Rebecca Jeong, PhD
Assistant Professor of Preaching & Intercultural Studies
Dr. Rebecca S. Jeong joined Portland Seminary in 2019. Jeong is a practical theologian whose research interests coalesce around the following themes in Asian-American theology and homiletics: Asian-American theology (non-Western theology), intercultural ministry, women preaching and leadership, modern homiletical theories for ethnic minorities, and the Psalms and contextual preaching.
Before joining Portland Seminary, Jeong served churches as a Sunday school and youth ministry pastor for more than a decade in South Korea and the United States. She also worked at a Christian middle school as a full-time chaplain in South Korea. She was an editor of homiletics and liturgics for the Journal of Asian American Theological Forum (aatfweb.org) from 2011 to 2015. She is currently a managing editor of homiletics and liturgics for the Journal of Asian American Theological Forum (aatfweb.org), and also a committee member for the North American Institute for Preaching, Worship, and Ministry (naipw.org).
In terms of academic publications, she is the author of Preaching to Korean Immigrants: A Psalmic-Theological Homiletic (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022). Her second book, A Handbook on the Practice of Arts and Preaching, a writing project funded by Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Teacher-Scholar Grants, is in progress.
Outside her academic work, Jeong loves going out for a walk in the park and enjoying coffee time with her little daughter (her little one enjoys milk and cupcakes instead of coffee!). A lifelong Presbyterian, she and her family attend Lake Grove Presbyterian Church in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Academic Background
PhD, Boston University, School of Theology; ThM, Candler School of Theology, Emory University; ThM, Presbyterian University & Theological Seminary (Seoul, Korea); MDiv, Presbyterian University & Theological Seminary; BA, Presbyterian University & Theological Seminary
Expertise and Research Interests
Practical/contextual theology for ethnic minorities, modern homiletic theories, history of women preaching, homiletics for Korean first-generation immigrants, Protestant liturgies, and worship leadership for multicultural congregations
Book Publication
Preaching to Korean Immigrants: A Psalmic-Theological Homiletic (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022)
Research Bibliography
Journal Articles and Book Chapters
“The Psalms for Ecological Virtues,” in Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology, vol. 77, no. 3 (July 2023, forthcoming)
"An Emerging Faith from the Margins," in The Journal of Asian American Theological Forum (AATF), vol. 10 no.1 (Spring 2023, forthcoming)
“Prophetic Preaching for the Faithful Life,” in The Journal of Asian American Theological Forum, vol.1 no.2 (July 2014)
“Eighth Sunday After the Epiphany,” in Preaching God’s Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year C (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012)
Conference Presentation
“Reclaiming Lament Rhetoric of the Psalms for a Broken Heart,” SBL (Society of Biblical Literature), Winter 2020
Journal Book Reviews
Invisible: Theology and the Experience of Asian American Women, by Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Theology Today (vol. 80, 2023, forthcoming)
A Postcolonial Relationship: Challenges of Asian Immigrants as the Third Other, by Hee An Choi, Practical Theology Journal (vol. 16, 2023, forthcoming)
Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity, by Robert Chao Romero, The Journal of the Academy of Homiletics (vol. 47, no. 2, December 2022).
Stumbling over the Cross: Preaching the Cross and Resurrection Today, by Joni Sancken, Homiletic (vol. 41 no. 2, Winter 2016)
Here I am: Faith Stories of Korean American Clergywomen, edited by Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Asian American Theological Forum (vol. 3 no.2, February 2016).
Making Room at the Table: An Invitation to Multicultural Worship, edited by Brian K. Blount and Leonora Tubbs Tisdale, Asian American Theological Forum (vol. 3 no. 1, February 2016).
Theological Reflections on Gangnam Style, by Joseph Cheah and Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Asian American Theological Forum (vol. 1 no. 3, November 2014).
Korean Preaching, Han, and Narrative (American University Studies, Series VII. Theology and Religion), by Sangyil Park, Asian American Theological Forum (vol. 1 no. 3, October 2014).
Preaching to Second Generation Korean Americans: Towards Possible Selves Contextual Homiletic, by Matthew D. Kim, In Asian American Theological Forum (vol. 1 no. 2, September 2014).
Postcolonializing God: New Perspectives in Pastoral and Practical Theology, by Emmanuel Y. Lartey, Homiletic (vol. 39 no. 2, Winter 2014).
Karl Barth's Emergency Homiletic, 1932–1933: A Summons to Prophetic Witness at the Dawn of the Third Reich, by Angela Dienhart Hancock, Homiletic (vol. 38 no. 2, Winter 2013).