Growing Healthy Asian American Churches [Paperback]

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

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 2006

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Growing Healthy Asian American Churches is an outstanding work--a critically needed voice in the urban American mosaic. The authors have 'gifted' us with a text that provides insightful pastoral teachings and a prophetic challenge not only to the Asian American church but to the whole church of our Lord Jesus Christ. This solid, biblical, theological and ministerial book will contribute greatly to the life and mission of the Asian American church and thus play a significant role in the shalom of the city (Jer 29:7)." (Eldin Villafane, Ricardo Tanon Distinguished Professor of Hispanic Christianity, Ethics and Urban Ministry, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary )

"This book is truly prophetic for our times--a call for Asian American congregations to embody grace and truth in new ways, as Jesus did. It's essential reading for anyone wanting to learn how God is moving in the Asian American church or serving in this context." (Russell Jeung, assistant professor, Asian American Studies, San Francisco State University, and author of Faithful Generations: Race and New Asian American Churches, )

"One can only dream of being a part of a group like the Catalyst Leadership Forum! It was a dream come true to share fellowship and envision what Asian American churches could be with such a remarkable group. Their wisdom, their commitment to the church, their humility--and now to have it wrapped up in a single book--are a rare and precious gift. Like good Asian food, savor it!" (Paul Tokunaga, Asian American Ministry Coordinator, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and author of Invitation to Lead: Guidance for Emerging Asian American Leaders )

"This is the first comprehensive book about Asian American churches written by the leaders of those churches themselves. The essays in this volume are theologically sound and well informed, thoroughly based on the Scripture, and refreshingly honest. The writers tell the stories of their successes and mistakes and propose an insightful, well-thought-out and hopeful vision for the future Asian American churches." (Sang Hyun Lee, Kyung-Chik Han Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of the Program for Asian American Theology and Ministry, Princeton Theological Seminary )

"In a world in which many people are on the move around the world, the nature and ministry of immigrant churches are of critical importance. This important book examines the problems and potentials these churches have, and gives deep, biblically based recommendations for building healthy churches as households of worship, fellowship and mission. While the focus is on Asian American churches, this book is a must-read not only for all those working with other immigrant churches but also for North American churches and Christians who have much to learn from the vibrant life and outreach of these Asian American churches, and their response to modernity and globalization." (Paul Hiebert, Distinguished Professor of Mission and Anthropology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and author of Incarnational Ministry )

"Growing Healthy Asian American Churches is an eminently practical book, filled with stories, examples and many wise suggestions for life and ministry in local congregations. Having ministered among Asian Americans for many years, I know that the concerns addressed in these pages are very real and persistent in such contexts. But there is much here to encourage and challenge those serving churches across the broad spectrum of cultural settings." (Gary Parrett, Associate Professor of Educational Ministries & Worship, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and coauthor of A Many Colored Kingdom )

About the Author

Peter Cha (Ph.D., Northwestern University/Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) is associate professor of pastoral theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. S. Steve Kang (Ph.D., Northwestern University/Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) is associate professor of educational ministries at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Helen Lee (M.B.A., Babson College; M.A., Wheaton College) is cofounder of the Best Christian Workplaces Institute. She was formerly the publisher of re:generation quarterly and assistant editor at Christianity Today.

Product Details

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (January 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830833250
• ISBN-13: 978-0830833252
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been a Christian journalist and editor for nearly 20 years, writing or working for publications such as Christianity Today, Leadership Journal, Fullfill Magazine, and many more. I'm also a homeschooling mom of three young boys, a former and hopefully future entrepreneur, and someone who desires to write fiction as well some day. Thanks for visiting my author page! You can read more about me on my website, www.helenlee.info, or visit the book website at www.themissionalmom.com. You can also follow me on Twitter @HelenLeeAuthor and @TheMissionalMom. I'm happy to hear from you with any comments or questions you might have!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Relevant and Insightful, April 29, 2006

By 

Matthew "Matt" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Growing Healthy Asian American Churches (Paperback)

I found myself pulled in immediately from the first chapter. The truth captured in each chapter is not meant only for Asian Christians but can shed light upon struggles that Christians from all backgrounds can relate to.

Real life examples and illustrations in each chapter allow the readers to become fully engaged in the book, and I found myself relating to many of these stories.

This is the type of a "handbook" that can help any leader, be it pastors or elders or deacons as they search for God's truth and purpose with each challenge they face in building up the body of Christ. After having read it once, it will be included as one of my reference books that I will turn to as I did with The Purpose Driven Church, The Masterplan of Evangelism and others.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a seminal book for Christian ministry leaders!, April 20, 2006

By 

D J. Chuang "ideator / networker / strategist" (Aliso Viejo, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Growing Healthy Asian American Churches (Paperback)

The book is rich, meaningful, and insightful--it puts words and heartfelt stories to many issues encountered in the faith journey of so many Asian Americans.

I admire the adept skill of the editors and contributors to pulled together such a volume, acknowledging the complexities and differences among the broad-stroke that often painted on Asian Americans, yet finding strong similiarities and themes that resonate for most of us in this social location. We as Asian American Christians have so much more in common and much to learn from one another, than to be siloed behind histories and labels of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and dozens of other Asian American ethnicities.

I believe this is a seminal book not only for Asian Americans, but for its attempt to wrestle with the church's orthodoxy and orthopraxy in an ethnic context. Too often theology is done with unstated ethnic-cultural assumptions from a Euro-centric perspective, and I think there's great value unearthed by this book to take a look at theology not only in an intellectual abstract, but also in the very human ethnic-cultural context.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Recommended, February 11, 2008

By 

Will Shin (Rockville, MD) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Growing Healthy Asian American Churches (Paperback)

All the contributors come from mainline churches or liberal churches. Possibly some are moderate at best. While it majors in Asian American sociological and anthropological trends and findings, it is extremely light in theology and ecclesiology.

This book devalues and marginalizes Gospel theology in favor of Asian American sociology to shape the ministries of the church. While it realizes that in many Asian American churches, a discontinuity exists between doctrinal orthodoxy and practical orthopraxy, this book suggests that in order to have continuity, it is doctrinal orthodoxy that must "be biblically and critically reassessed" to meet sociological and anthropological orthopraxy rather than reassessing the sociological and anthropological orthopraxy to meet doctrinal orthodoxy.

It is heavy on arguments of methodological comparison (Asian Americans methodology vs. Western American methodology) and personal testimonies of "what works" and "what doesn't work." But what few biblical Gospel references are given, they are interpreted through liberal or moderate theologies. The book is biased toward the Egalitarian view of role of women in ministry, as it is hailed as biblical while the Complamentarian view of role of women in ministry is mocked as sexist.

As a 2nd-Generation Asian American myself and a Reformed Baptist pastor, I found this book of little help in leading the church to become and understanding how the church can become biblically healthy. But, hopefully, this book will spark more theologically and biblically robust works to follow.

My full review of this book is available at http://thoughtsactions.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/review-growing-healthy-asian-american-churches.