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Christianity: An Asian Religion in Vancouver
Is God changing the face of the church in North America today? The secularization thesis makes it appear that churches are inevitably declining in membership and influence. Too often, however, this assumption of decline is based on only watching the denominations that were "church plants of Western Christendom" in North America. An Asian Religion in Vancouver focuses on the context of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and notes through a mixed-methods study including interviews and participant observation that many churches in Vancouver with predominantly Asian composition are growing both in size and influence. What might we learn about God's transforming power by looking to Asia rather than Europe to predict the future of Christian witness in the Pacific Northwest of North America?
101 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 12, 2023
This is a good cursory introduction to Asian Christianity in Vancouver (primarily Chinese but also Japanese, Korean, and Filipino). They briefly touch on the history of Asians in Vancouver before exploring topics such as how Christianity offers Asians a sense of belonging and community, how they weave their faith into their vocations, and how they navigate living at the intersection of white and Chinese worlds ("Jook-sing").
The authors propose that Asian Christians in Vancouver are particularly well-equipped for Christian witness in Cascadia because they already have to grapple with feeling "out of sorts" around them as (potentially) immigrants to a new Canadian culture and religious believers in an secular society. Compared to secular, liberal Vancouverites who have imbibed the West's veneration of individualism and shed any residual traces of Christianity the authors "wonder whether cultural virtues such as filial piety and duty encourage Asian Christians to remain committed to their Christian roots longer than non-Asian believers...long enough for their Christian faith to eventually become their own" (p. 42). Asian Christians can also challenge white, secular Canadians' perception of Christian belief; "If the typical Canadian secularist's presumption is of a white Christianity oppressing Indigenous peoples and others, an Asian evangelist may find their approach draws much less defensiveness" (p. 54). The authors speculate that the future of the church in Vancouver may very well be championed by Asian Christians and congregations; indeed, rather astonishingly, despite Canada's (and especially British Columbia's) high levels of atheism, 505,770 Chinese Canadians identified as Christian in this country which is 30% of all Chinese Canadians (growing up, I had to admit I always assumed most Chinese were Buddhist, Taoist, or atheist).
One of issues highlighted in this book is diversity. Vancouver is a very multicultural city and one of the tensions or challenges for ethnic churches that have done good work in helping immigrants adapt to a new country is how to be welcoming to outsiders - how can the German, the Nigerian, the Brazilian find belonging in a Korean Presbyterian church ("pan-Asian" and multiethnic churches like Tenth Church and The Tapestry tend to draw second-generation Asian believers who feel burnt out by the cultural constraints of their childhood ethnic churches)?
One aspect of diversity is socioeconomic status and Albert Chu (one of the authors and pastors of The Tapestry) admits this can be a challenging demographic factor to bridge. The authors themselves tended to interview upper and middle-class, well-to-do people like lawyers, healthcare professionals, and a prominent news anchor. As scholars like David Ley attest, there is a significant rate of "millionaire migrants" from Asia who buy and settle in Vancouver and in giving an apologetic for Asian Christians in Vancouver the authors tout how many influential and impactful Asian individuals attend churches in the city (it might shock a secularist Canadian to realize how many Asian Christians occupy prominent positions in Vancouver and who draw the motivation for their work from their deep commitment to Christ). Yet I wish there had been some more voices from Asian Christians who are not lawyers and civil servants and whose lives may reflect more typical immigrant experiences of beginning in a new country; for instance, Carmen Louie is a beloved cashier at an East Vancouver grocery store who openly shares about her faith in an inspiring way.
The authors do mention how filial piety and duty order Asian families (such as parents attending multiethnic churches with their children even if they cannot understand the language because they want to keep the family together) but it would have been interesting for them to comment on how filial piety, duty, and the honour-shame culture (which is common in Asian households) have vanished to a large extent from Western families formed by individualism. In suggesting that the future of the church in Vancouver is there perhaps a need for Western Christians to recover these instincts or is this an area where Western culture ought to constructively interrogate traditional Asian assumptions about relationships and religion?
The authors propose that Asian Christians in Vancouver are particularly well-equipped for Christian witness in Cascadia because they already have to grapple with feeling "out of sorts" around them as (potentially) immigrants to a new Canadian culture and religious believers in an secular society. Compared to secular, liberal Vancouverites who have imbibed the West's veneration of individualism and shed any residual traces of Christianity the authors "wonder whether cultural virtues such as filial piety and duty encourage Asian Christians to remain committed to their Christian roots longer than non-Asian believers...long enough for their Christian faith to eventually become their own" (p. 42). Asian Christians can also challenge white, secular Canadians' perception of Christian belief; "If the typical Canadian secularist's presumption is of a white Christianity oppressing Indigenous peoples and others, an Asian evangelist may find their approach draws much less defensiveness" (p. 54). The authors speculate that the future of the church in Vancouver may very well be championed by Asian Christians and congregations; indeed, rather astonishingly, despite Canada's (and especially British Columbia's) high levels of atheism, 505,770 Chinese Canadians identified as Christian in this country which is 30% of all Chinese Canadians (growing up, I had to admit I always assumed most Chinese were Buddhist, Taoist, or atheist).
One of issues highlighted in this book is diversity. Vancouver is a very multicultural city and one of the tensions or challenges for ethnic churches that have done good work in helping immigrants adapt to a new country is how to be welcoming to outsiders - how can the German, the Nigerian, the Brazilian find belonging in a Korean Presbyterian church ("pan-Asian" and multiethnic churches like Tenth Church and The Tapestry tend to draw second-generation Asian believers who feel burnt out by the cultural constraints of their childhood ethnic churches)?
One aspect of diversity is socioeconomic status and Albert Chu (one of the authors and pastors of The Tapestry) admits this can be a challenging demographic factor to bridge. The authors themselves tended to interview upper and middle-class, well-to-do people like lawyers, healthcare professionals, and a prominent news anchor. As scholars like David Ley attest, there is a significant rate of "millionaire migrants" from Asia who buy and settle in Vancouver and in giving an apologetic for Asian Christians in Vancouver the authors tout how many influential and impactful Asian individuals attend churches in the city (it might shock a secularist Canadian to realize how many Asian Christians occupy prominent positions in Vancouver and who draw the motivation for their work from their deep commitment to Christ). Yet I wish there had been some more voices from Asian Christians who are not lawyers and civil servants and whose lives may reflect more typical immigrant experiences of beginning in a new country; for instance, Carmen Louie is a beloved cashier at an East Vancouver grocery store who openly shares about her faith in an inspiring way.
The authors do mention how filial piety and duty order Asian families (such as parents attending multiethnic churches with their children even if they cannot understand the language because they want to keep the family together) but it would have been interesting for them to comment on how filial piety, duty, and the honour-shame culture (which is common in Asian households) have vanished to a large extent from Western families formed by individualism. In suggesting that the future of the church in Vancouver is there perhaps a need for Western Christians to recover these instincts or is this an area where Western culture ought to constructively interrogate traditional Asian assumptions about relationships and religion?
October 8, 2023
3.5 stars. A helpful overview of the history of Asians in Vancouver and how this demographic is bringing new life and vitality to Vancouver churches. I especially appreciated the recognition that Asians in Vancouver are often already on the edge of culture, something Christians can and should learn from.
November 3, 2023
It gave hope for the future of Christianity.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews