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.”
That early research not only guided how she approaches theological history as an academic but also how she approaches work as an administrator. Before joining Boston University, Pak was vice dean at Duke University’s Divinity School, where she was also previously a tenured professor.
“As a person who’s half Korean, I approach [administrative] work with an eye to diversity,” says Pak. “It’s a real passion of mine to enter that sphere and not assume that every policy or every structure is fair but to look for the gaps and loopholes and to figure out how to rethink how we might do things in a way that better supports all persons.”
