospitality. Maggie is the best breakdancer on staff and patterns her life after Goofy. She also spent a year teaching English in Korea and is proud to have kimchee running through her veins. She totally fits in at Church of All Nations!

Jermaine Ross – Parish Resident Intern/Pianist

Born in Texas in 1978, Jermaine describes himself as “a passionate disciple of Jesus Christ eager to learn how to take care of God’s people and love them well!” He graduated from Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, TX in 2000, became a high school English teacher, and then started seminary at Houston Graduate School of Theology in 2007, while continuing to teach. Since 2004 he served at Woodlands Christ’s Church as Praise Leader/Pianist and later as Assistant Pastor. We can all tell that Jermaine is super sharp, has a critical mind, and is very talented, but he’s also relaxed, disarming and loves to share a good laugh. He came to Church of All Nations in 2009 to learn from “a leadership that has demonstrated commitment to relevant and intentional Christian discipleship and character formation in the context of real relationships, as well as engaging the challenges of the church’s fidelity to the gospel.” Amen!

Jeremiah Knabe – Parish Resident Intern/Cell Group Ministry

Born Presbyterian in 1982 weighing 12 pounds(!), Jeremiah grew up (and up) on a hog farm south of Jackson, MN. He was a leader in Fellowship of Christian Athletes in high school and at Augsburg College, and also worked at Wilderness Canoe Base, both strong Lutheran/ELCA institutions. Luckily for him, he also met his fantastic wife Lindsay, a swimmer at the U of MN, through FCA. Jeremiah completed his M.Div. at Princeton Seminary in 2008 and has completed three previous church internships before coming to CAN in 2009. He is under care of the Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys as a candidate for ministry. He loves anything involving water – canoeing, waterskiing, wakeboarding, scuba diving, sailing (and swimmers!). At 6′ 6″ tall and weighing tons (metric), Jeremiah in his very life confirms the continued existence of the biblical Nephilim…just as we suspected!

Anthony Elfering – Parish Resident Intern/Singles Ministry

A self-proclaimed citizen of the world, Anthony was born in Wisconsin in 1983, half German-American, half Korean, all amazing (he claims). He spent his first 12 years of life traveling the globe with his Army dad, mom and big bro Chris, also a member of CAN. He grew up in the Korean Presbyterian Church of MN from which CAN was birthed, graduated from the University of Minnesota, and is pursuing a call to pastoral ministry. He staffs the TGIS Singles Ministry, and has served as a praise leader from time to time. Even though he is the nerdiest intern with his passion for books and video games, Anthony actually thinks he’s hip. Unmasking self-deception is a key focus of his internship!