About Noam Center

Noam Christian Study Center (or Noam Center) exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ by engaging the minds and the hearts of university students and faculty in Newark.

The Meaning of Noam

Noam (pronounced noh-AHM) is a Hebrew word for beauty, often associated with the beauty of God. The Psalmist David expressed his deepest yearning as “gazing upon the beauty of the Lord” (Psalm 27:4). The name “Noam” captures our conviction that Christianity is not only true but also beautiful. The Christian life is not merely lived in obedience to Christ’s commands but also compelled by an enrapturing vision of Christ’s beauty, splendor, and majesty.

Our Mission

Thank you for your interest in Noam Christian Study Center. I appreciate the opportunity to share with you our mission for students, postdocs, and faculty in Newark and the reason for Noam Center.

Ever since the dawn of humanity, face-to-face personal interactions have been the primary way of knowing people and forming a community. However, today’s technological society has brought unintended consequences to our spiritual and emotional well-being. In spite of the ability to communicate anytime with thousands of “friends,” loneliness has become an epidemic on campus. An alarming number of students suffer from anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and addiction. They are feeling alone in the hyper-connected virtual world and insignificant in the vast ocean of chaos. They have few people with whom they can confide their deepest yearnings, joys, and sorrows without the fear of rejection.

I believe that the solution to this contemporary crisis is a Christ-centered community nurtured by face-to-face personal relationships, where each student is known by name and is loved, cherished, and appreciated. It’s a community that welcomes not only Christians but also seekers and skeptics, respecting their freedom of conscience, encouraging honest explorations of difficult questions, and making space for them to come to their own conclusions.

Such a Gospel community does not happen in a vacuum, but in a real physical space, where students can easily drop by throughout the week, linger, hang out, and fellowship while engaging in activities they enjoy. Especially in Newark, because of its urban setting, such a space is not readily available. That’s why we seek to develop a small building within one block of the university campus.

Our mission is not the building, but to use it as a means to build a Gospel community for the next generation and make disciples of all nations. There is no greater joy in me than to see people’s hearts and lives being transformed by their encounters with the living Jesus.

I would like to invite you to pray and consider partnering with us in establishing a Gospel community in Newark, where the next generation and the generations to come can find a loving community of joy, peace, healing, and hope.

James Kang
A Slave of Christ
Director of Noam Center

“Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone;
but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
(John 12:24)