NEW COVENANT
FELLOWSHIP CHURCH
Brian Lee
| Senior Pastor
Pastor Brian began his pastoral journey at NCFC in 2005 as a pastoral intern for the youth group at NCFC’s MD campus. Since then, he has served in several ministries both inside and outside of the church, as well as the Virginia campus of NCFC which he joined in 2007. After rejoining the Maryland staff in 2015, he has continued being the most versatile pastor on staff. His roles have included worship leader, youth pastor, young adults pastor, and official one-man Yelper for Korean snacks. All of his experience and service came to fruition in 2021 when Pastor Brian became the EC senior pastor and has been leading our church ever since.
Unlike the other pastors at NCFC, Pastor Brian is the only one who is a “PK” – Pastor’s Kid. This is especially evident in his love for people and ministry that has been a part of his life since he was a young man. After immigrating to Frederick, MD from South Korea in 1996, he spent some time adjusting to American country living which was quite different from Korean country living (feel free to ask him about the joys of indoor plumbing). Shortly after adjusting to his new life, he received God’s calling to full-time ministry during a short-term missions trip and his life has never been the same.
He graduated from Washington Bible College in 2005 and received his Masters of Arts in Christian Counseling and Discipleship from Capital Bible Seminary in 2007. In 2021, he earned his Doctor of Ministry in Ministry Leadership from Liberty University. Pastor Brian and his wife, Katelynn, have two beautiful children, Reina and Ryan, who Pastor Brian is always stealing snacks from.
Neil Kim
| Associate Pastor
Pastor Neil began his Journey at NCFC with KC in 1991, and God called him and his wife out of KC to join EC to serve as an older brother and sister in 1997. He is a home product of NCFC, and served in various ministries except children and worship ministries (he is allergic to kids and can’t sing..) as a deacon, elder and pastor.
Pastor Neil graduated with a degree in Information System from University of Maryland in 1981 and received a degree of Master of Theological Studies from Chesapeake Reformed Theological Seminary in 2011, is currently serving as a bi-vocational pastor. His day job is an IT System Engineer with Federal Government. He is married to lovely wife, Christine, and has three children, Christopher & Bora, Peter, and Grace, and two grandchildren, Evalyn and Jayden.
David Son
| Associate Pastor
Pastor David is from New Jersey, which is a fact he wanted stated first on his bio, and which he brings into nearly every conversation he engages in. After many years of up and down spiritual living, God grabbed a hold of Pastor David’s heart after he moved to Maryland in 2007. Soon thereafter, God reminded him of the calling to ministry the Lord had given him in high school and Pastor David joined NCFC as a pastoral intern in 2012. Since then, his primary focus has been on faithfully serving the young adults at NCFC. His prayer is for the people of NCFC to fall passionately in love with Jesus and truly surrender their lives to the Lord.
Pastor David graduated with a degree in Finance from the University of Virginia in 2005 and is currently serving as a bi-vocational pastor. His day job is with a healthcare company and in his spare time, he spends his time with his wife, Mina, trying to calm down their three crazy boys (Josiah, Connor, and Troy). He currently serves as the young adults pastor in partnership with Pastor Brian. His passion is for young adults to become regular adults.
Esther Lee
| Ministry Pastor
Having grown up at NCFC since she was in 9th grade, Esther has come full circle and now currently serves as the Children's Ministry Pastor. Every Sunday, she oversees worship, Biblical teaching, games, and activities for the future generations of NCFC. Her heart is for the children and she loves engaging them and teaching them Biblical truths each week. She loves seeing child-like faith demonstrated to her each week by her students and it challenges her to not overcomplicate the faith journey.
Esther has a heart for missions and has been on 9 short-term trips with NCFC and is grateful for all of her experiences serving together with the church community.
She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2011 with a degree in Biological Sciences as well as a Minor in Spanish Language and Cultures. Esther loves to engage with pop culture and see "God connections" in whatever she's watching.
Fernando Palencia
| Pastor for Spanish Ministry
Born in Guatemala, moved to NYC when he was 5, and moved to MD at the age of 15. Been in church his entire life and have served mostly in youth/music ministry. Fernando love serving in the church and he’s always looking for ways to challenge himself and challenge the church to improve the way we do things.
He love sports! Yankees, Giants, and the Argentina soccer club are his top teams to cheer for. Also, he love playing basketball, softball, football, and anything that requires running.
Fernando have been married to his amazing wife, Gilda Palencia for 17 years, been together for a total of 20 years. He have 2 amazing children, Sofia and Alejandro.
Brandon Lim
| Pastoral Resident (Youth Group)
Though young in age, Brandon is one of the longest-tenured members of NCFC on staff, having joined the youth group when he was 8 years old. Born into a Christian home, he made his faith his own at a youth group summer retreat. Since then, his passion for ministry grew primarily through worship, missions, and serving the youth, until he received his calling to ministry in the summer of 2022. As a pastoral intern at NCFC, Brandon hopes to pour into others the same blessings he received from so many teachers and pastors before him while helping lead the next generation of Jesus followers.
Born and raised in Maryland, Brandon considers the Baltimore Ravens the greatest sports organization in the history of sports. However, as noted above, he is still very young. He enjoys both playing and watching sports, particularly football, basketball, golf, tennis, and snowboarding. He also loves both listening and playing music as a drummer. He is a self-proclaimed “youngest and best” of three siblings. Again, he is still very young.
Daniel Lim
| Youth Coordinator
Daniel has been part of NCFC since 2010, when he was in 8th grade. Although raised in a Christian home and accepted Christ at a young age, it was in NCFC’s Timothy Youth Group that he found his zeal for the Lord. He has been involved in supporting both the children’s and youth ministry since. He has volunteered as a Sunday school teacher for the preschool ministry, serves as a leader for Elementary VBS, served as a Timothy teacher, and is now serving on staff as the Timothy Youth Group Coordinator.
He graduated from UMBC with a Bachelor’s in Biology and a Master’s in Teaching. After working as a high school teacher for 3 years, he’s realized that perhaps kids at work and at church are a little too much. He decided to step away from being a teacher to pursue other goals.
With all his years working with kids, he’s learned to appreciate having fun without being too fun. He's opted to fill his free time with various tabletop games, like Magic the Gathering or Dungeons and Dragons. He is always willing to chat and geek out with you. Just make sure you don’t mention Monopoly around him.
Chris Noh
| Children's Ministry Pastor
Chris grew up in a Christian family, where faith was a way of life. However, his relationship with Jesus Christ began during a life-changing campus ministry retreat while Chris attended the University of Maryland, College Park. For over 20 years, Chris felt God’s call to ministry but struggled to embrace it fully. After much prayer and reflection, he finally answered the call and is now pursuing a Master of Divinity at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Since 2007, Chris has been an active New Covenant Fellowship Church member, serving in various roles, including Deacon, Oikos Leader, and Promiseland Coordinator. Chris is deeply committed to following God’s plan for his life, serving others, and advancing His kingdom with faith and humility.
Alice Lee
| Admin
Alice has been part of the NCFC community since 2015, bringing her dedication to serving others, whether through organizing events, offering a listening ear to those in need, or spreading laughter and joy faster than the Sunday morning coffee and cronuts runs out.
Alice is a dental hygienist who spends her days brightening smiles and spreading kindness to all who cross her path. But her impact doesn't end there-- Alice is also a devoted puppy mom to Maru, her furry bundle of love and mischief. If you're ever in need of a good laugh, look no further. She's the one with the infectious smile.
When she's not busy caring for teeth or chasing after Maru's latest antics, you can find Alice strolling through the aisles of Target and Costco with a sense of wonder and delight.
Sophia Ra
| Creative Media
Sophia embodies using someone who truly uses all of her giftings to serve the Lord. Since she began attending NCFC in 2015, she’s channelled her love for children into being a dedicated Discoveryland teacher and her passion for dancing to form NCFC’s Dance Worship team, not to mention choreographing every single one of their routines in what one critic hailed as “this ain’t your mom’s body worship!” As a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Arts (MICA), she brings her creativity and media savvy to serve as NCFC EC’s Media and Assistant Administrator, breathing much-needed life and color into NCFC’s social media presence. She’s constantly thinking of ways to improve the church audience’s online experience through her many creative outlets.
When she’s not busy helping the church behind the scenes, you can find Sophia exploring cafes, playing tennis, fishing, and just fooling around with her friends. Sometimes, she even finds the time to watch a Korean drama or two!