Interview by Joshua Huver
T
he landscape of the church in America is changing. What might that mean for Asian American Christians and specifically Asian American congregations?
While the presence of Asian Americans in evangelical spaces is growing, Asian American churches continue to close and lose attendance across the country. For instance, Asian Americans account for 80-90% of evangelical student groups at prestigious universities like Princeton or Stanford. Meena Venkataramanan, a writer on identity, culture and Asian American communities for The Washington Post, describes the rise of Asian Americans in positions of leadership in Evangelical institutions, such as the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), InterVarsity, and various Christian colleges in her article, “Asian Americans are changing the face of evangelicalism.”
Despite these positive trends, a recent Pew Research Poll observed a 8% decline in Asian Americans who identify as Christian. While this poll does not tell the whole story, it indicates that Asian Americans are not excluded from the overall exodus of people leaving the church. In particular, Asian American churches have seen rapid decline post-pandemic.
As we bring this series to a close, we spoke with Raymond Chang about his formation in the Asian American church and the value of supporting Asian American churches.
To begin, could you tell us about your church upbringing/background?
My Christian faith was shaped by a variety of traditions, including Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and non-denominational streams.. The one thing that held my church experience together, however, was my upbringing in the Korean American immigrant church context that was led and shaped by first generation Korean immigrants like my parents. Most of my upbringing was in Chicagoland, where my parents actively served in the churches we attended. My mom would often play music (namely piano and the organ) and my dad was a deacon during that time.
How has your experience in an Asian American church enriched your faith in ways you haven’t found elsewhere?
While there are distinct differences between the various Asian American ethnic expressions of Christianity, I have found that there are often more similarities among them than differences. Table fellowship is often an extension of the worship service as well as a strong commitment to a discipleship that was more community oriented than individualistic. Much of the time, our discipleship took place in the presence of an intergenerational gathering of families and individuals that would share a meal throughout the week, open God’s Word, sing, and pray together. Friendships were formed, but more importantly, I was formed in community through osmosis. I saw how people interacted with each other, how they supported one another, how they did and didn’t work through conflict, how they showed up for key moments in each others’ lives, and how everyone was treated as family—which I think is more consistent with the biblical contours of Christianity being a household of God made up of many members. Discipleship in the Korean American immigrant church wasn’t just a way to transfer knowledge and information, but an invitation into a new way of life in a new community—especially as so many people had to rely on each other just to survive in a society that wasn’t really designed with them in mind.
What are some of the unique challenges you’ve witnessed or faced in Asian American churches?
I can’t speak for all Asian American churches, but at least within the ones I’ve experienced (which is consistent with a lot of others I have spoken to and with some of the research available), because there is such a high value of harmony and peace, we often didn’t see conflict done well. I would often see people laugh with each other one week in each other’s homes, and then never speak to each other the next week. People were always bidding for power because the church was the one place where they could replenish their sense of dignity, in part because of the significant levels of degradation and discrimination they experienced in the broader society.
Many immigrants from Asia—especially those who came in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s—came to the US leaving white collar jobs to take on more blue collar work. While there is dignity in all work, the cultural value ascribed to those doing manual labor both abroad and in the US and the racism that so many experienced, led them to find that the church was the one place outside their home that they could recover any sense of dignity. It’s understandable, but it was also a recipe for disaster.
Further, because the broader society often devalued and discriminated against our “Asian” ways and culture, it led to both a doubling down of preserving and transferring our culture from one generation to another, as well as a form of shame and self-hatred of being perceived as God trly made us in the broader public. This is why I felt like I was being asked to be more Korean than I was comfortable being in church and more “American” (a euphemism for white) in school from Monday to Friday.
Given those challenges, what are some reasons Asian American Christians should consider attending an Asian American congregation?
Broadly, there is a self-devaluing of Asian American expressions of Christianity that I see taking place due to racialization and internalized racism. It’s subtle, but it leads to us viewing our own communities and faithful expressions of Christianity as second class. Asian American Christians are the only racial group where the majority of our population isn’t in Asian American churches. Most white, Black, and Latinx Christians attend churches where they are the majority, but Asians are mostly at white churches. I can’t tell you the number of times people have said to me and to others who work within predominantly white structures that “we’ve made it,” as if the efforts that emerge from our communities about our communities for the sake of the broader church aren’t enough. I frequently ask, what difference does it make that God crafted your story to be a distinctly Korean American, Indian American, Hmong American one—and more broadly, an Asian American one—if externally you are “Asian” but devalue God’s work through your individual history and heritage.
The challenge I often see is that Asian American Christians, if they are not in Asian American churches that entail their own ethnic community, are more inclined to attend white churches than other Asian ethnic churches. One reason for this is simply the ways we are racialized to attribute greater value in whiteness. Another reason is that we are conditioned in a white dominant church and society to find ourselves more comfortable with white expressions than other Asian ethnic/cultural expressions—even though those Asian ethnic/cultural expressions are more consistent with our own.
But the biggest reason Asian Americans (and non-Asians) should consider attending an Asian American church is because there is something unique that God has done through our communities that we can offer to the broader church and society. Asian American churches are sites of theological reflection, cultural formation, communal belonging, and political activity. As churches seems to be closing at a rapid rate (with estimates of up to ⅓ of Asian American churches having closed down during the pandemic), it will be important for us to think through the implications of what is lost if Asian American churches close down or Asian American churches lose their distinct cultural heritage as many are so inclined to do.
Are there ways of supporting Asian American churches even if we don’t find our home there?
I think there are a lot of good ways to support Asian American churches. The first is to simply be aware of them. Know that there could be nearly 10,000 Asian American churches in the US—and one not too far from you. Many of them are first generation, immigrant serving churches—which means that their primary language is likely not English. However, most of these churches often have a separate service in English. The second is to visit and worship. It may be a little awkward and clunky, but entering into the liturgies of Asian American churches and experiencing community, prayer, and table fellowship are all worthy endeavors. The third is to support them financially. Despite having some extremely large and well to do Asian American churches, most are struggling to pay their pastors and cover basic ministry expenses. Finally, working with and supporting organizations like AACC are always great ways to serve the broader Asian American church community, as one of the things AACC seeks to do is provide relevant resources to Asian American churches and churches that serve Asian Americans.
Photo by Stefan Vladimirov on Unsplash
Pastor Raymond Chang is the president of the Asian American Christian Collaborative, a pastor, and writer. He regularly preaches God’s Word and speaks throughout the country on issues pertaining to Christianity and culture, race and faith. He has lived throughout the world (Korea, Guatemala, Panama, Spain, China), traveled to nearly 50 countries, and currently lives in Chicagoland, serving as the Executive Director of the TENx10 Collaboration (an initiative of the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Seminary), which is a collaborative movement that is geared towards reaching 10 million young people over 10 years with the gospel). Prior to his role at Fuller, Raymond served for 7+ years as the Associate Chaplain for Discipleship at Wheaton College. He also worked in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, and served in the Peace Corps in Panama.
He has contributed chapters to several books including “Ministers of Reconciliation: Preaching on Race and the Gospel” (Lexham), “Confronting Racial Injustice: Theory and Praxis for the Church” (Cascade), “Preaching Romans from Here” (Wipf and Stock), with other books forthcoming.
He is currently pursuing his PhD on the intersection of Spirituality and Campus/Organizational Racial Climates. He is married to Jessica Chang.
