Pastor Hwa-Young Chong

Pastor Hwa-Young Chong was appointed to serve Prince of Peace United Methodist Church in 2006. She was born in Seoul, Korea, in a Methodist-Buddhist family. Her grandaunt was one of the first two Methodist clergywomen ordained in the Methodist Church in Korea. As a child, she always loved to go to Sunday School and hear the stories of Jesus. She majored Christian Studies at Ewha Women's University in Seoul, Korea. Then she entered the Graduate School of Translation at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Korea. Upon completing the M.A. degree, she came to Evanston, Illinois to enter Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She was ordain in the United Methodist Church in 1993, and since then she served churches in the Northern Illinois Conference.

Pastor Hwa-Young feels deeply privileged to be at Prince of Peace. Ministry has been profoundly transformative for her, and she give thanks to God for the opportunities to share the joy of new life in Christ through preaching, worship, sacraments, fellowship, pastoral care, and evangelism. In her words, "people at Prince of Peace are devoted to Christ and delighted to serve those in need."

Beyond the local church ministry, pastor Hwa-Young is deeply committed to the ministry of peace and justice. She is interested in non-violent ways of resolving conflicts at home and church, in our communities and the world.

When she has time, she enjoys exercise, yoga, music, and reading good books. One of her dreams is to run a marathon, and she recently started running on a regular basis. She lives with two daughters - Dahee, 13 years old, and Minji, 11 years old, one dog (Sophie) and two cats (Bella and Meli).

If you have any questions about Prince of Peace. Please feel free to email her at:

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