Ordinand Rev Kyung Mi Banks shares her story

A Testimony from Probationer Presbyter, Rev Kyung Mi Banks, from the Blackwater Valley Circuit, will be received into Full Connexion and Ordained at the Methodist Conference in Telford on Sunday 28th June, in her calling to serve the Church and wider community as a presbyter.

Kyung Mi was brought up in a north-east South Korean coal-mining village, trained first as a secondary school teacher, teaching Korean literature and language, then as a book editor and journalist in the Christian publishing industry, and travelled to Britain in 2001 for training as an overseas missionary with YWAM. At a Bible college in Edinburgh, she met her husband, John, and they agreed that God was calling them together with the Church as their shared mission field. For years, she served God “indirectly” in her term, supporting John's ministry and looking after family while one question never left her. “Lord, when will you let me work with you directly?” This question was guided by the time she and John, with two sons, Daniel and Isaac, took a family sabbatical year of studies at Cliff College, MA in Mission and Evangelism, after working together in several denominational churches.

“At the local Methodist Church, I watched all kinds of people, men and women of every background, step up to preach and lead worship and I began to wonder whether God might call me into the pulpit too. I enrolled as a local preacher in Bakewell and Harpenden, worked as the circuit pastoral worker in the Tower Hamlets, and then went on to train at Queen's College in Birmingham.”

Deep in her heart, she has always had a passion for sharing the Good News of the Gospel. From an early age, she witnessed the transforming power of the Gospel as it changed many lives, including her parents'. Like Moses, who initially hesitated and resisted God's call, she once struggled to embrace her own calling. However, she is now fully committed to God's purpose for her life and has wholeheartedly responded to His call "to do the work of an evangelist" (2 Timothy 4:5).

Kyung Mi Banks has spent several years in study, practical placements, supervised ministry, and ongoing vocational discernment. Their reception into Full Connexion marks the moment the Methodist Church formally recognises them as ministers in good standing, followed by their ordination service, which will be held at Shrewsbury Abbey on 28 June 2026 at 4pm.

Details about how to join the livestream for this and all ordination services is available here.