Why are Asian American church leaders so obsessed with multi-ethnic church?
photo compilation by pardeshi
Asian American (AA) church leaders are particularly concerned with building multi-ethnic churches. In fact, EVERY Asian American pastor that I personally know has at least seriously considered building a multi-ethnic church. But why?
There are a number of possible reasons: (Much of this is my own personal observation, so take it all with a grain of salt. It is not meant to offend anybody… my observations may not even be true.)
1. Theology and hermeneutics
2. Ethnic church baggage
3. Identity issues
Lets start with the first reason: Theology
This doesn’t fly with me as the real reason. There are so many great pastors out there but very few of them champion the multi-ethnic cause like Asian Americans do. Every well known AA church leader is associated with or has written about the multi-ethnic church. Why is it that out of all the non Asian pastors I know personally, none of them are seriously involved with a multi-ethnic ministry? There are a few books being written about multi-ethnic churches, but the number pales in comparison to the number of books being written about the emerging church, pentecostal movement, women in ministry or any other church issue. Outside of the Asian American church, its not a big issue. Now AA leaders may say that it ought to be a big issue, but that doesn’t change the fact that a lot of people don’t seem to find the theological basis for this movement compelling enough to take action.
If theology was the real reason, why has the theology resonated so well with AA pastors, but not so well with other ethnicities?
Ethnic church baggage
Ouch, getting a bit personal here. I haven’t met one AA church leader without some ethnic church baggage. I personally definitely have some baggage. I really feel for AA church leaders because I feel like this group of people have seriously been battered and bruised. Nobody has mentored them. They’ve largely been put down and abused. But doesn’t every church leader have some church baggage? Maybe. Possibly. But if other ethnicities have the same church baggage, it hasn’t been nearly as well documented as the struggles of AA church leaders.
AA church leaders largely do not want to stay in bilingual ethnic churches. Perhaps they’ve been so scarred by their own ethnic church that when the possibility of escaping that ethnicity arises they embrace it? Possibly.
Identity issues
Asian Americans have identity issues. I’ve faced it myself. People ask me “where are you from?” I have to say “China” or else they will be confused. I go back to China and tell the people there that I am Chinese and they say, “no you aren’t, you’re American.” So I’m not American and I’m not Chinese. I’m nothing.
The Asian American culture is far less established than Hispanic American or African American culture and I think this leads to confusion and displacement among Asian Americans. They do not have an established cultural identity which leads them to seek a church where there is no established cultural identity — the multi-ethnic church.
I think this last reason is probably the strongest. But who knows? Lend your observations. Tell me why you think Asian American church leaders are obsessed with multi-ethnic.
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18 Comments, Comment or Ping
Eleasa
Hey Daniel! Interesting posts that you have going on here. The only multi-ethnic church that I’ve actually been a part of is my church in Milwaukee. My pastor (Caucasian) starts off every welcome/sermon with, “Now look around, we’re building a diverse church here. If you feel like you don’t belong, then we especially want you to stay.” There is a thriving international student ministry that draws in people from pretty much everywhere, and there are people of *all* ethnicities active at every level of the church. So, that’s my anecdotal comment to say that it’s not just Asian-American pastors who are obsessed with multi-ethnic.
I actually think that your second and third reasons are intertwined. It’s true that some 2nd generation Asian-Americans have been left in the dust by ethnic churches, so perhaps today’s pastors are trying to change things by creating a new identity both for themselves and for whoever may be seeking the same thing.
Aug 8th, 2008
kingdomsheepdog
I believe Scriipture does teach diversity, but I don’t think it is to be realized in the fashion of a multi-ethnic church. I don’t believe a multi-ethnic church is really “diverse.” At least, for the churches who claim to be multi-ethnic, or strive to be, my observation is that they are really a single-cultured church. They are X-American churches. The people who go to these churches are really some kind of Americans. They are simply Americanized people with different ethnic origins. Culturally, they are far from being a diverse church despite their claim.
In fact, my observation is that these people could not tolerate the cultures of their ethnic origins. That is the main reason why they form these X-American churches. They are just as “uni-culture” as the churches they come from. I have nothing against that. If these kinds X-American churches serve them better, and by believing that they are multi-ethnic or multi-culture (when in fact not) ease their pains, I am not going to argue against it. If delusion can heal, I would rather not say anything.
But the more interesting thing would be: what is the true theology about diversity as taught in Scripture? It is a great question to ponder about. Perhaps Scripture can give us a clue. Rev. 7:9 states, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” The tribes, languages, nations, etc. mentioned here appear to be all distinguishable, distinctive cultures. Scripture seems to embrace a diversity that highlights cultural distinctives, not a diversity that blurs cultural lines. “Multi-ethnic” churches as I’ve seen them today actually blur cultural lines by lumping everyone together. (If my observation is incorrect, I apologize.) They fail to espouse the diversity principle of Scripture. Rather, they are just some resting places, or refuges if you may, for people who have been hurt by their original ethnic churches. Perhaps, that is sufficient reason for them to exist.
Aug 9th, 2008
Lue-Yee
»The Asian American culture is far less established than Hispanic American or African American culture and I think this leads to confusion and displacement among Asian Americans.«
Not only is it far less established, but many people don’t think there is such a thing a Asian American culture. I myself am unconvinced that such a thing really exists on a deeper level than boba, anime, Asian food and the Asian parent experience.
Is that really enough to form an identity? For some people, it seems so, but for myself, though I have the same in-between feeling, I’m fobby enough that I don’t have discomfort with acting as if I’m from Asia.
I do, however, have a problem with some things about Asians, and that one goes for both overseas-born and American-born Asians. I know some people, including my HK-born aunt, don’t like being constantly around Asians, especially Asian housewives, so they live in less heavily Asian cities even when they work in very Asian sectors and attend Chinese churches.
Aug 9th, 2008
Wayne Park
The idea that multi-ethnic churches “are really a single-cultured church” makes more sense to me now that I see it in terms of racialization and power structures. In many ways it’s diverse people trying to be “cool and white”…
As one that has lived significant periods of time on both coasts I’ve seen strong asian communities in both NY and Seattle. It’s amazing how Koreans are the same everywhere, we’re into ourselves, we’re insular, we’ve created “codes” that need to be learned before church membership. That’s my assessment of my people. Or perhaps I just fit the #2 bill. (ethnic baggage)
Don’t get me wrong I’m not a twinkie, nor was I raised in a white community. Flushing was my old stomping grounds and all I knew was Korean culture (this, in the greatest city in the world!) but sadly I was unable to relate to anyone non-Korean. I really don’t think this was exclusively me either, but the NY Korean community in my opinion has descended into a “ghettoization”. So tearing myself away from my people was hands-down the hardest thing I had to do, but it was absolutely necessary to do. Today the church I grew up in (once vibrant) is now failing and small. Why? We could not break out of those *freaking* culture codes. Inside jokes, common places to eat, non-stop cultural references and racisms - kept us insular. And as one that has worked broadly and ecumenically in the Korean-Am community I have found this to be almost universally true, even here in Seattle.
So for me, it’s sickening to see Koreans perpetuate this. In many ways I have so much more respect for the first generation than I do for the second, because the first were missional, learned the language, got out there into the real world. The second is a shameful lot. We’re shrinking, can’t relate to non-Koreans, and are way behind in the emerging, missional dialogue. I know one very prominent church in VA where the KM is more open minded and progressive than the EM.
I’m sorry to rant bra. I guess I just had diarrhea of the mouth. But it’s something I’ve felt strongly about and at times I’ve been a bit scathing about this from the pulpit against my own people. I also think my belief in multi-ethnicity stems from the fact that very few second-gen Korean-Americans are talking about it, save very very few like Eugene Cho and maybe a handful of others. (perhaps it’s different in CA).
My impression is the Chinese-Am community is far ahead of us in this and thus you’ve already seen the failings of theoretical multi-ethnicity… for my people it’s still untried. And what frustrates the heck out of me is the unwillingness to try. I have had sneers at times from people once I raise the word “missional” & “emergent”. All they want to talk about is reformed orthodoxy.
I really think my people need to take several cues from CHinese Ams, and I’ve said this before publicly.
Thanks for letting me play ball man…
Aug 10th, 2008
David Park
great points you bring up.
i think that theologically, we at least have an eschatological viewpoint from which to work from with regards to multi-ethnicity, but our sociology and history are huge barriers for it in the present church. so, what we tend to do is hold the church up as something that doesn’t reflect the reality of the social and historical segregation that plainly exists. then everything that the m-e church does is considered virtue, even if the social realities monday thru saturday don’t reflect real transformation of what is artificially created on sunday. i cannot help but wonder if at times, this is more our work than the work of the Spirit.
but i also think assimilation occurs at different speeds and with each generation, we tend to get a reactionary effect with regards to identity and culture. for instance, i’ve read that 2nd-gen AA’s tend to be very ambivalent towards culture, whereas their children are more willing to recover their cultural heritage, and so forth. AA’s who tend to eschew their own culture, opting for an “efficient” or “ethnically-transcendent” identity, may view themselves as very progressive in terms of church, but it does beg the question, what purpose does ethnicity have in the mind of God? and are those distinctions worth preserving?
because i don’t believe that m-e churches preserve culture or even celebrate it, i feel as though there is a synthesis and hybridization of culture as to create something new. it comes with some cost, but it also is generative and helpful, but should not be viewed as the end goal for every church.
Aug 10th, 2008
ecsupa
Rebecca Kim’s paper on ethnic campus ministries has some interesting finds. I forget what it’s called. I’ll give you the book. She found that many second gens feel this kind of guilt in their ethnic specific ministries…the reasons stem from the three reasons you pointed out as well as. As if being in AACF or KCM is sinful. I found it funny, because many of these groups do “super meetings” or “inter-fellowship” meetings with other ethnic and white groups on campus to satisfy the guilt of ethnic separatism. The reality of the matter is that ethnic specific ministries are still thriving out there, although the multi-ethnic dialogue seems to continue.
But yeah, I think you hit it on the nail with some of the main reasons. They all seem to be intertwined in some way. Personally, I identify with the “identity issues” reason. As for theology, that one seems to be the weakest. And for ethnic church baggage–I have none, or at least very little. I blame it all on the white man and John MacArthur. Hhaha jk.
Aug 11th, 2008
geelowe
It is so interesting to read an article in Newsweek’s August-4 issue about China and the Olympic: What Drives China, The Roots of a National Inferiority Complex. The article digs deep into the heap of humiliations that China had suffered from foreign powers historically in the past 100 years to make sense of her current obsession with the 2008 Olympic. The Olympic is a means for China to regain her lost sense of identity, to recover her lost glory of a great, old nation, to emerge finally from victim-hood to nationhood in the world scene. It is amazing to see how deep a role culture, nationhood or ethnicity have to play in the identity and psychological health of a people.
The AA ministry will develop for better or for worse depending on how well we understand and respond to its inherent culture/identity phenomenon. M-E ministries that fail to foster and strengthen the distinctive of the AA culture/identity, I am afraid, will not work.
Aug 11th, 2008
randplaty
“because i don’t believe that m-e churches preserve culture or even celebrate it, i feel as though there is a synthesis and hybridization of culture as to create something new. it comes with some cost, but it also is generative and helpful, but should not be viewed as the end goal for every church.”
Definitely agree with this. ME churches are very valuable and contribute to diversity because its another church–another different form of church with a different culture serving people that need to be served. But it shouldn’t be held up as the goal of all churches. It is not necessarily a higher biblical ideal, but it is doing the work of diversity nonetheless.
Aug 11th, 2008
Lydia
I definitely identify with #3. I think mostly it’s because I interact not just with Chinese but also people of other ethnicity that going to a multi-ethnic church seems to make sense, that church won’t be so drastically different from the world I experience outside. At least that’s how i felt when i was in high school (or maybe it’s fact that the church is all the way in SF?). When my dad’s church still had youths, we would discuss what we can do to invite their friends to come to church. Problem is, they don’t know how or even if it is good to invite them to church because they interact with such different crowd of people (one goes to a private school, so most students are white kids, and the other goes to a public school that mostly consist of Mexicans and Filipino). So, after all this ranting, m-e churches are definitely good for those who can’t just stay in one ethnic bubble. But having gone to my dad’s church the past year and serving and helping out, I can see how a Chinese or ethnic-specific church can be important and necessary as well. It really depends on the community you want to reach out to.
Aug 11th, 2008
ecsupa
daddy, i read that article in the airport…pretty interesting i must say. perhaps it goes beyond Chinese humiliation…western colonialism? i wonder why the western world is so critical of China’s rise as a competitive nation…when china is a communist version of an emerging western modern nation.
Aug 17th, 2008
LT
thanks for stopping by my blog…i dunno how i missed yours. keep posting. you’ve got some great stuff here to talk about. i replied on my post to your comment.
I think you’ve definitely touched upon something here. as AAs we straddle being in and out of different cultures. Context plays a huge part in ministry. I think we’re seeking to do something that comes out of our strange or confused identity. It’s not one way or the other, black or white, asian or non. As minorities are becoming the majority it’s much more of a blended approach or as David Gibbons is helping to shape, a third culture way. there’s a place for the immigrant church, second generation churches and multi-ethnic churches. We need them, all of them. One church cannot possibly reach everyone. We need different churches to reach different people.
looking forward to reading more from you.
Aug 19th, 2008
elderj
Interesting and insightful. I think there is definitely a less developed cultural sense among AA that breeds an inherent discomfort with their own ethno-culture than among Black Americans for instance, who mostly are quite content to go to Black churches and could often (for better or worse) care less whether anyone else shows up or not. I don’t necessarily commend this attitude, but I don’t condemn it either. It reflects a level of comfort in one’s own skin that rejects any need for external validation. It is interesting to me that “mutli-ethnic church” often translates in practice into “middle class college educated white and asian church with a sprinkle of black people thrown in.”
The reference to ethnic church baggage I also find intriguing and true, because people will put up with far worse from ignorant white folks or prejudiced Black folks as they try to build a “multiethic” church than they ever tolerated from the ethnic church from which they run. The “ethnic church” really isn’t anymore messed up than the rest of them, but because it is “ethnic” all the issues of church get mixed in with every other cultural baggage issue and are not easily unraveled. As I’ve spent the last 2 years in a korean congregation, I’ve seen my share of problems and issues, but in all actuality, not much different than I’ve seen in other places. For me, however, what issues I’ve seen are not all mixed in with my own identity and ethnocultural development
Aug 21st, 2008
geelowe
Helpful observation from a different perspective. Thanks, ElderJ.
Aug 22nd, 2008
Lon
wow, just wanted to say great post with great feedback comments… should i stop obsessing?
Aug 23rd, 2008
Daniel Im
Great post!
I agree with a lot of it and I have a comment to make on your statement here:
“AA church leaders largely do not want to stay in bilingual ethnic churches. Perhaps they’ve been so scarred by their own ethnic church that when the possibility of escaping that ethnicity arises they embrace it? Possibly.”
I left my previous immigrant church about 4 years ago and when I moved, I ended up in a multi-ethnic church. A year after that, I moved to serve in a multi-ethnic church as a youth pastor. Having been here for two years I have to say that my heart is longing to go back and serve the 2nd gens who aren’t receiving the mentorship and discipleship that they so need.
Where would I have been if I was never mentored by my pastor in the immigrant church? Where are all the AA youth going to be in 10 years if they don’t receive proper mentorship and discipleship?
That’s the question that begs to be asked.
If God has called me, and some of you, to full time ministry, why are some of us so reluctant to minister to “our Jerusalem” (in Acts 1:8), and go right to “Judea, Samaria, or the ends of the earth” instead? I’m not saying that we should ignore “Judea, Samaria, etc.”, but is God not calling us to minister to “our Jerusalem” first? I mean, think about it. Why are you the specific culture and ethnicity that you are? It’s no mistake.
Just some thoughts.
Aug 24th, 2008
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