With
a bedsheet spread over straw on the household floor in front of a warm
stove in Siberia, the future Moderator, United Church of Canada, was born,
1924. His parents had earlier fled Japanese repression in their native
Korea. Their forced journey took them, first, to Siberia, then to China,
each time migrating to avoid repression, oppression, and political revolution.
When communism clashed with young Sang Chul Lee’s new found Christian faith,
he escaped alone into Korea, his ancestral home, and never saw or heard
from his parents again. Wishing to pursue studies in Theology, Sang
Chul Lee enrolled in Hankak Theological Seminary, graduating, Bachelor
of Divinity, 1951. Marrying, 1953, Shin-Jah, daughter of the principal,
Hankak Seminary, Lee completed his Master of Theology, Hankak Seminary,
1956, then attended Ecumenical Graduate School, Switzerland, 1963, before
graduating with a Master’s Degree in Systematic Theology, 1964, Union College,
Vancouver, British Columbia. Moving with his wife and three young daughters
to Richmond, B.C., 1965, Rev. Lee took a post as Pastor, Steveston United
Church, where he preached each Sunday in English, Korean, and Japanese.
In 1969, Rev. Sang Chul Lee moved with his family to Toronto where for
the next 20 years he served as Pastor of Toronto Korean United Church.
When he was elected Moderator, United Church of Canada, 1988, he became
the first visible minority to hold that post. At the time he became Chancellor,
Victoria University, University of Toronto, 1992-98, the Very Rev. Dr.
Sang Chul Lee had spent his life as an outspoken advocate for human rights,
both in his adopted homeland of Canada and his ancestral homeland of Korea.
One of the great honours bestowed upon the Very Rev. Dr. Lee was the Korean
Overseas Compatriots Prize, 1999, in recognition of his inspiring leadership
and significant contributions to Korean-Canadian society. In this view,
Rev. Lee and his wife, Shin-Jah, enjoy a Cape Breton vacation during the
mid-1990s.[Photo, courtesy the Very Rev. Dr. Sang Chul Lee]