"Here I Am, Lord": Becoming the First Across Borders, Beyond Barriers

Rev. Dr. HiRho Y. Park is the Lead Pastor of Bethesda United Methodist Church in Bethesda, Maryland, and an elder in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference. She previously served for fifteen years at the UMC’s General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, leading professional development for clergywomen and racial-ethnic clergy, with a focus on digital education.

Dr. Park also held the role of Vice President for International Relations and Advancement at Huree University in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She earned a Ph.D. in Practical Theology from Boston University and a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) from Wesley Theological Seminary. She has taught in the Doctor of Ministry program at the United Theological Seminary, focusing on cross-cultural ministry and spiritual leadership.

An accomplished author, her works include Develop Intercultural Competence (2019), Contextual Theology: The Intersectionality of Gender, Race, and Class (2020), and Nevertheless She Leads: Postcolonial Women’s Leadership in the Church (2020). She is a clergy couple; her husband, Rev. JW Park, is a pastor at St. Matthews UMC in Bowie, Maryland.