revitalizing Asian American churches

Thanks to the AALC 2008 planning team for hosting the gathering of Asian American church and ministry leaders, and the kind invitation for me to present.

The title of my presentation was “Revitalizing Asian American Churches for New Generations”. I painted a big picture with statistics about Asian Americans in the United States, and shared about a random sampling of churches that are making notable progress in reaching the next generation. Here’s the slides and audio (download mp3, file size=23mb):

[astute listeners will notice that my slides here don't exactly match the audio; sorry, version mix-up; update -- also see the Los Angeles Times article for coverage of this event]

Other related resources mentioned:

• Crossing the Ethnic Divide: The Multiethnic Church on a Mission – a sociological book about how Evergreen LA is diversifying, great insider look
• Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church: Mandate, Commitments and Practices of a Diverse Congregation by Mark DeYmaz – new book to be released in October with great theological foundation and practical tips
• Asian American Church Report – free PDF download with registration
• List of Asian-led multi-Asian/multi-ethnic Church Plants (100+ less than 10 years old)
• Jumping the Sigmoid Curve (PDF) – article about the window of opportunity for churches/ organizations to grow

I felt like we only barely scratched the surface on many important issues. Well, we did cover a lot of ground in less than 45 minutes. Stay tuned here for follow-up thoughts, insights, and ideas as I unpack and drill down on related issues. Please add a comment on what you’d like to see discussed further after hearing the presentation.

There’s also a great opportunity for me to more easily meet with more Asian American church and ministry leaders now that I live in Orange County. I’d enjoy getting to discuss these issues in person — contact me by phone at 949-870-5726 or email dj@L2Foundation.org .

forming Chinese Churches for immigrants

Found this article, The Chinese-Church Phenomenon: Cultural Reasons for the Adoption of Christianity by Chinese Immigrants, but not sure who wrote it or what proper attribution to ascribe:

Abstract: This article is meant to examine the cultural and sociological reasons behind the recent wave of conversions to Christianity among Chinese immigrants and the subsequent growth in the number of Chinese Christian Churches. This article argues that history and modernity are the main “push” factors in bringing Chinese immigrants towards Christianity.

Take a drive down Jackson Road in Penfield, New York. The posted speed limit is 35 mile per hour, yet smoothly winding road encourages drivers to drive much faster. But don’t drive too fast. Otherwise you will miss a glimpse of a unique phenomenon in the United States. As you head left around a gentle bend, you will notice brick red Chinese characters on a grey stone backing.

Now, if you are passing by on a typical Sunday morning, you will be sure to see a full parking lot, mostly filled with Japanese-manufactured cars. An usher, dressed in conservative grey colors, politely nods and holds the door open for you. You walk through the doors.

You have now entered Rochester Chinese Christian Church, a medium-sized, non-denominational church located in the heart of the Penfield suburbs. The church started out as a small Bible study group, composed of a dozen or so Chinese Christians. Over time, it has grown and has added new structures, like a Family Life Center and fully-integrated sound system. The attendance of the church has also grown over time, now leveling in at a stable attendance of approximately 300 people every Sunday.

The church holds two services on Sunday morning – one in English and one in Mandarin Chinese. It also conducts Sunday School for all ages and has a Youth Group that meets on Fridays. The church engages in the Holy Communion once a month. It also encourages members of the congregation to be baptized. One can notice a difference between the English and Chinese services. The English services are generally more contemporary and upbeat, as the median age of the attendees is much younger. For example, on any given day, the English worship team may have a guitar, bass, or even a drum-set on stage. On the other hand, the Chinese service, in all practicality, only uses a piano, and often sings its songs from the hymnbook. The Chinese service also generally devotes a longer time to preaching. But that is besides the point.

What I have hoped to do was to paint a picture of my Chinese Christian Church and then to point out that it is not alone. There are many Chinese Christian Churches (CCCs) across America and more churches are sprouting up everyday. In general, the beliefs of these Chinese Churches are very much grounded in traditional Christianity.

Read the full article >>

Minorities are flocking to multi-ethnic campus groups for Christian fellowship

The Baptist Standard posts this article “Minorities are flocking to multi-ethnic campus groups for Christian fellowship” from the Associated Baptist Press::

Anglo students continue to primarily populate college evangelical organizations, but ethnic minority students have started to join them in increasing numbers.

Two of the nation’s largest parachurch campus evangelical organizations, Campus Crusade for Christ and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, stress building ethnically diverse communities in their mission statements. And recent statistics cited in the San Francisco Chronicle and Christianity Today suggest their goals for diversity slowly are starting to become a reality.

According to InverVarsity’s annual national field report trends, membership rates have increased for African Americans, Asian Americans and Latino Americans by 3 percent, 16 percent and 22 percent, respectively, over the past five years. In the same time period, Anglo membership declined 9 percent.

… Asian-American students outnumber all other ethnic groups by a wide margin in campus evangelical groups at the University of California at Berkley and many Ivy League schools, said Rebecca Kim, author of God’s New Whiz Kids.

Kim’s research shows Yale’s chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ is 90 percent Asian-American. And even though Asian-American students account for only 40 percent of UC Berkley’s enrollment, they make up 80 percent of the campus evangelical groups.

Many parachurch organizations, including InterVarsity, have established ethnicity-specific branches to compensate for the lack of diversity within many multi-ethnic ministries.

Tommy Dyo, national director of the Epic Movement, which is Campus Crusade for Christ’s Asian-American ministry, said his organization hasn’t reached its diversity goals because it still hasn’t achieved representative population numbers on a national level. However, he said, he’s seen an attitude shift within the organization that makes reaching the goal seem feasible.

Read the full article at baptiststandard.com >>