Rev. Pyoungkang Kim is a local licensing pastor and serves on the Board of Church and
Society for the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. Pyoungkang joined Mount Zion
UMC in July 2025 and brings 12 years of ministry experience. His ministries have
primarily focused on education and pastoral care in church settings.
Pyoungkang graduated from Drew University. He received the Frederick Buechner Prize
for Excellence in Preaching on April 25, 2023, and the Award for Excellence in or
Promise for Pastoral Ministry on April 23, 2025, at Drew Theological School.
Before coming to the United States in 2021, Pyoungkang earned his Bachelor of
Theology from Methodist Theological University and a Master of Theology from Yonsei
University in South Korea. His heart is for building a faith community where members
live out Jesus’s teachings and reach out to those in need.
Pyoungkang is married to Yeosun Lee, who is also a seminarian at Drew University.
They have two children—Hari Kim and Leina Lia Kim—and enjoy reading and walking
together as a family.
Justin Brown is a 2017 graduate of Westminster Choir College, Cum Laude,
where he received a Bachelor of Music in Piano. Justin resides in Somerset,
NJ.
Justin started playing the piano at age 9. He is a versatile in all musical genres
and he enjoys improvising. He also has performed and accompanied at
multiple places around New Jersey and America, including Carnegie Hall. He
also teaches piano to children and adults.
Justin became Mt. Zion’s pianist in September of 2015. Since then, he has
led the congregation in song, playing various hymns that the congregation
can sing along. He has also accompanied the volunteer choir called Voices of
Zion during large-scale events like Homecoming, Christmas, and Easter. He
has also accompanied solo singers and instrumentalists while at the church.
He actively continues to volunteer his services in the community.