Rev. Dr. Wayne Park

CHANCELLOR OF FULLER TEXAS AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF CONGREGATIONAL AND MARKETPLACE LEADERSHIP

DMIN, FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
MDIV, REGENT COLLEGE, VANCOUVER
BFA, PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN | THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH

COURSES TAUGHT: SF506, DMin, DGL, Vocational Excellence, Marketplace Theology

“Leadership, both in the marketplace and in the congregation, is not about selecting a community as much as it is about accepting a community. If it is healthy leadership, it will not be emotionally entangled as much as it will be geographically and circumstantially entangled. It will accept whoever is on the premises; faithfulness is of the highest order here.”

BIO

Wayne Park (DMin ’21) serves as chancellor of Fuller Texas. As a longtime resident of the Houston area, he brings to the role both on-the-ground experience and social research on the trends, economics, drivers, and spirituality that shape his great city. The son of a Korean-American immigrant entrepreneur, Dr. Park grew up learning to love both the marketplace and the church. Today, he is most comfortable straddling both worlds, seeking to connect Houston’s church leaders and marketplace professionals for the common good.

Before his appointment to the chancellorship, Park served as program director for Fuller’s De Pree Center (2020–2022) and as director of operations for Kingdom City Houston (2019–2022), a collective of more than a dozen churches and ministries that meet collaboratively in Houston’s Energy Corridor. He received his Doctor of Ministry from Fuller, where he focused on Faith, Work, Economics, and Vocation under Dr. Mark D. Roberts. He is ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church and has served in leadership positions for local, state, and national boards, commissions, and associations.

Dr. Park is married to Ashley and together they have two teenagers, Austin and Zoe. He enjoys long runs after church on Sunday with his Lab-Viszla, Bailey, along Houston’s bayou trails (yes, even in the heat and humidity).

Faculty page here

Kingdom City Houston is a collective of international church congregations…

that meet, gather, and worship under the same roof intentionally, while maintaining separate distinct identity (in some cases even denominationally), all with a vision of sharing space as well as sharing a vision of “celebrating diversity, orchestrating unity, and demonstrating the Kingdom of God.” Due to the size of our property (8 acres) with three large worship spaces, we are able to accommodate almost a dozen churches and ministries on rotation, with room to grow, all with the intent of facilitating a collaborative Kingdom co-churching environment.

One of the most striking features of Kingdom City is its incredible international breadth. Due to its location on the “International Corridor” of Houston, TX, it has naturally drawn many immigrant congregations seeking to lease time in the church. Rather than facilitate a mere rental relationship, the founders of Kingdom City decided to approach these interested congregations with a vision of partnership and even co-ownership. The flagging original predominantly white congregation found itself now in league side-by-side with South American, African, Asian, Eastern European congregations and more. The 45,000 square foot facility which once housed no more than one hundred worshippers now became filled with over a thousand international worshippers on any given weekend.

To facilitate this shared work and vision, a neutral, “third party management ministry” (a separate 501c3) that was named, “Kingdom City” was incorporated, expressly with the purpose of furthering the vision, all the while serving, supporting, and undergirding the churches that meet in this space, along with providing the management necessary to upkeep the facility that hosts such an operation.

Today Kingdom City is being recognized nationwide as a bellwether for things to come, as more and more heritage church buildings proliferating the North American landscape struggle to adapt and survive in changing times, even as the neighborhoods they were planted in are increasingly populated by immigrant peoples. Kingdom City offers ecclesiological hope for an ongoing future of relevance, adaptation, and missional perspective for a rapidly diversifying North America. We truly believe there is tremendous hope here for the church in North America, and that what we are discovering needs to be shared for the vibrancy and renewal of the Church.

Revelation 7:9

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands"

For more info, visit www.kingdomcityhouston.org