Asian-American Church Experience 101

Dr. Peter Cha - Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Asian-American Church Experience 101

Dr. Peter Cha – Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

See Pew Report

 

I.                     Asian American Experiences in the U.S.

A.      Demographic pictures

1.       Who are Asian-Americans?  Wide spectrum, but we will focus on Eastern or Confucian Asians.

2.       Rapid demographic growth – 250,000 to 13 million in last 58 years.  1965 Immigration Reform Act opened door for people to come…not where from, but what do you bring to U.S.?   Asians brought a wealth of medical experience. 2/3 of AA are 1^st generation immigrants.  1/3 second generation at this time.  1.8 million AA reported as bi-racial in 2000 census. This group will grow the most rapidly!  This group struggles to find places to belong, hence they will move toward multi-racial churches because they can relate to each other. 

a.       What are the challenges here?  What do we need to learn?  How do we prepare and proceed.

b.      Largest groups – 2.7 million Chinese who historically came from Hong Kong, but now from mainland.  Philippino. 2.4, Asian-Indian 1.9, Korean 1.3, Vietnamese  1.2, Japanese  1.1

3.       Geographic  Distribution

a.       West Coast largest

b.      Northeast 1.4 Asian-American

c.       South 1.1

d.      Atlanta fastest growing area right now.

e.      Mid-west 750,000

f.        Top 10 Cities

                                                                                                   i.      NY – 790,000

                                                                                                 ii.      LA – 370,000

                                                                                                iii.      San Jose/San Diego – 250,000

                                                                                               iv.      Honolulu

                                                                                                 v.      Chicago

                                                                                               vi.      Houston

                                                                                              vii.      Seattle

B.      Understanding Confucian-Based culture

1.       Three Levels of culture:  artifacts, shared values and world-view

a.       Visible and Invisible cultural components, visible are artifacts …if you only study and practice based on this level, you will likely miss what this people group is all about.   You must understand more deeply to

b.      Shared Values- …every culture has redemptive value and demonic value

c.       Shared world-view  - use of “Grand-Turino” movie as a dialogue starter, maybe read a novel by an Asian-American, not an academic study to learn about the culture…”Clay Wall” is a suggested book. 

2.       Bi-Cultural World of American-born Asian-Americans

a.       4 types of racial/ethnic identities

                                                                                                   i.      Acculturation with the white culture

                                                                                                 ii.      Over identify with their ethnic culture…reject white majority culture

                                                                                                iii.      Bi-cultural – making sense of both ends

                                                                                               iv.      Withdrawl – not happy with any of it (Virginia Tech Student)

b.      Minority Identity Development Theory – the internal struggle with the connection between both worlds, then the change in middle years…like return to immigrant ministries to reconnect with their roots thinking how to reconnect their children and best way to bring their 2^nd or 3^rd generation children up.

C.      Asian Americans as a racial minority group in the U.S.

1.       Model Minority – 60’s the group that seemed to be doing fine – Asian-Americans.  It is a myth.  Not all Asian-Americans are well-adjusted, educated, etc.  Pressure is now placed upon Asian-Americans to fit the stereotype.  Drove/Drives to more emotional breakdowns and suicide because of performance expectation.

2.       Perpetual Aliens – doesn’t matter how long your family has been here, you are still not American, (i.e. – 5^th generation American).  Sample Survey Taken

a.       I feel most uncomfortable when a person of this ethnic background becomes Pres. of US. 11% - Jewish, 14% – woman, 15% – African, 24 %– Asian-American (published prior to 911)

b.      Sense of never fully being an American because of perception

II.                  Asian American church Experiences:  post-1965 immigrant churches

A.      Selective Migration:  De-Christianization of America or De-Europeanization of American Christianity

B.                                                                        Rapid growth of immigrant churches

1.       Fellowship with other co-ethnics

2.       Socialization of the emerging generation

3.       Meeting Spiritual needs that don’t seem to be met in standard American churches

C.                                                                        The Challenge of generational transition

1.                                                                               The “silent exodus” of second-generation young people

2.                                                                               Emerging second-generation ministries in Asian immigrant churches

D.                                                                        The Formation of Asian American Ministries

1.                                                                               Asian Americans and college campus ministries are on the rise, then return to

2.                                                                               Pan-ethnic Asian American congregations

3.                                                                               Multi-racial congregations, led by the Asian-American pastor

III.                Implications for Church-Planting with and/or among Asian-Americans

A.                                                                                          Opportunities – spirituality that has been instilled

B.      Challenges – Asian-Americans are between the powerful and powerless, between the haves and have-nots.