What is the definition of a MultiAsian.Church?

One very frequently asked question is how does the author define this newly-coined term, “MultiAsian.Church?” What do I really mean by MultiAsian.Church, exactly? Even someone who’s read the entire book still asked this question, though my definition is clearly printed in Chapter 5 of the MultiAsian.Church book, as follows:

Next generation multi-Asian churches are loosely defined as: autonomous English-speaking churches that are intentionally or incidentally reaching next generation Asian Americans and other non-Asians too and led by an Asian American pastor.

As it was written, “MultiAsian.Church” is a fluid and dynamic definition because this term is descriptive, not prescriptive, of a new kind and different category of churches that I as the author believes is worth noticing, and even calling out, for its unique contribution to contextualizing church ministries in the 21st century. And as a soft definition, there may be churches that don’t want to be identified with anything else but being a “biblical church” or a “New Testament church,” whatever they mean by that. There may also be a few churches that want to be identified as a “MultiAsian.Church” but don’t yet have the basic ingredients to be obviously MultiAsian just yet, though we can give them room to grow into it and applaud them for their vision and aspiration to be “MultiAsian” instead of a narrower categorization.

As I reconsider the question, let me try it from another perspective, and this time I’m going to drop the “next generation” portion of the term, and just focus on defining “MultiAsian.Church”—again, this is a fluid, dynamic, and evolving work, so as God and His people do the work of churching in the 21st century, I’ll do what I can to call attention to what we can be paying attention to. Here we go:

What is the definition of a MultiAsian.Church?

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

Want to take a guess before I make the big reveal? Go ahead and add a comment with your thoughts for the definition that holds the most meaning to you. This is a collaborative effort and your voice counts when you use it.

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An invaluable introduction into the Asian-American Christian experience–from one who knows

MultiAsian.Church Book Review by Noel Becchettion (on amazon.com) Multi.Asian Church is a readable, helpful doorway into a theater of ministry overdue for careful study: reaching and ministering to the millions of Asian-Americans that live in the West. D.J. Chuang has assembled an impressive foundation of research to underscore his basic premise: Asian-American Christians have played, … Read more

Readers React to the MultiAsian.Church Book

What kind of responses have I heard from readers about this new MultiAsian.Church book so far, people are asking me. It’s among the most frequently asked question so far in the infancy of its release, now that both the print and digital editions are available. While I don’t have video cameras recording how people react … Read more

Printed version of MultiAsian.Church almost available

The printed edition of MultiAsian.Church book is near completion and soon to be in the amazon.com online store. Final layout of every page was completed last week and submitted to the printer. (We’re using CreateSpace as a print-on-demand publishing service.) And before it’s made available, a proof copy has to be reviewed for any final … Read more

Introduction

We live in amazingly fast-changing times, perhaps the fastest in human history. It was not long ago when modern life in America was three broadcast networks on television. Music that used to be on cassette tapes was being distributed on compact discs (CDs). VCR tapes and rental stores opened up a new sub-culture of watching … Read more

Foreword

One of the great road trips I took was a drive across the United States from California to Washington D.C. During the drive, I stopped at a monument simply called, “The Four Corners Monument.” What makes this place unique is that it is the only intersection in the United States where four states intersect: Arizona, … Read more

Christian Counseling for Asian Americans

Half of all American adults will suffer from mental illness in their lifetime, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, this includes Asian Americans and non-Asians alike. When people are struggling with mental illness, the first place many people will call is the church. Mental health and well-being is a very important part of overall … Read more

Digital Edition of MultiAsian.Church Book Launched

This MultiAsian.Church book was first launched as a digital edition (also known as an eBook) at the Thirty.Network pre-conference session on October 4, 2016. Author DJ Chuang was interviewed by Angela Lee before an enthusiastic audience. Watch the video. As the book sales have gotten underway, there is a growing amount of interest from many parts of … Read more

preparing to launch after writing

As we approach the release of the new multiasian.church eBook, the excitement is growing and so is the number of final details adding up, more than I initially anticipated. As you may have seen from the back story of this book, I started writing this book on September 2015 and finishes the manuscript on August … Read more

Chapter 12: Let’s Welcome the Future

UNEDITED & UNCORRECTED DRAFT – PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE Congratulations! You have now reached the final chapter in this book. My hope is that this book would be an inflection point for a new beginning. And I’m extremely hopeful for the future of Asian Americans in our multiethnic world. In an open letter from James … Read more