Rev. Dr. Paul Kim

Rev. Dr. Paul Kim
Mar. 31, 1958 - Feb. 6, 2014
Resident of Santa Clara
The Reverend Dr. Paul Hyoshin Kim passed away on February 6, 2014 surrounded by family members at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Santa Clara, California; he was 55 years old and died of an aneurysm.Paul Kim, son of the late Reverend John Kim and Grace Kim, was born in South Korea on March 31, 1958, and immigrated to the States with his family when he was 10 years old. He attended Princeton Theological Seminary where he earned a Master of Divinity (M.Div) degree and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree. He is also a graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School (San Jose, CA) and Bethany Bible College (Santa Cruz, CA).
Rev. Kim was an ordained minister of The United Methodist Church (UMC) and was serving as the pastor of the Campbell UMC (Campbell, CA) at the time of his passing. He previously served as the pastor of the First UMC of Ridgefield Park, NJ and the Little Falls UMC, also in New Jersey. In addition to his pastoral work, Rev. Kim devoted his life to peace and social justice work. He served as the first executive director of the National Campaign for Peace and Reunification of Korea sponsored by the National Council of Churches, and was at the forefront of promoting dialogue and reconciliation among people of faith in North Korea, South Korea, the United States and other superpowers in the region. He believed strongly in the need for interfaith dialogue and traveled to Turkey with the Interfaith Dialog Center in New Jersey to speak with Muslim religious leaders. He also served on the board of directors of GreenFaith, an interfaith coalition for the environment.
He will be remembered mostly for his gentleness, compassion and warmth by the many people from all walks of life who encountered him. He believed passionately in the basic goodness that resides in each person and delighted in sharing meals and personal stories with those around him.
He is survived by his wife of 29 years Dr. Christie Y. Huh, and his mother Mrs. Grace Kim of New York City, brother Hyosung Kim of South Korea and sister Jinsoo H. Kim of New York City, as well as by his pet therapy dog Evie.
A memorial service to celebrate his life will be held at Campbell United Methodist Church, 1675 Winchester Boulevard, Campbell, California 95008 on Sunday, February 9, 2014 at 5 p.m., with a reception to follow. Interment will be at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City at a later date. Please sign guestbook at: