Rooted church began in 2025 when a bunch of us from all over the country moved to Atlanta because we fell in love with Jesus and the vision of an Acts 2 church in every college town. We’re all about building bridges of trust and bringing the gospel to students in Atlanta. Oh, and we take table fellowship pretty seriously!
our ATLanta Story
Leadership Team
Peter Choi
One of my earliest childhood memories is singing in front of lots of people during Christmas at church. My parents tell me I was about four years old, and they have a picture of me in mismatched socks and traditional Korean clothing, standing in front of a bunch of people with my mouth wide open. It’s characteristic of my experience growing up in a Christian home: an odd combination of performance, seasonal obligation, and duty, underscored by a sneaking suspicion that none of it really mattered much.
That sneaking suspicion eventually helped me realize that I needed to be fully committed to Jesus, and I surrendered my whole life to Christ during my sophomore year at UC Berkeley. Since then, life has been rich with purpose and meaning. I’ve served in many different ministries at our church since 1991, and it’s been an incredible blessing to help folks find purpose and meaning in a fully-committed relationship with Christ.
What an incredible run it has been so far! - my wife Hope and I look forward to how God will continue to lead us.
Fun Facts: I lived in Colombia for three years as a child, making me more fluent in Spanish than Korean, though I am pretty rusty in both now
Hobby: I rescue/repurpose prematurely abandoned electronic equipment
hope Choi
I grew up with hardly any religious background. And being a good student until my college years, I took in everything I was taught at school without question. I placed Jesus in a similar category as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and other holiday figures, largely because they all appeared in seasonal TV movies.
However, in middle school our family started attending church. At first I couldn’t believe that people actually believed the stuff I would hear but through genuine Christian adults who actually lived out what I was learning on Sundays, I came to believe in the existence of God and Jesus his Son. In college, I gained a fuller understanding of the gospel and made my salvation decision my junior year. It’s been an amazing journey ever since. I went from an internally dead survivalist to really experiencing life a hundredfold in Christ.
We have two grown sons. The older is now married and part of our church ministering to students at Purdue, and our younger son recently graduated from college. We’re excited to see how God will lead our church as we try to say yes to wherever he leads.
Likes: Listening to the three men of our family sing together, and sharing good stories with whoever is around
Dislikes: Lavender flavored anything
Jin Kim
My background is pretty boring. That's how you can tell I grew up in a good home: loving immigrant parents in a suburb with a nice younger sister. When everyone saw a happy person with the ideal life setup, I was wildly insecure and empty. And I didn't know why. So I was also confused. My parents dragged me to this church when I was in the 7th grade. Seeing adults much younger than grandmas excited about God was a new one for me so this got me interested. This interest led me to pay attention to the bible studies, and I finally learned why life felt off for me. Turned out my biggest problem in life is Jin. It even rhymes with sin. I could not believe that Jesus would die on the cross for a sinner like me. I still can't. I became a christian through this church's youth group. Since then, my life never got boring.
I went to UC Berkeley, worked as an attorney, and now I'm doing this. All of these are miracles. I'm also a huge soccer fan. If you ever come to me with a ball, I'll kick it around with you!
Yumi Kim
I grew up going to church off and on, but as a teen, I was focused on what the world said would make me happy—grades, popularity, shopping, and romance. But it all left me feeling empty. At 16, a friend brought me to youth group, and Psalm 1:4 hit me hard. I felt like the chaff, blown around with no roots, wearing masks as I felt pulled in many directions. That sparked my spiritual journey, and I made the decision to follow Jesus at the winter retreat later that year.
Since then, God has given me the mission of sharing this good news with other lost, rebellious youth like myself. 22 years later, even as my own kids are starting their teen years, I’m still living out that mission.
Myers Briggs: ESFJ
Enneagram: 8w7