Young Nak Celebration Church – YNCC

I’ve been attending YNCC for about 6 years and this church does some things pretty good and some stuff not so great and some stuff that’s sorta baffling.
1^st the baffling
— It’s baffling how YNCC feels so impersonal and program/​corporate driven. It’s baffling because as large as YNCC is, it ‘s really not that big… it has about 600 – 800 congregants on any given Sunday, staffed by like 8 – 9 pastors, tons of elders/​deacons and what they call «TLJ» members (personally selected/​trained volunteers). It’s baffling because you’d think with SO many hired help/​volunteers it wouldn’t be so.
2^nd what they don’t do so great
— This church is definitely geared towards the affluent and/​or white collared and/​or educated crowd, there’s no doubt about that. I wish YNCC was a more well rounded church… but you can’t have everything in life, ya know?
— It’s rather rigid… this church isn’t a place where you can readily throw ideas out and get some traction. If you’re more of the idealistic, visionary type of person, you’re better off at another church whose structure can accomodate that.
— YNCC is not very personal… you’ll hear/​watch a video clip about missions, or the latest and greatest project they’re doing (like Jefferson) but the church is rather absent when it comes to anything regarding people. Mmm, unfortunately, this place seems to be missing a tad a bit of the human/​personal element.
— Parking is pretty bad at Broadway.
3^rd the good
— YNCC is a well oiled machine. They truly are the McDonalds of the church world. You know exactly what you’re gonna get when you attend this church. You know they’re always going to start with a well made intro video clip, then the praise team always plays 3 – 4 songs, the pastor’s sermon has 3 – 4 points and always ends with a central truth, then you have tithe, and worship ends with 2 songs and then the YES bag invite. You know every quarter they’ll offer Pathway classes, Lifegroup sign up and also those seasonal things like a toy drive and et al. For those of you who like organization, stability and et cetera YNCC is the way to go.
— YNCC has great small groups. They put a lot of structure and support behind it.
— You can tell that whatever YNCC does, its goal is to do it well, no ½ hearted attempts, they want to produce a quality product.
As a church, I give YNCC a solid 3 star — for some, it’s a 1 star for others a 5 star… but in the end, always remember, there’s no such thing as a perfect church. So, wherever you end up — hunker down and as the great Gandhi supposedly once said, be the change you wish to see in the world… or in this case, church.

Pastor Michael Lee brings to today the wisdom of the past by employing some simple concepts. He brings to life the story of Jesus and brings god into your world today. By employing a passage from the bible, he interprets the message from the past and reflects on how it is relevant even today in our daily life. How you behave towards your family, friends, coworkers and everyone is a reflection for your spiritual growth and awareness.
His message (sometimes are tied to a common theme over many Sundays) are well thought out, with a clear message. I look forward to my visits to Young Nak because it brings a sense of peace and well being in an otherwise stressful world. Helps me start the week with a positive mental attitude and centers me to what is important.

Even though I’ve gone to church my whole life and read the Bible cover to cover, I am amazed at how the weekly sermons articulate nuances of the Word that I never noticed. YNCC also encourages its congregation to be a follower of Christ by reading and styudying the Word. In other words, the church doesn’t want to replace our relationship with God with simple fellowship and gatherings on Sundays. It wants its congregation to have a personal relationship with God that is enhanced by weekly church attendance and service in various ministries. In fact, it is these ministries that makes the large church feel so personal.

First, know that I am currently not a professed Christian. I am new to everything so finding a good church that is able to answer all my questions and provide me with guidance is very important to me. I’ve been trying to figure things out for almost a year. It is very unfortunate that I had to move from LA to SF within the first month that I really started gaining insight. I need Young Nak :((!
Now for the review.
Young Nak is by far one of the best churches that I’ve visited. It’s one of the only ones that I really enjoyed almost all aspects about. I leave this church every time I get a chance to visit in LA feeling rejuvenated and revived. Literally!
The church is very well established and I would say «advance.» They have a really good system going on and a really good way of organizing everything from their parking, sermons, to their brochures. It really helps especially for being a new person! This church is VERY large and having all these information accessible helps to make things easier and I guess easy the nerves.
The praise team is pretty amazing and this might be because of their developed sound system and aesthetically pleasing stage, but as cheesy as it may sound, I really «feel» it when I hear the songs.
The overall sermons by Pastor Michael is an A+++. I wish there were pastors like him everywhere. Then finding a church wouldn’t be so hard. As previously stated, I am new and I really need someone who can spend an hour or so talking about a specific topic and providing good relevant details and supporting passages or examples to help me better gage in what is going on. Pastor Michael provides a very good mix of energy, humor, and knowledge in the messages he works to convey.
The welcome table/​team is also really great. When I was first here I went to the table and they helped me with a goodie bag with a bible, book, brochures, etc and also gave me a tour of the campus. I though that this was really nice and something that not a lot of churches do. They don’t really provide tours or actual welcomes. Sometimes you’re just standing around like an outsider or creep just trying to look for the restroom. YNCC was really good about this.
Parking for this place is really difficult, but honestly, I cannot blame them. From what I recall, I think they have about 11 parking lots that they have on a little map, but this church just has so many attendees for all different service times that it becomes difficult. I can’t blame them for attracting so many believers.
The one thing that I didn’t really like is that this church IS big and there are a LOT of people which makes it DIFFICULT to meet new people especially during worship (beofre/​after, etc). But like I said my value as of right now is more of figuring out where I stand and just overall more about God, not so much the social aspect of things.

Apparently my brother holds this place in slightly higher regards than I
Let me start by saying I haven’t been here in YEARS… and there are reasons for that. Yes, it’s a mega church, yes it has remodeled buildings that are nice to sit in, yes it has cool concerts every now and then.
But I grew up in this church from day care til college. There are genuinely good people here, but as a whole, I thought it was pretentious, judgmental, and lacking. It’s like being in teenage TV show. The poor newcomers looked neglected and unsure where to go, what to do… There is so much gossip, not just amongst the kids, but the adults as well. Maybe it’s partly due to everyone being Korean and nosy. The place gives a vibe that people want to portray themselves as having a great life, look how successful my kid is… blahblahblah
I thought church was a place for the broken, vulnerable, the imperfect to come and seek peace in their faith. It’s like the religion doesn’t make church unpleasant, but the members do. An example is a retreat. I guarantee you the last night there, people will start crying, apologizing, vowing to be better Christians. Once the tears dry up, it’s back to the same old lifestyle
While I was in middle school to college, there wasn’t a steady, resident pastor. Every year or so, we’d have a new person on the pulpit. Most of the time I was bored to death or didn’t understand the sermon’s message. It didn’t engage the listener as I would want. More often than not, they’ll catch your attention by playing a clip from a movie to try and illustrate a vaguely relevant point. It all felt so routine and redundant. At one point, I wanted to seek advice from the high school pastor, but he was so preoccupied by his gizmos and gadgets he just gave me some cliché advice and went back to what he was doing.
I understand there are people that really enjoy going to YN and have a fulfilling experience. Not I. I did like the gook-​bap though.

This church is on the CUTTING EDGE of multimedia. Stage props. Videography. Full color banners. Light shows. Powerpoint animation. Whiz bang blippity zoop puzzle bobble superbowl commercial. Everything short of lasers and Fantasmic! To the guys in that department, you are doing some unbelievable work pushing the envelope.
Like another reviewer said, Rick Warren style.
I grew up here, and I had to leave, I thought I was getting A.D.D. from the electronic overdose. But you can’t go back to the old transparency machine and an overhead spotlight. You have to make it more snazzy year after year. Just a suggestion, tone it down for a week and see what happens. This is coming from someone who works around some of the world’s most advanced snazzy military machines.
I still visit anyway. I don’t hate the church members. I don’t hate Jesus. I don’t resent growing up at YN. It’s just not for me, just like some restaurants on Unilocal only get 5-​stars from people who have an acquired taste for that place’s food. It’s my honest personal preference, and all those added together give an accurate sum of reviews and star rating.
To all my friends who still go here, I miss you very much, which is why I still feel the need to visit.

I moved to LA over 3 years ago from the south and checked out about 5 other Korean American churches before settling down at YNCC. Why do you ask? Well, read on son! haha
Many of the other churches in LA are pretty close-​knit with friends who grew up together or have many cliques. YNCC also has these as well, but one of the best things about YNCC is that there are always new people coming in. You can literally meet someone new every weekend and you get people from all over the country. I even met a dude that I went on a mission trip over 10 yrs ago and we ran into each other at this church if you can believe it!
The one main thing that people will have to realize about YNCC is that even though it’s one of the largest churches in SoCal, they are really organized and have so many incredible resources — whether it’s taking their variety of Pathways classes, serving in their many ministries, going on short term mission trips, etc. It really is up to you if you want to get involved and get to know people though — and getting involved in a ministry is a sure-​fire way to meet a lot of people and make great friends. You just gotta take that first step!
There are 5 services (4 on the main campus and 1 service off-​site in the AT&T building in downtown LA) and it seems over-​whelming and intimidating going at first, but once you get going regularly, it really doesn’t seem as big.
Pastor Michael Lee is the current senior pastor and not only does he keep his sermons in the 25 – 30 min range, but he consistently gives applicable and encouraging messages that can guide anyone wherever they are in their spiritual walk. (I personally love his cheesy jokes. haha) But he’s just really approachable and has such a humble & loving heart for this church. The rest of the pastoral staff at YNCC is so welcoming as well — you couldn’t ask for a better group of pastors that help build the foundation of this church. :)
Like many people complain though, the parking situation is tough at times, especially for the 11:00 AM & 12:30 PM services. You may have to circle a good 10 – 15 min round the church to find street parking if all the other surrounding lots are filled. That’s why another great option for service is the YNCC off-​site location in downtown. Never a parking problem there! But give YNCC a try — it’s a great church! :)

Although this church may look like a mega church filled with first generation Koreans, YNCC is actually a smaller section of church which caters to the English Ministry. The majority of attendees are native speakers who are accustomed to the American culture and traditions. Pastor Michael is an awesome speaker who uses great analogies, experiences and even humor to bring light to the gospel. His sermons are always supported by scripture; organized in a «fill in a blank» outline so that the audience can take notes and follow the sermon.
The downfall to YNCC is the terrible parking. Parking will most likely take you 20 minutes to find. Most likely you will find parking a few blocks away. A great alternative to the Broadway campus is the Olive branch at the ATT center which shows pastor Michaels sermon through a live feed.

Go if you are Korean… light asian. dark asian… white.latino. Go with a bunch of people you know or you will feel lost and isolated, especially if you’re at the other end of the spectrum.
Sermon is good, worship is good, events are good. Just try to be asian, and find a click. If you can’t find one, bring your own. :)

WOW! It’s been awhile since I’ve been to YNPC. I literally have been going here since I was an infant. My parents were an active member of this church. I never realized how big this church was until I moved to different churches because we moved down to Orange County. You’ll meet A LOT OF PEOPLE! The youth services are HUGE! They’re so big, they’re literally split up into different age groups. Not just one big youth group K-​12 but by different grades! I’ve met a lot of close friends here and even today talk to them after so many years. I had so many great memories here. If you’re looking for a new church and want to ACTUALLY belong in a congregation, Young Nak is the place to be!

YNCC has made it a very nurturing and safe place for me to explore Christianity at my own pace without feeling like I’m being singled out, or bad because I’m not yet Christian.
It is a Korean church, but I’m not Korean, and not once have I felt out of place, especially since the entire service is in English. And as previous Unilocalers have mentioned, the praise band is really good. My experience at YNCC has been eye-​opening that I’m looking into the adult baptism process.

Just went today to the 12:30 service and just found the experience lacking overall. I think it started out with the nightmare called «trying to navigate parking around the many square blocks of church ground» … I feel like you can often get a feel for people and a community by how they act when they’re in/​around their cars, and let me just say I met people neither helpful nor very nice. A number of people were pretty honk-​happy, and with me being not a very good driver in a completely new area, it was pretty stressful.
It was a bad start and first impression, and needless to say I arrived to service late. The message was okay, a lot of it was just reading out passages from the Bible, but it had a good main message. In general though, the atmosphere felt kind of cold, stiff and exclusive. This isn’t uncommon, from my experience, in Asian American churches. This is the kind that is big and has the resources but seems to lack the thread of community. People generally seemed to greet and chat with people they knew after the service, and that was pretty much it.
I think the place is really confusing and kind of cold for newcomers. It’s certainly a good place if you want to remain anonymous, because people do not actively reach out to new faces. There isn’t even a newcomers/​welcoming table, even though there are a bunch of others advertising classes with various packets and binders. Instead, they seem to focus more on converting potential unbelievers, which is good, but the focus on one alongside the absence of the other really makes it seem like the church is more about numbers than an appealing community.
Anyway, I know it’s often hard to get a well-​rounded view of a church, and I’m not really trying to judge anything. This was just my overall impression and experience. I don’t think I’ll go back again…

I hadnt been to church in awhile. My friends bugged me to come with them out here, and promised that no one really bothers you, asks you to give your info to them, etc. You can go in and out without anyone havent to know you came. I thought I’d give it a try.
First thing that comes to mind was that the praise band is freaking awesome. Having come out the past few months, they seem to rotate in and out, but its always really good. Props to them. Today they even had like a clarinet or oboe or something like that. It was awesome.
Second thing that comes to mind, and to me the most important, is the pastor is seriously great. Pastor Michael I think. He’s a great speaker, and his messages are always very good, hit home, and are nice and short (he cant go too long because he’ll have another service coming in soon). Even after going to one of the morning services, I dont even come close to falling asleep during the sermon (even if I didnt sleep much the night before). That’s pretty big for me. I’ve nodded off to quite a few messages in my time. One of my friends from NY came out with me one Sunday, and afterwards mentioned that he wanted to kidnap him and take him back to NY. He’s that good. The only thing I didnt like was right before the elections when he was sort of suggesting we vote yes on 8. I know he never really said it out, but it was pretty obvious where he was going with it. I dunno, I guess I’m more open minded about that kind of stuff.
Anyways, the church is huge and they have 4 services a day. I like that if I were to miss my normal one (11am), I can always make it out to the 1230 or 2pm ones. Makes things easy. And my friends were right, you can go in and out without ever getting bothered. In fact, I’ve been going for a few months and havent met one new person. I suppose thats good and bad. Good because I dont have to go through the awkward meets, I dont have to turn down invites to countless events, etc, but bad because I dont know anyone. I guess it’s not too bad because I know that if I ever wanted to get involved or join a small group, I could just sign up.
So anyways, if you’re like me (or even better, not like me), and you are thinking about going to a church, but dont really know where, try this place out.

Folks, I am not rating the church, I am rating the FOOD at the church.
The kim bap (non sushi california roll) is usually very, very good and costs just a few bucks. The various Korean soup dishes are not as good, but at $ 1, it is a phenomenal value. The Korean tea is good tea, and it’s free with any food purchase (probably free even WITHOUT a food purchase). I cannot rate the service, since it’s a high volume, outdoor cafeteria setting and maybe, just maybe you’ll exchange 3 words with a preparer or server.
I am biased, since I’ve been a member of YNEM since 1998 and a volunteer at Love LA since 1999. Even though I now live in the bay area, every 3 weeks when I’m in LA, I will attend YNEM, volunteer at Love LA and when possible, sit down and enjoy the kim bap with my friends.

Young Nak Celebration Church is an independent English ministry of Young Nak Presbyterian Church, and member of the Korean Presbyterian Church of USA (KPCUSA). It is the largest Korean American megachurch in the nation, and it is my second home. Over 9,000+ attend each Sunday. YN’s Education Department oversees over 6,000 students, all the way from Nursery-​Kindergarten, elementary (C-​Zone I and II), Junior High, High School (Journey) and its College (Connections) departments.
Orientation: The YNCC Broadway Campus is located right across from the Korean Ministry (KM) of Young Nak Church at Celebration Center. The main campus incorporates a large open-​air plaza, worship venue, adjoining amphitheatre, full-​service library, gymnasium, computing labs, administrative offices for the many departments, classrooms, pastoral lounges, and Café Missio. The YNCC Olive Campus is located in downtown Los Angeles near Staples Center.
Complete transformation for the better as Unilocal Star!: YNCC has been undergoing explosive growth since the new Senior Pastor Michael Lee arrived last year. Led by Pastor Michael and associate pastors, I have felt genuine changes sweeping Young Nak, and each Sunday shows continuous waves of new faces (and I know several Unilocalers already!), coming to experience something bigger than ourselves.
Exciting dynamic changes within the church as Unilocal Star!: reflects in YN’s Christ-​centered objective to be a missional community that will connect people to God and to one another, serve in ministry and extend God’s Kingdom. Each Sunday, YNCC offers six contemporary format services incorporating the latest technology and praise at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p. m at its YNCC Broadway Campus and 11:15 a.m. at its Olive Campus. YN strives to connect you to God and one another in your search by offering a plethora of ministries to meet you at your point in life through Catalyst Singles, Women’s, Marriage and Family and the heart of YN, in its LifeGroups. This gives YN a family feel, and is a special place for us to search and find meaning in our lives in a supportive environment. The best experience of my life so far, is participating in Christ-​centered community here at YNCC.
Pastor Michael Lee as Unilocal Star!: is extremely approachable and his teaching style is refreshing, since he has a welcoming heart for you – especially, those who have never heard or are returning to seeking God’s movement in your life. His messages are always relevant and I personally know that he has a heart to see you (even if you haven’t investigated Christianity or not, or even if you’re just curious), to welcome you with no judgments or conceptions. YNCC continues to transform, and you can feel the movement in the air and it is tremendously uplifting to be a part of it.
YNCC People as Unilocal Star!: as a community, we won’t pressure or judge you, since Christ clearly did not. I know YN is making huge efforts to be open to all, to be reflective of what Christ called the church to be. There also are supportive and training classes, respectively called Starting Point and Pathways, designed to give you great leeway to explore Christianity (if you are a skeptic), help new followers and guide those returning. These in addition to other courses will undoubtedly help, support and equip you as you looking and become part, of a warm and genuinely Christ-​centered community.
Heart for you, the community and world as Unilocal Star!: YNCC has shown its extraordinary commitment to reach the underprivileged and disenfranchised, local children, homeless and many others through its extensive Love Ministries at more than seven locations in Los Angeles. We also are unique since many of us commit to sending, mobilizing and training missionaries throughout the world. I have friends and myself, who I participate in taking joy in reaching out to those whose Christ would have touched with His hands. We go throughout LA after church to Skid Row and parks every Sunday to outreach.
Active contributor to the LA community and world as Unilocal Star!: YN is also highly unique, since it is at the forefront of welcoming everyone. We regularly host the YNCC LIVE! music concerts with all proceeds benefiting North Korean refugees and others in need, featuring famous Korean and Asian American emerging r&b, rap and pop music artists as partners on site, open to all.
Overall, Young Nak is a genuine Christ-​centered community undergoing a rapid transformation. It is a place for you to be welcomed as part of a community when there is none in LA, and from my experience, is a vibrant place where you can feel, seek direction and be supported by others just like you. Our doors are always open, regardless of who you are, your background or preconceptions. For a multimedia overview of YNCC, check out:
for the Broadway Campus and
for the Olive Campus.
Five Unilocal Stars for YNCC!