Chinese American church

The term Chinese American church refers to Christian churches that have congregations in the United States made up of predominantly ethnic Chinese congregations.

Cultural assimilation

Many Chinese churches originate with the purpose to serve Chinese immigrants who recently arrived from China. The services are usually done in Cantonese, Mandarin or other dialects of the Chinese language with the purpose of spreading the gospel to those who cannot understand the English language. Further purposes of Chinese churches are also to support missionaries to China by helping them with the Mandarin Chinese language and Chinese cultural challenges that he or she may face.

Such churches raise the debate over "assimilation" versus "identity" in a similar fashion with other ethnic churches. The debate mostly revolves around the preservation of the Chinese culture while keeping the religious purpose of worship.[1] Most ministries have the purpose of worshipping in the Chinese language.

However, while the older generations tend to be non-English speakers, many churches find themselves being "multi-congregational" by the fact that an English-speaking younger generation is typically served under the same roof. The problem occurs when the Chinese speaking congregation shrinks and leaves behind the larger non-Chinese speaking members. Failure to attract new members usually means the end of the church as churches function as businesses. The original purpose of worship is lost.[2]

Notable churches
  • Boston Chinese Evangelical Church in downtown Boston and Newtonville, Massachusetts
  • Bay Area Chinese Bible Church in Alameda and San Leandro, California
  • Chinese Baptist Church in Seattle, Washington
  • Chinese Bible Church of Greater Boston in Lexington, Massachusetts
  • Chinese Bible Church of Greater Lowell in Chelmsford, Massachusetts
  • Chinese Bible Church of Maryland in Rockville and Gaithersburg, Maryland
  • Chinese Christian Union Church in Chicago, Illinois
  • Chinese Evangelical Free Church of Los Angeles in Monterey Park, California
  • Covenant of Grace Presbyterian Church in Briarwood, New York - belongs to the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)
  • Davis Chinese Christian Church
  • First Chinese Baptist Church, Los Angeles in Chinatown, Los Angeles
  • First Chinese Baptist Church of Fountain Valley in Fountain Valley, California
  • First Evangelical Church Association in Southern California
  • First Evangelical Community Chinese Church in Rochester Hills, Michigan
  • Friendship Agape Church, San Jose, California
  • Oversea Chinese Mission in New York, New York
  • Pittsburgh Chinese Church
  • Presbyterian Church in Chinatown, San Francisco Chinatown - the oldest Chinese church in North America[3]
  • Princeton Christian Church in Princeton, New Jersey
  • Rutgers Community Christian Church in Somerset, New Jersey
  • The Reformed Church of Newtown in Elmhurst, New York - belongs to the Reformed Church in America (RCA)
  • San Francisco Chinese Alliance Church
  • San Jose Christian Alliance Church
  • Sunset Church in San Francisco
  • Trinity Christian Church of Greater Philadelphia in Havertown, Philadelphia
  • Victory Baptist Chinese Church of Rochester in Rochester, New York

References
  1. Fenggang Yang (2010). Chinese Christians in America: Conversion, Assimilation, and Adhesive Identities. Penn State Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-271-04252-7.
  2. Tow, Fee Kee (2008). Training American-born Chinese pastors to minister in a predominantly Chinese bicultural church (PhD Dissertation). Asbury Theological Seminary. ProQuest 304814962.
  3. "OUR STORY". Presbyterian Church in Chinatown. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
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