One of the primary spiritual formation books written for Asian American Christians, released by InterVarsity Press in 1998, is entitled Following Jesus Without Dishonoring Your Parents. Even in its title, the book acknowledges how Asian Americans’ faith and discipleship are inextricably intertwined with family and culture. Questions of calling, mission, church community, and spiritual practices are sometimes seen through the cross-generational lens of family obligation and cultural heritage—leading to complex perspectives on ministry and discipleship.
This layered lens on faith begins to make clear a serious finding within the recent National Survey of Asian American Congregational Leadership Practices by the Innovative Space for Asian American Christianity (ISAAC): Of the greater than 200 Asian American (or majority Asian American) congregations surveyed, about 35 percent reported no leaders under the age of 30 on the ruling church board. This is greater than double the variety of non-Asian congregations within the survey who reported an absence of young leaders on their board.
The ISAAC survey finding also aligns with broader church studies that show what number of congregations are aging and fewer young people are identifying as Christian. But, inside the Asian American context, the dearth of young leaders points to significant theological and cultural differences between the generations that affect communal identity, missional priorities, leadership diversity, and pastoral succession.
Steve Wong, who’s the founding pastor of a small Asian American congregation in Silicon Valley, says that churches like his are sometimes asking, “Who are we serving, actually?” It’s not a straightforward query when the term Asian American encompasses individuals from nearly 20 different ethnic groups, each with their very own diverse cultures and life experiences.
In addition, first-generation immigrants can have different expectations and norms than second- or third-generation Asian Americans—making it harder for the younger generations to be in community with their elders.
Jason Ashimoto wasn’t yet 40 when he stepped into the senior pastor role at 400-person Evergreen Baptist Church in Southern California. He understood that his leadership was depending on his ability to navigate these generational differences.
Having began as a young intern inside the church, he knew the elders within the church would at all times see him as young—and he honors that perspective.
“I can’t be barking orders to them,” he told CT. “These are my elders. I at all times should respect them.” Because he selected to see the older congregants like his own grandparents—caring for them, respecting them, and recognizing their authority—he was capable of earn their trust over time.
But not all young Asian American leaders can so readily adapt. Steve Wong has found that Asian Americans who’ve frolicked in white-majority congregations have trouble acclimating to Asian churches’ typically indirect types of communication, which may include understating opinions, avoiding conflict, and talking around difficult topics.
“In a church that’s going to discover as Asian American, rhythms of communication are different,” he explained. “We could also be singing the identical notes, however the time signature is different.”
Mia Shin, who served as a lay leader in a Korean American church for about 20 years and is the lead pastor of a church plant in central California, thinks Gen Z Christians will be delay by the indirect communication and the avoidance of hot-button topics which can be vital to them.
“Transparency and authenticity are high on their priority list,” she told CT. “Asian American congregations and evangelical congregations, for essentially the most part, don’t want to handle hard topics from the pulpit.”
Longtime pastor Grace May, who has served in Chinese churches and African American churches in New England, agrees—and adds that it points to major theological differences between older and younger Asian Americans. “One of the priorities in a number of young Asian American minds is the difficulty of justice. In theologically conservative churches, this just isn’t discussed or it’s not an actual concern.”
May believes that many Asian churches lack the language or training to debate structural sin and systemic evil, as a substitute specializing in personal salvation. This may explain why the ISAAC study found that significantly fewer Asian American congregations (34%) participated within the Stop AAPI Hate movement in the course of the pandemic than their non-Asian counterparts (60%).
Another theological sticking point that will affect young adults’ involvement is women in leadership. Both Shin and May had limits placed on their roles after they served in Asian American churches, from being unable to evangelise to being prohibited from serving Communion. They often saw younger, less experienced men being given discipleship and leadership opportunities that were denied them.
The ISAAC study confirms their experience. Thirty-two percent of the Asian American congregations surveyed don’t allow women to show alone with adult men, nearly double the proportion of non-Asian congregations.
“We probably have many more women who’re called to pastoral ministry,” said Grace May, “but in the event that they don’t have it modeled and are taught a complementarian theology, and are excluded from any training, why would they consider seminary or the pastorate?”
There are other reasons young Asian Americans may not select to enter church ministry. Each leader interviewed for this text had several ideas, including pressure from immigrant parents to be financially successful; more attractive missional opportunities within the for-profit or nonprofit sectors; and Gen Z’s valuing of work-life balance set against most Asian American churches’ continuing expectation of 24-7 dedication from their church leaders.
The challenge for Asian American congregations, then, is the right way to attract, retain, and ultimately raise up young Christians when such significant cultural and theological differences exist between older leadership and the up-and-coming generations. Those on the bottom recognize the necessity, in addition to the chance to the health of Asian American faith communities, and are pursuing quite a lot of different strategies.
Steve Wong is involved within the Evangelical Covenant Church’s efforts to disciple and train more young Asian American leaders. The denomination has put out a call for more Asian leaders inside the Covenant and is convening a leadership conference for them in 2025.
Mia Shin, however, is taking a more grassroots approach through her young church, connecting with a close-by college campus in addition to community arts groups that attract young adults.
“The church has to go to them where they’re at, take care of them, after which lovingly bring them into the religion community after they’re ready,” she said. “We should be adaptable by finding creative ways to attach with the younger generation of their existing circles of interest.”
