A Korean Presbyterian Home in Plano
Dallas Young Nak Presbyterian Church gathers at 850 Lexington Drive in Plano, just minutes from H-Mart, Target, and the recognizable Plano water tower. The church, whose Korean name 영락장로교회 literally means "Young Nak Presbyterian Church," was founded by Korean immigrants on November 4, 1984 and has spent four decades serving a multi-generational Korean-American community in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Its ministry stretches from a sanctuary full of Korean-speaking adults on Sunday mornings to a Christian preschool, a Korean language school, and an English-speaking congregation meeting on the same campus.
The Plano location has been home since 2008; before that, the church met for sixteen years at 5639 Forest Lane in Dallas. The current campus includes a sanctuary, an education wing with room 107 used as a fellowship hall, and a separate Culture Center that houses AWANA, the Korean school, and the Silver University program.
Sunday Worship and the New Family Track
Two Korean-language worship services are held each Sunday, with the second service followed by the New Family Class. Visitors are welcomed with a greeting card at the door, introduced during the second service announcement time, and invited to a five-week New Family Class that meets in the New Family Room from 1:00 to 2:10 pm. After a shared lunch with the senior pastor in the fellowship hall, the class moves into teaching on salvation, prayer, the Word, the church, and small groups. Completing the five sessions is required for formal church registration; a separate eight-week New Believer Class is offered for new believers or those still exploring Christianity, taught by Administrative Pastor Yong-gon Cho.
The New Family Class curriculum runs on a rotating cycle so that missed lectures can be made up, and registration with the church is finalized only after all five sessions are completed.
From Infants to Twelfth Grade
The children's ministry is organized by age group and runs alongside the second Korean worship service from 10:45 am to 12:15 pm. The Infant Room (0 to 16 months) provides diapers, formula, and snacks, with a parent room available for nursing mothers that connects to the back of the sanctuary by rocking chair so a parent can hold and nurse while listening. The Toddler Room (17 to 22 months) lets mothers worship alongside their babies while watching the service on a monitor, with mats and toys set out. Preschool (ages 2 to 4), Elementary (K-5), Middle School (6 to 8), and High School (9 to 12) classes each have their own dedicated teachers and curriculum. Pastors and ministry leaders include Thomas Jang for middle school and Anthony Kong for high school, with deaconess Sun-hee Lee directing the infant ministry, Yunsuk Bae serving early childhood and the Love Fruit class, Yoonyoung Jang teaching kindergarten, and Hyeonju Lim and Helen Kim working with the elementary group.
AWANA on Wednesday Nights
The Young Nak chapter of AWANA, the international Scripture-memory program, meets every Wednesday from 6:15 to 7:55 pm in the Culture Center. The club serves children from age 3 through twelfth grade and works through graded handbooks that walk students from Genesis to Revelation. Each club night includes handbook time, a large-group lesson, and game time. Six guiding principles shape the program: gospel-centered, Scripture memory, fun and exciting, training children to serve, leadership development, and partnership with church and family.
The AWANA year typically begins in late August, breaks for Thanksgiving and Christmas, resumes in early January, and culminates in an awards night near the end of April.
Up-Dream: Young Adults in the Word
The KM Young Adult Ministry, known as Up-Dream (업드림), meets for Korean-language worship at 1:30 pm on Sundays in the EM Annex Building. Small groups called 순 meet after the service for fellowship and accountability, with additional leadership training on Tuesday evenings (assistant leaders), Wednesday evenings (group leaders), Saturday mornings (helpers), and Sunday mornings during the 11:00 service (discipleship class). The ministry's stated goal is to raise up young adults who train themselves, are trained by the Word, and build others. Up-Dream maintains its own online presence and Instagram account.
EM Church: Worship in English
Pastor Jinsung Lee leads the English Ministry (EM Church) at the Plano campus, with the Up-Dream young adult worship held in the EM Annex Building. EM members and visitors who prefer English-language worship and fellowship can connect through the church's main contact office.
Young Nak Christian Academy
The Young Nak Christian Academy operates from rooms 102 through 110 in the Plano campus and is licensed as a Christian preschool and daycare. Director Yoomin Jong leads a program designed as an extension of the Christian family, providing an academic and spiritual environment that nurtures a love of God's Word. The flexible daily program meets the developmental needs of each child in both individual and group settings. The academy can be reached at 972-481-0174.
Korean Language School
The Young Nak Korean School (영락한글학교) teaches the Korean language and culture to children of Korean-American families. Under Principal Yangji Suh, the school organizes classes from early elementary through high school and adult learners, with named classes ranging from 새싹반 (Sprout) through 장미반 (Rose) and an adult class. The school prepares students for the CBE Korean language test so they can earn high school foreign-language credit, with alumni from Allen ISD and Frisco ISD sharing their success stories. The school holds an annual Christmas performance and an Easter puppet play.
Administratively, the school maintains a Google Classroom portal for teachers, an attendance check system, online level tests for elementary and secondary students, and a contest-submission system.
Summer Camp on the Plano Campus
Each summer the church hosts a six-week day camp for students entering first through eighth grade. The 2026 program runs in two three-week sessions, with extended care available from 8:30 am and the regular day running 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Activities include weekly field trips with permission slips due mid-week, packed lunches on Fridays, and an end-of-summer showcase. Registration is handled through Principal Yangji Suh and the church office, with tuition typically due within five days of sign-up.
Silver University on Saturdays
슬기로운 실버생활 ("Wise Silver Life") is the church's program for adults 65 and older, meeting every Saturday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm in the Culture Center. Each Saturday includes a 30-minute worship service led by Senior Pastor Han Eun-jin, followed by two class periods and a shared lunch. Class options include golf, singing, ironing, line dancing, art, Go and Janggi, saxophone, film screening, table tennis, and pickleball. The program's vision is for seniors to live as a Spirit-filled community that holds the hope of heaven, and current fall and spring semesters run about twelve weeks each.
A Four-Stage Discipleship Path
The discipleship pathway moves from the New Family Class and New Believer Class into three further stages. Stage 2 is a 16-week Growth Class focused on one-on-one discipleship. Stage 3 is a 16-week Disciple Class conducted in small groups, designed to build the practical ability to live out the Word. Stage 4 is a 16-week Minister Class paired with a four-week ministry internship, designed for those stepping into small-group leadership, teaching, or shepherding roles within the church. Each stage ends with a formal completion ceremony, and the classes are offered on a rotating basis so that missed sessions can be made up. The Spring 2026 completion ceremony was held in early August in the high school room and gymnasium.
One-Year Bible Reading
Each year the church publishes weekly worksheets that walk readers through the entire Bible in a year. Worksheets are released each Thursday or Friday and can be downloaded online or picked up in printed form from a box outside the church office. Completed worksheets are turned in for grading and returned the following week, with a year-end recognition and small gift for participants who submit consistently.
Missionaries Sent Around the World
Since 1995 the congregation has sent missionaries to China, Kazakhstan, North Africa (later Jordan), Indonesia, Haiti, and a U.S.-based assignment. In addition to career missionaries, the church organizes short-term mission trips each year; recent teams have gone to the Cherokee, Japan, and Morocco. The Missions Department also supports denomination-wide relief efforts such as special offerings for Nepal flood relief, and members volunteer at Family Fun Nights for DFW-area families of children with developmental disabilities.
Vision: A Missional Community of Jesus
The congregation's stated vision is to be a community of Jesus that pursues being a missional church where the glory of God is revealed through five practices: life as worship, Word-shaped spirituality, world missions, willing service, and loving fellowship. The 2026 church theme is "성령 안에서 하나되는 교회" ("A church united in the Holy Spirit"), and the senior pastor's letters to ministry groups continually tie the year's programming back to that theme.
Finding the Church in Plano
Young Nak Presbyterian Church is located at 850 Lexington Drive, Plano, Texas 75075, with the church office reachable at 972-424-5400. Parking is available on site, and the campus is a short walk from the Plano H-Mart and adjacent to a Target and the well-known Plano water tower. Sunday services, weekday programs, and the Korean school all take place on the Plano campus; the previous Forest Lane location in Dallas served as the church's home from 1992 to 2008. Recordings of Sunday and Wednesday services are posted on YouTube, online giving is available through the church's online portal, and a mobile app is available for members.