In the midst of a surge of racial unrest, with recent events such as the Ferguson shooting, the Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity (ISAAC) realized that race and ethnicity is increasingly becoming an urgent issue to discuss within the church context. Hence, in their upcoming Sixth Symposium, ISAAC will be featuring a bilateral symposium, ‘A Christian Vision of Belonging: Race & Gender,’ with speakers from both Asian American and African American churches and ministries.
“I believe that because we have had a narrative and a theology that has been dominated by one particular racial, cultural perspective, we have not fully embraced the fullness of what God has to offer for us,” said Soong-Chan Rah, professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary.
“Rarely do African American Christians and Asian American Christians sit down to talk with one another to learn that we have these kinds of resonances with each other,” added Oscar Owens, the Christian Education Director and Bible College Director at the West Angeles Church of God in Christ.
This is the first symposium for which ISAAC has invited speakers from other ethnic groups to come, as ISAAC’s symposiums had usually been focused on fostering a deeper understanding of the Asian American Christian identity.
“We realized that we’ve been doing that for a while now, honing in on our specific Asian American identity,” said Young Lee Hertig, the executive director of ISAAC. “So we decided that this year, we’re ready to go beyond that and cross boundaries of race and gender, to reach out to others and understand and learn from other ethnic groups.”
Hertig mentioned that that initial understanding of one’s own identity is important in being able to understand and embrace others’ identities. Specifically, she said that there’s much that the Asian American Christians can learn from African American Christians.
“They [the African American church] are conservative,” Hertig said, which also tends to be the leanings of the Asian American church. “But they also have a very civic mind, and know how to engage the community. I think that’s an important thing we can learn from them.”
The symposium will not only be discussing ethnic identity, but will also be featuring voices from both male and female speakers. Though it’s not unusual to be at Christian events, panels, or conferences in which most or all of the speakers are male, Hertig emphasized that representation of both men and women is necessary for a healthy family in Christ, and that women need to hear from fellow women for their building up as well.
Speakers for the event include Willie James Jennings, who will be speaking at the main plenary sessions; and panel and presentation speakers Cecil “Chip” Murray from First African Methodist Episcopal Church; Soong-Chan Rah, professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary; and Bill Watanabe, the former executive director of the Little Tokyo Service Center; among many others.
“I’ve been hearing for years the truism that yes we are all one in Christ, that there is no Jew nor Greek, male nor female, but that’s not getting us anywhere,” said Kay Higuera Smith, professor of Biblical and religious studies at Azusa Pacific University. “We have to push harder. We have to ask harder questions.”
The ISAAC symposium will be taking place at Hillside Ministry of LACPC from November 3 to 4. For more information, visit www.isaacweb.org.
