How Can We Get Rid of Our Pastor?

Deportation order lifted for Korean pastor

He could still lose job at Whitehall church -- and his visa.

By Kevin Amerman |Of The Morning Call

March 25, 2009

Rev. Chang Soo Han talks in a pew of his church, Korean Church of the Lehigh Valley, in Whitehall Township last month. (CATHERINE MEREDITH, Allentown Morning Call / February 18, 2009)

Immigration authorities have rescinded a deportation order for the pastor of a divided local Korean church, saying the person who petitioned to have the minister's temporary visa revoked had no authority to make the request.

The decision, announced Tuesday, marks an end to the Rev. Chang Soo Han's federal complaint against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and an immigration official.

Han, the head of the Korean Church of the Lehigh Valley in Whitehall Township since 2003, filed the complaint along with the church in federal court in February.

He and church leaders say in court documents that a disgruntled former church elder, Jon Chung Kim, sent a letter to immigration officials in June 2008, saying the church wished to revoke the visa it had obtained for Han so he could serve as the pastor.

The current elected decision-makers of the church, who make up the church's ''session,'' say Kim lost an election in 2007 but disputed the results.

Federal authorities did not name the person who petitioned immigration officials to revoke Han's visa, but Patricia Hartman, spokeswoman for the U.S attorney's office in Philadelphia, confirmed Tuesday that the petitioner wasn't in a capacity to make the request.

Lawrence H. Rudnick, the attorney for Han and the church, said government officials ''have graciously agreed'' to reopen Han's immigration status and he will continue his attempt to gain a permanent green card.

But Han, 45, of South Whitehall Township, may lose his temporary visa anyway. And if he does, his wife and 12-year-old daughter, who has been in the United States since age 2, would have to leave also -- unless Han gets his green card.

The Korean Church of the Lehigh Valley, on Schadt Avenue, has been in such upheaval over the past two years that Lehigh Presbytery, which oversees about 35 Presbyterian churches throughout the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas, formed an advisory committee in September to investigate problems at the church and propose solutions.

That group, the Administrative Commission for the Korean Church of the Lehigh Valley, decided in February to try to persuade Han to go on paid administrative leave for up to six months while he finds a new job. He refused, so the commission is recommending that Lehigh Presbytery fire him. The commission also wants to overthrow the current session members.

Han and the church petitioned Lehigh County Judge William E. Ford to block the commission's action, but he ruled Friday he has no authority to do so.

So while he's relieved about Tuesday's announcement, Han said he remains on edge about the possibility of losing his job, which would result in the termination of his visa.

The head of the administrative commission, Paul Lucia, could not be reached Tuesday, so it's unclear if the federal decision will affect the commission's recommendation to fire Han.

Han also continues to battle eight church elders in Lehigh County Court, claiming a faction of rebellious members disrupted church ceremonies in March 2008 by yelling epithets such as ''liar,'' ''two-faced evil one'' and ''Satan, leave the church.''

In the suit, Han claims he was punished for actions he took after learning in September 2007 that a married female church member allegedly had an affair with a church employee who has since left.

Elders accused Han of running the church as a dictator, making errors as a pastor and of lying to and ridiculing members, according to court documents.

The church also serves as a social and educational hub for Lehigh Valley Koreans. Some drive as far as 50 miles so their children can take part in Korean culture classes and Sunday school there, members say.