“My passion is to help [Korean Americans] understand the good and the bad of their history, and to bridge this [inter-generational] gap by helping them to learn where they come from.”
Such are the words of Rev. Dr. Young Lee Hertig. In the discourse regarding the inter-generational gap in the Asian American home and church contexts, a major aspect that cannot be left out is that of the culture and history of the ethnic group, she says.
Hertig is one who has immersed herself in the intersection of culture and faith in multiple fields: as a professor (she earned her Ph.D. in intercultural studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, where she also worked as a professor of cross cultural ministry for a period; and currently, she teaches at Azusa Pacific University’s Global Studies and Sociology Department), and in the non-profit realm (she is the current executive director at the Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity (ISAAC), and the founder of Asian American Women on Leadership), among others (for the sake of clarity and brevity, her other involvements are left out in this article).
Hertig’s current pursuits are ones that focus on cross-cultural engagement, particularly between African and Asian American Christians, but her focus for a period had been the inter-generational dynamic in the Korean immigrant church.
Hertig and her husband, Paul Hertig, began reaching out to first and second generation Korean Americans as soon as they moved to Los Angeles from the Midwest in 1984, and worked together until 1997 to build a bridge of reconciliation between generations in two Korean churches in the greater Los Angeles area.
“We played revised ‘newly weds’ games, like having the student and the parent sit with their backs to each other and having them answer questions about each other,” Hertig recalled. “’What does my son want to major in college?’ for example. And they would both raise their answers at the same time. The father would raise up ‘law,’ and the son would put up ‘animation,’ and we would laugh.”
Games like the one mentioned served as light-hearted channels through which to express honest thoughts, she explained.
She recorded the stories that emerged from these interactions in her book, Cultural Tug of War: The Korean Immigrant Family and Church in Transition, which explores the roots of inter-generational conflicts and tensions that arise in the Korean immigrant home and church contexts.
“People are telling me today that they still read it and say that it’s totally relevant,” she said. “But I want it to be irrelevant now. That research was done in the 80s and I wrote it up in the 90s.”
Rev. Dr. Young Lee Hertig is the executive director of the Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity (ISAAC).
Indeed, the issue has been the subject of discourse among pastors over many years. Yet many pastors say they still experience inter-generational tensions in their Korean immigrant churches and are still discussing what may be the best model that Korean Americans should pursue, and how to bridge that inter-generational gap.
One reason that these discussions may still be ongoing, according to Hertig, is that pastors and leaders are missing a significant piece in the puzzle: a deeper understanding of Korean culture and history.
She discussed the Apostle Paul’s knowledge of his roots as an example.
“Apostle Paul was able to say, ‘I was born in Tarsus, circumcised on the eighth day, and I’m of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, studied under Gamaliel -- if you can name all of those characteristics of where you come from, and who you are, then go for it -- independence, multi-cultural church, whatever. But when you don’t even know where you’re from -- the Benjamin tribe or which tribe -- don’t do it for the sake of avoiding conflict,” Hertig continued.
“Conflict will be there with you where you are as long as you’re breathing -- just because you are not with first gen, does not mean you will not have conflict. You’ll still run into corporate culture, or micro-managing pastoral staff. You’ll have conflicts or problems, just with different people.”
“But when you know where you come from, then you know what you want to discard,” she added. “And when you are anchored, then you are like a tree deeply rooted, so that when the wind blows and the rain comes, you will stand. If you are not anchored, then you’re just following fads, and that’s what I’m concerned about.”
Korean American pastors and leaders, Hertig explained, have many innate characteristics that derives from Korea’s history and culture, but many do not know how to verbalize those characteristics due to a lack of understanding of that history and culture.
“For example, domestic violence in Korean American homes -- it stems from Korea's history, and operates out of the subconscious,” Hertig said.
“When you understand, 'Ah this must be from Korean War trauma,' then you have language to be able to describe what you're going through,” she added. “A lot of conflict comes from unresolved and unprocessed trauma from Korea’s history.”
A large part of that lack of understanding is due to a lack of a tangible space in which Korean Americans can explore, discuss, and learn about the culture and history. Church, Hertig says, “preaches Jesus in a cultural vacuum,” while seminaries teach “nothing but butter and bread,” forcing Asian American pastors to “all of a sudden cook rice on the job.”
To bridge the gap between generations in a sustainable way, Hertig says, a long-term process of what she calls the “3 Ts” -- transcribing, translating, and transmitting -- of the culture and history must be carried out inter-generationally. The younger generation must continue to learn about the history and culture, translate that knowledge into their own lives, and pass it on to the next generation.
This is what Hertig has been striving to do through ISAAC – provide a space for Asian American Christians to reflect on how their cultures affect the way they live out their faith. As such, ISAAC has had numerous symposia since 2009 focusing on specific issues relevant to the Asian American church context, inviting speakers such as Jonathan Tran, associate professor at Baylor University’s Department of Religion; Hee-Sun Cheon, professor of psychology at Seattle Pacific University; Charlene Jin Lee, professor of practical theology and spiritual formation at Loyola Marymount University; among others. ISAAC also recently joined with the Forum for Theological Exploration to send Asian American interns to African American churches this past summer.
“I'm deeply appreciative of the opportunity to open these young people's eyes, and to spark in them a desire to dig deeper,” Hertig said.
But she hopes that these efforts will be continued and taken on by others as well; and that instead of only thinking of new programs or methods, pastors and lay leaders would also look to what has already been tried and done.
“There’s no one sustainable bridge right now -- people are still building bridges. But the people who need to walk on the bridge are looking elsewhere. They want to fly rather than walk on the bridge, or construct the bridge together. They are looking for an airplane. That’s how I feel.”
