Is there space for Asian American voices in the evangelical church? How have recent events changed how Asian Americans view both the local and broader church?

On August 20, 2023, Exilic Church hosted a discussion called “An Asian American Moment: Our Place in the Future of the Evangelical Church.”

Gene Joo, associate pastor of Exilic Church, moderated a conversation between Aaron Chung, senior pastor of Exilic Church and SOLA Council member, and Pastor Abe Cho, senior director of training at Redeemer City to City NYC and North America and associate pastor at Redeemer East Harlem. They shared their thoughts on the past, present, and future of the Asian American church through the following questions:

On the past:

Would you agree that the Asian-American church has largely remained siloed from the broader evangelical church in America? If so, why do you think that is?

Here in New York, the Evangelical Asian American Church is considerably more underrepresented compared to the Black church, Jewish communities, and the White evangelical church. What is the historical and anthropological context behind how this came to be?

How do you define what constitutes a multi-cultural church, and who gets to define it?

Should every church be multi-ethnic? Is there a space for Asian American, Black, or Latino churches? Why are they important?

How does this relate to what Rev. Martin Luther King said about Sunday morning being the most segregated time in America?

On the present:

Do Asian Americans have more to offer the church than just the topics of race and justice? If so, what are they?

What is unique about this present moment for the Asian American Church?

On the future:

You might say that the Korean Ministry/English Ministry partnership represented the infancy of the Asian American church or at least the Korean American church. We’re now starting to see the Asian American church in its adolescent phase as we see more independent Asian American churches and church plants. What might the Asian American church look like in its adulthood, and what sort of impact and contribution can you see it making to the larger evangelical church?

Exilic Church, which is a supporter of SOLA Network, graciously shared this video with us so we could share it with our audience. We are grateful to them for leading this conversation. We hope this video sparks important conversations as we seek to build Christ’s kingdom together.

https://sola.network/article/a-place-for-asian-americans-in-the-future-of-the-evangelical-church/