Growing Healthy Asian American Churches: Ministry Insights from Groundbreaking Congregations

by Peter Cha (Editor), S. Steve Kang (Editor), Helen Lee (Editor)

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.

Genres: Theology, Asian American, Church, Leadership, Christianity

221 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2006

Reviews

[Singalongalong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt a random urge to read it one day, after having it sit on my shelf for almost two years now. I didnt find the recommendations all that novel or revolutionary, nor the cultural analysis as nuanced or in depth beyond what I already knew growing up thick in the mud of korean immigrant and intergenerational ministries (some parts felt uncomfortably too closetohome, some parts too generalized considering immense heterogeneity of 'asianamerican' congregations) -- but I did find it healing/encouraging to read case studies of bold open-minded second gen asianam churches and leaders wrestling with deeply painful, necessary questions of: "Who are we? What is our place in the US, among american churches, or immigrant churches, or among nonwhite-or-black asian american spaces? Are we (panethnic asian churches or ethnic/generationally monolithic english-speaking churches) still relevant? What about our roots? And how do we move forward? Who do we WANT to become? For whom? How do we more closely imitate the community God desires us to become?"

I'm curious how the authors of this book - a communal project born out of the Catalyst Center conference for asian american christian leaders - would update their essays now, almost 15 years later, in light of more current societal trends. I was also surprised to read about the extent to which second gen asian american churches can end up adopting cultural-ills of their parents' gen (which, having near exclusively opted away from monocultural spaces of worship as an adult, I have not experienced upclose). Also tickled that many of the practices of fostering healthy church communities run a near identical course of building sustainable impact organizations (with the obvious challenge being balancing our own efforts with the more mysterious/humbling work that is through Christ & the Spirit). All the more convinced future seminary or divinity programs should require everyone to go through a dual/triple degree with MBA and social work/counseling degrees. Finally, found it rather thoughtprovoking the way the authors framed each chapter on different aspects of the spiritual 'household' --- since dysfunctional family dynamics among my asian american peers growing up seemed to be the unspoken norm, or the thorn many of us carried, only to learn to untangle later as adults.

I still dont know how I feel about the question of raison-d'etre of asian american (nonimmigrant) churches. I dont prefer it, even as I ironically celebrate the need, power, role of 'the brown church' in america (still figuring that out..). But, at the very least, this book helped me loosen my resentment or bitterness against the asian american church, and see that in continuation of all the GOOD I did also bask in as a korean immigrant kid, within the big olll' embrace of the spiritual/cultural motherchurch of a family that accepted and poured into us in ways few other spaces in society did growing up, that God still is doing mighty things - works of healing, reconciliation, justice, restoration of broken leadership, strengthenjng thriving and overflowing communities, through the unique gifts, visions, fervor found in the AsianAm church... AMEN!

[Sooho Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

**true rating 3.5

Birthed from a collaboration of 14 prominent Asian American pastors and professors, Growing Healthy Asian American Churches covers a variety of unique issues, problems, weaknesses, and strengths of the Asian American Church. With a powerful and affective metaphor, like "household," these various contributors speak gospel-centrically to critique and exhort the manifold ways Asian Americans have played their dealt hands--the gifts, tools, and challenges they've received. Without abandoning the uniqueness of Asian Americans, this collective work presents insightful ways to not meander the problems but engage them in healthy and growing manners.

There are few setbacks I have perceived: (1) Nearly half of the voice are Korean Americans and nearly all are of East Asian descent; (2) because of (1), a lot of unique problems and gifts are Confucian-based; (3) the contributors are not sociologists nor academics (which is not necessarily a negative but not wholesomely positive). The overwhelming strength of this book is that it is very accessible and practical.

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