Asian American Churches !
in a Multiethnic World!
DJ Chuang!
for Pathway to Ministry!
September 17, 2017!

255k! 321k! 980k! 1.5M!
3.5M!
6.9M!
11.9M!
17.3M!
22.6M!
28.5M!
34.5M!
40.5M!
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
Asian American Population (Projected)!

20 Largest U.S. Asian Origin Groups (2010)!
All Asians 17,320,856
Chinese 4,010,114
Filipino 3,416,840
Indian 3,183,063
Vietnamese 1,737,433
Korean 1,706,822
Japanese 1,304,286
Pakistani 409,163
Cambodian 276,667
Hmong 260,073
Thai 237,583
Laotian 232,130
Bangladeshi 147,300
Burmese 100,200
Indonesian 95,270
Nepalese 59,490
Sri Lankan 45,381
Malaysian 26,179
Bhutanese 19,439
Mongolian 18,344
Okinawan 11,326
All Asians 21,117,987
Chinese 4,760,804
Indian 3,982,398
Filipino 3,898,739
Vietnamese 1,980,344
Korean 1,822,213
Japanese 1,411,188
Pakistani 518,769
Cambodian 330,259
Hmong 299,191
Thai 294,967
Laotian 271,421
Bangladeshi 187,816
Taiwanese 187,164
Burmese 168,237
Nepalese 140,319
Indonesian 112,711
Sri Lankan 59,946
Malaysian 30,193
Bhutanese 23,882
Mongolian 21,222
Okinawan 12,182

Asian American Population in Different Regions!

1,304,286
1,706,822
1,737,433
3,183,063
3,416,840
4,010,114
38%
71%
36%
18%
89%
31%
Japanese!
Korean!
Vietnamese!
Indian!
Filipino!
Chinese!
Churched Asian Americans
(Protestant + Catholic)
% Chris2an
Popula2on

Ethnic Asian Churches in the U.S.!
Ethnicity! Estimated Count!
Korean 4,653
Chinese 1,679
Asian Indian 1,317
Vietnamese 300
Filipino 200
Japanese 190
Hmong 171
Indonesian 124
Pakistani 120
Nepali 110
Cambodian 80
Lao 48
Thai 33
Bangladeshi 20
Sri Lankan 15
Burmese 15
Estimated Total! 9,075!

Why Churches Must Reproduce!
And Jesus came and said to them, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go therefore and make
disciples of all na2ons, bap2zing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the
end of the age.”
MaShew 28:18-20 (ESV)
“The church is one generation away from extinction.”!

The Old Church
Concert Hall
(Portland, Oregon)
mul2asian.church/exchurches

Next Generations of Asian Americans!

Next Generation Ministry is Challenging!
“Parents assumed that if you just sent
the kids to church through high school,
they’d come out being good Christians.
We all thought our kids would go to
church in college. That was a very naïve
thought.” !
!
!
Rev. Daniel Lee (1st gen, Global Mission Church, Maryland),
quoted in “Silent Exodus,” Christianity Today, 1996.

5 Cries of Asian American Christian Young Adults!
Dr.Timothy Tseng
1. When will I grow up?
2. Can I embrace my race?
3. Am I loved?
4. Am I being fed at my church?
5. Am I ge`ng the best value?

Different Churches for Different Cultures!
Neither is new wine put into old
wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the
wine is spilled and the skins are
destroyed. But new wine is put into
fresh wineskins, and so both are
preserved.”
MaShew 9:17 (ESV)

Contextualizing the Gospel
MaShew
Mark
Luke
John
MATTHEW
for
Jews
MARK
for
Romans
LUKE
for
Greeks
JOHN
for
Gen2les

portmanteau, a mashup of words!
Mul7-ethnic + Asian-American
=
Mul7-Asian

Next Generation Multi-Asian Churches!
a defini2on:
“autonomous English-speaking churches
that are inten2onally or incidentally
reaching next genera2on Asian
Americans and other non-Asians too
and led by an Asian American pastor”

What is a multi-Asian church?!
a. an ethnic Asian American church that’s reaching
mul2ple genera2ons of Asian Americans, with
worship services in both Asian and English
languages (e.g. could be a Korean-American church
or a Chinese-American church with Vietnamese-
language ministries)
b. mul2-ethnic church with Asian American pastoral
leadership (at least 20%) and Asian Americans in
the congrega2on (at least 20%)
c. mul2-ethnic church with Asian Americans in the
congrega2on but no Asian pastoral staff
d. mul2-lingual & mul2-cultural church with over 20%
Asian Americans
e. all of the above

17!
40!
79!
150!
227!
291!
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Multi-Asian Churches!

Characteristics of Multi-Asian Churches!
• Leadership
• Crea2vity
• Celebratory worship
• Aesthe2c Quality
• Social jus2ce
• Mul2ethnic outreach

Ambassador Church (Brea, CA)!

Ekko Church (Anaheim, CA)!

Quest Church (Seattle)!

Bay Area Chinese Bible Church!

3 Best Opportunities !
• Using our voices
• Mul2plying leaders & making disciples
• Giving generously in philanthropy
jīhuì

All kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people!

Q&A Time!
DJ Chuang!
djchuang.com • multiasian.church!
949-243-7260!

Addendum!
DJ Chuang!
multiasian.church!

Professor Yang, who wrote 'Religion in China: Survival and Revival
under Communist Rule', believes the number of Chris2ans in
China will rise to 160 million by 2025 and 247 million by 2030, just
as America's Chris2an popula2on appears to be waning.
hSp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/22/china-largest-chris2an-country_n_5191910.html

Chinese Church in China!