Growing Healthy Asian American Churches

The Asian American church is in transition. Congregations face the challenges of preserving ethnic culture and heritage while contextualizing their ministry to younger generations and the unchurched. Many Asian American church leaders struggle with issues like leadership development, community dynamics and intergenerational conflict. But often Asian American churches lack the resources and support they need to fulfill their callings. Peter Cha, Steve Kang and Helen Lee and a team of veteran Asian American pastors and church leaders offer eight key values for healthy Asian American churches. Drawing on years of expertise and filled with practical examples from landmark churches like Evergreen Baptist Church of Los Angeles, NewSong Church and Lighthouse Christian Church, the book provides soundly biblical perspectives for effective ministry that honors the Asian American cultural context. Insights from such pioneering leaders as Ken Fong, David Gibbons, Grace May, Wayne Ogimachi, Steve Wong, Nancy Sugikawa and Soong-Chan Rah make this an essential guide for Asian American church leaders wanting to help their congregations achieve health and growth. Produced in partnership with the Catalyst Leadership Center, a resource organization for Asian American church ministry.

The voices of second-generation Korean Americans echo throughout the pages of this book, which is a sensitive exploration of their struggles with minority, marginality, cultural ambiguity, and negative perceptions. This book follows a group of second-generation Korean American Christians in the English-speaking ministry of a large suburban Korean church.

In this book, Dr. Matthew Todd looks into the anecdotal reporting of high numbers of Canadian-born Chinese leaving Western Canadian Chinese churches--what is termed the silent exodus. Some of the fastest-growing Canadian churches are Chinese, yet reportedly the highest dropout rates are among Chinese and Asian church adult ministries. This book recommends solutions towards the retention of Canadian-born Chinese adults in Chinese bicultural churches through empowerment. To address retention, the key factors that contribute to a silent exodus are established through qualitative research with participants of diverse church affiliations. Todd examines various models and proposed solutions the Chinese church has used to retain its English-speaking congregants, and gives attention to a theological basis for being inclusive in mission initiatives and for empowerment through passing the leadership baton. Todd makes some recommendations on the new wave of an emerging congregational model that requires negotiation with Chinese church leadership to give power away to English ministry leaders and congregations. He anticipates that this will permit transformational leadership practices that contribute to shalom, community transformation, and lasting congregations.

The American Society of Missiology Book Award Winner "Asian American theology is about God revealed in Jesus Christ in covenantal relationship with Asian Americans qua Asian Americans. Thus, Asian American theology is about Asian Americans as well, as human covenant partners alongside of God." In doing Asian American theology, Daniel D. Lee focuses on Asian American identity and its relationship to faith and theology, providing a vocabulary and grammar, and laying out a methodology for Asian American theologies in their ethnic, generational, and regional differences. Lee's framework for Asian American theological contextuality proposes an Asian American quadrilateral of the intersection of Asian heritage, migration experience, American culture, and racialization. This methodology incorporates the need for personal integration and communal journey, especially in the work of Asian American ministry. With interdisciplinary insights from interpersonal neurobiology and trauma theory, he offers a process of integration and reconciliation for Asian American theologies in service of Asian American communities of every kind.

Second-generation Korean Americans, demonstrating an unparalleled entrepreneurial fervor, are establishing new churches with a goal of shaping the future of American Christianity. A Faith of Our Own investigates the development and growth of these houses of worship, a recent and rapidly increasing phenomenon in major cities throughout the United States. Immigration historians have depicted the second-generation as a transitional generation--on the steady march toward the inevitable decline of ethnic identity and allegiance. Sharon Kim suggests an alternative path. By harnessing religion and innovatively creating hybrid religious institutions, second-generation Korean Americans are assertively defining and shaping their own ethnic and religious futures. Rather than assimilating into mainstream American evangelical churches or inheriting the churches of their immigrant parents, second-generation pastors are creating their own hybrid third space--new autonomous churches that are shaped by multiple frames of reference. Including data gathered over ten years at twenty-two churches, A Faith of Our Own is the most comprehensive study of this topic that addresses generational, identity, political, racial, and empowerment issues.

Fong's completely updated revision of his previously released Insights for Growing Asian-American Ministries examines the very latest trends and cultural realities in Asian American churches. Fong brings scholarly expertise and an in-depth knowledge of the special needs of this culture to facilitate more effective ministry in Asian American churches.

If you want to discuss development and transitions of a growing English ministry you’ve come to the right book. If recruiting and training youth workers, or development of worship, discipleship and mentoring is your concern – you’ll find ideas here. Many Chinese churches lack a long vision for their English ministry rooted in the Great commission. The author explores maturing English congregational models, the Silent Exodus, and why partnering is imperative. A celebration is given to the Chinese churches multicultural potential and challenge to reconcile the CBC hybrid culture. This volume has one goal – healthier churches to the glory of God.

This volume interweaves contributions from a group of scholars brought together for the 2022 Korean Studies Center Symposium at Fuller Theological Seminary. The collection provides a forum for scholars of Korean American Protestant churches to address key challenges concerning the sociocultural and theological formation of identity and mission as these churches continue to navigate their place in society in relation to others, including Korean churches in South Korea, mainline churches in the US, other ethnic churches, and multiethnic churches. The chapters address the following issues: who the Korean American churches are; God's vision for the Korean American churches; how to interpret Korean Americans' journey in immigrant church history; how heritage sustained them and will keep them; what the immigrant church should know in this post-pandemic time; and the hopes of the next generation.