Presbyterian Profile: Jean Kim (1935-2021)
Remembering the pastor in purple this AAPI Heritage Month
May is Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month, a time for recognizing the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. This month, the Presbyterian Historical Society remembers the life and work of Jean Kim (1935-2021), the pastor in purple who spent 50 years helping individuals experiencing homelessness in the Seattle area.
The Rev. Jean Kim, Presbyterian minister and tireless advocate for the homeless, was born in the north of Korea in 1935. During her childhood, Kim reminisced that she “was raised like a little princess: eating special food, wearing beautiful clothes and living in three beautiful homes.” This life of extravagance came to an end in 1946, when, at the age of 11, Kim and her family escaped to the south as political strife enveloped the Korean Peninsula during the aftermath of World War II. They continued to move around South Korea during the Korean War, running from the occupying Communist army. Kim’s once-wealthy refugee family was reduced to poverty and homelessness.
Despite these harsh conditions, Kim focused on getting a good education in order to become financially stable and independent. “Those experiences prepared me to stand and walk with those who suffer,” she said. This is when she began to know the Jesus “who lived, loved, served and died homeless, leaving his legacy for us to follow.” By the 1960s, Kim had received college degrees in both theology and English literature.
Kim, her husband, and their two sons emigrated to the United States in 1970. She obtained her master’s degree in social work from St. Louis University in 1977, a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary, and earned her Doctor of Ministry from San Francisco Theological Seminary at age 71. The 300-page dissertation she developed over the course of her academic career became the basis for five of her 13 published books.
Kim was a forceful advocate for education, saying that, “In all my professional life of serving poor and homeless people, I have carried this belief: Had they acquired college education and job skills, they wouldn’t have to depend on welfare and food stamps. We are living in a day and age that will not allow us to survive if we don’t get an education.”
Kim was ordained by the Presbytery of North Puget Sound in 1987 at 52 years old. In 1991, with $1,000 and the help of the Seattle chapter of Church Women United, she founded the Church of Mary Magdalene, a nondenominational space for women experiencing homelessness to find community. Kim spearheaded the effort, working out of her car and holding Bible studies during ferry rides before leading the first Saturday worship service on January 19, 1991. Her congregation that day consisted of eight volunteers and five women experiencing homelessness.
The Church of Mary Magdalene was incorporated a year later, on Feb. 19, 1992, which led to the Rev. Kim increasing her community efforts. In 1993 the church obtained the use of a studio apartment, which over two years provided a safe space of rest for nearly 60 women.
On Dec. 27,1994, the Church of Mary Magdalene hosted a "Night of No Homeless Women," Kim's effort to show that such a feat was achievable if only the community would work together. They fundraised, established partnerships with local organizations, and worked with businesses to provide hotel vouchers to every woman they could.
In March 1996, Presbyterians Today magazine published a seven-page cover story about the Kim and the Church of Mary Magdalene. The article shared stories from congregation members, featured a profile of Kim, and brought national attention to the services provided at the church, like the lingerie ministry.
Kim retired from the pulpit in 1997 to enter into service with the PC(USA)'s Office of the General Assembly. The Church of Mary Magdalene continued until 2010, when the day center program it started, Mary’s Place, became a 501c3 nonprofit. In 2025 alone, Mary’s Place, provided more than 148,000 overnight stays, served more than 450,000 meals, moved more than 1,400 families to stable housing, and ministered to more than 3,600 children.
From 1998 to 2004 Kim was a roving homelessness advocate under the auspices of the PC(USA) General Assembly Council. Her daily uniform consisted of a purple T-shirt printed with a simple, straightforward message: "End Homelessness for All Women." This and "End Homelessness for All People" became the catchphrases of Kim's ministry — the purple shirt would become her daily uniform for the next 24 years.
As a speaker, Kim drew on her own personal experience as a war refugee to help her audiences understand the root causes of homelessness, and the nature of homelessness as a social crisis, not a series of hundreds of thousands of individual failures. She helped spearhead the passage of General Assembly overtures on ending homelessness and subsequently spoke on behalf of Presbyterian Women and the Presbyterian Hunger Program. She chose purple as the theme color of her work because of its Lenten associations with penitence.
Officially retired in 2000, Kim maintained a brisk pace of speaking engagements, intentionally staying with host congregations to limit expenses and to stand in solidarity with the people she advocated for. In "Jean Kim Says End Homelessness" (2000), which you can watch in full on Pearl, she reminds her audience that "Churches are wealthy, owning many rooms. Very few people can answer the question, how many rooms do you have in your church?" Her plain appeal was for each church to open just one room to their unhoused neighbors.
In 2015, Kim, with the help of friends, started the Jean Kim Foundation. The foundation, still active today, helps provide necessities, services, dignity, and hope for people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. Students receive help enrolling in college and access to apprenticeships, vocational skills, and literacy programs; the foundation also runs Shepherd’s Village, which provides temporary housing for homeless students on land donated by Lynnwood’s Good Shepherd Baptist Church.
Kim died in 2021, having lived a life steeped in selflessness and humility. In the days following her death, dozens gathered at a memorial picnic held in her honor in Lynnwood, Washington, where she had lived. The event took place at a building owned and repurposed by the Jean Kim Foundation — what was once a vehicle emissions station had been turned into a hygiene center for those who are homeless. The foundation that shares her name continues to advocate for those struggling with homelessness today, spurred on by the memory of their fearless founder, the pastor in purple.
The Presbyterian Historical Society, where the Jean Kim Papers are held, is honored to be the steward of Kim’s life and legacy.
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