심원섭 목사는 2017년부터 신시내티 중앙장로교회를 담임하고 있습니다.

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그는 서강대학교 경영학과를 졸업한 후 대한항공에 공채 입사하여 여객 영업 부문에서 근무하였습니다. 이후 목회자로서의 부르심을 받고 총신대학교 신학대학원 M.Div 과정에 입학하였으며, 어린 시절부터 출석하던 개포동교회(담임목사 이풍인)에서 사역을 시작하였습니다. 그는 M.Div 과정을 수석으로 졸업한 뒤 목사 안수를 받았고, 수석 졸업자에게 주어진 기회를 통해 유학길에 올라 Southern Baptist Theological Seminary에서 Th.M 과정을 시작하였습니다. 동시에 루이빌 새한장로교회(PCA, 한인중부노회)에서 영어회중 및 행정 사역을 담당하였습니다.

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그러던 가운데, 인근 신시내티에 성도들이 모두 흩어져 사실상 문을 닫게 된 교회가 있다는 소식을 듣게 되었습니다. 그는 하나님께서 자신을 미국으로 보내신 이유가 '이 때를 위함이 아닌가'(에스더 4:14)라는 마음으로 기도하기 시작했습니다. 신비하게도 비슷한 시기, 새한장로교회 김상헌 담임목사 역시 그에게 신시내티 사역을 제안하였고, 심원섭 목사는 이를 부르심의 내적·외적 확인으로 여기고 신시내티에서의 여정을 시작하게 되었습니다.

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당시 교회에는 청년 5명만 남아 있었고, 사실상 ‘재개척’에 가까운 시작이었습니다. 그러나 하나님의 은혜로 교회는 다시 세워지기 시작했고, 이제는 3040세대를 주축으로 온 세대를 품은 공동체로 자리매김하게 되었습니다.

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심원섭 목사는 담임목회와 함께 학업도 이어가 Southern Baptist Theological Seminary에서 실천신학으로 Th.M 학위(2018)를 취득하였고, 이어서 동대학원에서 설교학 Ph.D 과정을 시작하여 2026년 박사학위를 받았습니다. 그의 연구 분야는 그리스도중심 설교이며, 박사학위 논문 제목은 Reframing Christocentric Preaching: A Homiletical Model of Promise-Fulfillment-Participation입니다.

 

그는 조지은 사모의 남편이자 세 아이의 아빠로, 취미는 목공과 요리입니다.

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Rev. Wonsub Shim has served as the senior pastor of Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati since 2017.

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He graduated from Sogang University with a degree in Business Administration and was hired by Korean Air, where he worked in the Passenger Business Division. He later sensed a calling to pastoral ministry and entered the M.Div program at Chongshin Theological Seminary. During that time, he began serving at Gaepo-dong Presbyterian Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Poong-In Lee), where he had attended since childhood. After graduating first in his M.Div class, he was ordained and received the opportunity to pursue further studies abroad as the top graduate of his class. He then began the Th.M program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary while serving at Korea Saehan Church of Louisville (PCA, Korean Central Presbytery), overseeing the English Ministry and church administration.

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During that season, he heard that there was a Korean PCA church in Cincinnati that was about to close after most of its members had scattered. He began praying with the conviction that perhaps God had sent him to the United States “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). Around the same time, and unbeknownst to him, Rev. Sanghun Kim, senior pastor of Korea Saehan Church of Louisville, also approached him about serving in Cincinnati. Wonsub Shim received this as both an inward and outward confirmation of God’s calling and began his journey to Cincinnati.

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At the time, only five young adults remained in the church, making it essentially a replanting effort. By the grace of God, however, the church gradually began to be rebuilt and has now become a multigenerational congregation centered largely around young families in their 30s and 40s.

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Alongside pastoral ministry, Rev. Wonsub Shim continued his academic studies and earned a Th.M in Practical Theology (2018) from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He later entered the Ph.D. program in Preaching at SBTS and received his doctorate in 2026. His research focuses on Christocentric preaching, and his dissertation is titled Reframing Christocentric Preaching: A Homiletical Model of Promise-Fulfillment-Participation.

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He is the husband of Jieun Cho and the father of three children. His hobbies include woodworking and cooking.