This dissertation seeks a solution for the crisis of division in Korean immigrant churches, particularly in the Presbyterian tradition. It argues that the church must understand and practice its ecclesiology as the community of the baptized through renewed worship emphasizing a Reformed and Presbyterian theology of baptism and that its theology and practice must be congruent.

Chapter one surveys the history of the Korean immigrant church and the issue of division. The finding that this problem not only plagues the Korean immigrant church but pervades Korean society both in Korea and America indicates that traits in Korean culture cause conflicts. Chapter two insists that two religions, Shamanism and Confucianism, have shaped Korean culture. It then examines cultural characteristics shaped by these religions and how these characteristics cause divisions in Korean society.

Chapter three researches the understanding and practice of the Korean immigrant church as a culture, a way of life—one more strongly shaped by Shamanism and Confucianism than its Presbyterian confessions. Thus, the Korean immigrant church has become a church without a clear boundary distinguishing itself from surrounding cultures, which is the main reason for the Korean immigrant church's suffering from serious divisions. Given this main reason, the issue of division in the Korean immigrant church is closely related to that of baptism. Thus, chapter four discusses the radical differences between the culture of the Korean immigrant church and that of the church as the community of the baptized. It advocates that the church understand itself and practice with a deductive meaning system to become a genuine Christian community.