Category: Books

What is the UBF group? …This is difficult to answer because UBF is a loose network of chapters on college campuses around the world, bound together by specific ideology called “kingdom of priests and holy nation” (KOPAHN). As of 2014, UBF had 323 chapters, with headquarters in Chicago, IL USA. Each chapter has a chapter director, who in recent years is sometimes called “pastor”.

Out of 323 chapters, about half (159 to be exact) are nothing more than one family living by themselves near a campus, called a house church in UBF terminology. The other half of the chapters consist of two, three or more families. The largest chapters in the US outside of Chicago are in the Washington D.C. and Los Angeles areas. Day to day management of these satellite chapters is left to the local chapter director normally. The power center chapters, often called HQ or headquarters, generally have a hands-off attitude. Instead of going out to support the satellite chapters, each HQ chapter is seen as sort of a base camp, where members go to be re-charged in their faith. Monetary support is not given to the satellite chapters except in extreme cases. Instead, offering money is sent into the HQ chapters.

UBF is a private community. Rarely have outsiders seen what I have seen. Only students are allowed inside and as such only an insider like myself can describe what the community is like. Outsiders will typically see a conservative evangelical Bible study fellowship with a few strange additions that might be dismissed as just being part of Korean culture.
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“Until the lions have their own historians, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”
―African Proverb

Most of us former members have been written out of UBF history. Our pictures have been removed and our names have been erased. We are spoken of in the third person, as if we are dead. Thus, one purpose of this book is to tell the history of my former group from a collective former member viewpoint. UBF is actively painting the best possible picture of themselves to the world. This book is my attempt to reveal the nature of what is under all that holy paint. Healthy religion is about real transformation, not about painting over failures and shortcomings. These are the stories the group leaders do not want to be told. These are the stories the group will not discuss openly or honestly.

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You may be wondering what will happen if you read this book. Maybe you are confused about what I am doing. Should you believe the Brian who once spoke glowingly about our ministry? Or should you believe the Brian who now bashes and criticizes our ministry unceasingly? Should you believe the Brian who prayed so much and sat quietly in meetings, enabling our country to become a priestly nation? Or should you believe the Brian who now slams Korean missionaries at every turn?

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As the year draws to a close, I want to share a few thoughts about my new book project. The theme is confronting our inner Hitler. So if you can set aside Godwin’s Law for a moment, consider this intriguing idea: do you have an inner Hitler? If so, have you confronted your inner Hitler and removed the force from having power over your life?

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“It feels like we just got divorced!” That is how one woman described her feelings after leaving the group. Indeed, I was more married to UBFism than to my wife. Leaving, then, is filled with feelings of detachment, as if you were just cut off from the mother ship and are floating in space. It is possible to find redemption, however. Here are three things a former member needs to be prepared for: apology letters, hidden triggers and former member connections.

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