Every Five Years…

In September 1993, a small group of about 10 college students from Rutgers University began meeting at Chanyang Presbyterian Church (the name was later changed to Praise Presbyterian Church. Praise is the translation of the Korean Chanyang.) This small band of students spoke some Korean but was much more comfortable with English and with the help of the church formed an English-speaking college group. It was a college ministry, but a vision for an independent English-speaking congregation was there from the very beginning.

Five years later, in 1998, the college group ministry was renamed the English Congregation of Praise Presbyterian Church to more accurately reflect the fact that the group was growing older and now included not only college students, but also post-graduates, working professional singles, and increasingly, married couples with children.

Five years later, on September 28, 2003, with 50 members, the Eastern Korean Presbytery of the P.C. (USA) officially organized us as an independent church, named Praise Presbyterian Church (EC).

Five years later, by the grace of God, we’ve tripled in size and continue to grow, and the need to have our own facilities to meet, worship, and minister has become clearly necessary. On June 1, 2008, we moved to our current rental site and launched Project Ecclesia, our building project.

And after another 5 years, God willing, we hope to be in our own building.

Presbyterian Church (USA)

Presbyterian beliefs adhere to the following principles: the sovereignty of God, the authority of the scripture, justification by grace through faith, and the priesthood of all believers. We proclaim that God is the supreme authority throughout the universe. Our knowledge of God and God’s purpose for humanity come from the Bible, particularly as revealed in the New Testament through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our salvation (justification) through Jesus is God’s generous gift to us and not the result of our own accomplishments. It is everyone’s job – ministers and lay people alike – to share this Good News with the whole world. For more information, please check out the PC(USA) site And for specific PC(USA) theology information click here