wfn.org | [PCUSAnews] Asian-Americans celebrate unity, diversity

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #6542 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Titel:  Asian-Americans celebrate unity, diversity
1-June-2001
01185

Asian-Americans celebrate unity, diversity

Moderator urges "either-or" Presbyterians to try a "both-and" perspective

by John Filiatreau

HOUSTON, TX - About 250 Asian-American Presbyterians gathered here last
week, combining a routine annual meeting with a special convocation
scheduled by the Rev. Syngman Rhee, a Korean who is the first Asian-American
moderator of the General Assembly and the all-time highest-ranking Asian
leader of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The event was a celebration of the church's fastest-growing demographic
groups and a call to arms against the racism that participants agreed still
plagues the PC(USA), which is nearly 95 percent white.

Rhee said one of his purposes in calling together the church's
Asian-Americans - whose countries of origin include China, Taiwan, Korea,
Japan, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines - was to
encourage them to get more involved in leadership of the PC(USA).

The three-day event bridged a sometimes-troublesome generation gap, bringing
together first-generation Asian-Americans like Rhee with second- and
third-generation English speakers raised and schooled in the United States,
including dozens of youngsters and young adults.
People of all ages had roles to play in worship. The convocation included a
talent show featuring music, dance and costumes from various Asian cultures
and the installation of new officers of the National Asian Presbyterian
Council.

In a first-night sermon, Rhee said it was "wonderful" to have "beautiful
Asian-American faces all around me." He challenged his listeners to
"contribute to the mission and ministry of the Presbyterian Church by
offering your particular gifts," and to be "true partners in mission in our
church and in our nation ... in order that the Kingdom of God can be
achieved."

The convocation's theme was taken from Isaiah: "Arise, shine; for your light
has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."
An opening-worship prayer touched upon many of the matters to be discussed
during the gathering:

We are God's precious people, 
valued not merely according to our cultures 
but as creatures of God 
beyond race, religion, values, 
and physical appearances. 
We are in solidarity with the landless, 
the refugees, the immigrants, the strangers, 
the first generation, the next and future generations.

Rhee urged Asian-Americans to work to strengthen a denomination splintered
by dissension, by "continuing to emphasize the oneness of Christ's church
.. and being 'both-and' Presbyterians rather than 'either-or'
Presbyterians." He called for devotion to what he called the "basic,
important principles" of the church, including "inclusiveness of all
people," "working for social justice," and "the authority of Scripture as
the Word of God."

"I do not see why (these principles) have to be in conflict with each
other," he said. "Although we disagree on some issues, we must move forward
with the mission of the church ... and lift up those important principles in
(American) society as well."

In a panel discussion that stretched over two days, a trio of ministers -
the Rev. Virstan Choy, general presbyter for nurture and development in the
Presbytery of San Francisco, the Rev. Mary Paik, vice president for student
affairs at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, and the Rev. Bert Tom,
who retired last year after serving as acting executive presbyter of the San
Francisco Presbytery - agreed that the hospitality the PC(USA) extends to
Asian-Americans often feels like hostility.

"I wonder if we have in the Presbyterian Church some kind of ADD
(attention-deficit disorder) when it comes to racism," Choy said. Tom used a
different diagnostic term for the disorder - schizophrenia.

Tom said he has personally felt the sting of racism in the church, as when
he was addressed during a Presbyterian committee meeting as a "Chinaman."

"People think I'm thick-skinned, but my heart membranes are fairly thin," he
said. "We often have encountered the sort of subtle racism that really isn't
all that subtle. We just didn't always feel that expected hospitality."

Rhee also has personal experience of racism. He recalled that he was
denounced as a "yellow nigger" when he took part in civil-rights marches in
the 1960s and early 1970s. "That's my contribution to the American
language," he said ruefully.

"People of color, people of all colors, are seen as black," Tom said,
calling for solidarity with African-American Presbyterians and other
minorities in the church.

He added, "We are in denial in the Presbyterian Church about what more we
have to do" to combat racism.

Paik read portions of a Presbyterian News Service story about a recent
Presbyterian Panel survey on race relations in the church, pointing out its
finding that only 7 percent of PC(USA) members were even aware that the
denomination has set a goal of increasing its racial-ethnic membership to 20
percent (from the current 6 percent) by 2010. Nearly half of members and
pastors questioned said they would not like to see the denomination devote
"significantly more money and resources" in pursuit of that goal.

Fifty-five percent of members and 46 percent of elders said that, if they
were moving to a new community, they would look for a "mostly-white" church.
Majorities of members and elders and one-quarter of pastors said they would
prefer to live in a "mostly-white" neighborhood. The most popular suggestion
for increasing racial-ethnic membership was to "help existing racial-ethnic
congregations to grow," while the least-favored strategy (least-favored by
27 percent of members and 51 percent of pastors) was "encouraging white
congregations to make greater efforts to reach out to racial-ethnic
persons."

"The message seems to be, 'It's all right for you to grow over there, but
don't come over here and change us,'" Paik said.

Choy said Asian-Americans recruited for the ministry typically find that
"support for them is strong until that time of first placement," when they
are apt to be told by white search-committee members that they weren't hired
because "we knew you would not be comfortable in this (white) church." He
spoke of "the inability of good Presbyterians to be hospitable to people who
look different."

"The message that comes across is, 'We want you, but sometimes we don't want
you,'" Choy said. "I don't think that is an experience only of the past."

Several participants made the point that Asian-Americans have not only been
victims of racism, but sometimes have been its perpetrators. "Discrimination
is pretty much a general human phenomenon," one participant observed. Paik
said Asian-Americans need to "face up to (their racism) and repent of the
sin of racism."

In a sermon, the Rev. Steve Yamaguchi, of Long Beach, CA, recalled that in
his boyhood, he and his friends in a Japanese community in Los Angeles
sometimes chased their Chinese neighbors down the street, chanting "Ching
Chong Chinaman."

Yamaguchi said Asian-American Presbyterians have been called to "extend
hospitality to strangers ... which is more than serving tea and rice cakes."
He added: "If you follow Christ you should expect to feel like an alien. Our
citizenship is in Heaven. We are to be aliens in this age and in this
world."

Participants in the meeting addressed a question that was also discussed at
length during a recent meeting of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus -
is it possible to be authentically racial-ethnic, and at the same time
belong to the PC(USA)? The Asian-Americans seemed less discouraged by that
quandary than their African-American counterparts.

Paik said people can relate to the dominant, white culture in one of four
ways: being totally assimilated into the larger society; withdrawing from
the dominant culture and immersing oneself in Asian culture; dismissing the
whole matter as immaterial because "we are really citizens not of a worldly
kingdom, but of the Kingdom of Heaven"; or transforming the dominant culture
by questioning its assumptions and militating for change. "The last model is
the way to go," she said.

The first gathering of the Asian Presbyterian caucus was held in 1972, in
St. Helena, CA. Rhee said he called the 2001 meeting because he "wanted to
encourage Asian-American Presbyterians to be more actively engaged in the
mission and evangelism of our church."

"I felt it was important to call Asian-Americans together to share their own
experiences and also their commitment to fully participate in the life of
the church," he added. "That was my first thought after I became the first
Asian-American moderator."

Rhee said he was impressed by "the seriousness with which Asian-Americans
take their faith. ...
Partly because being a Christian often required a difficult commitment. They
have gone through hardships and sufferings, and they have witnessed even
martyrdom in different parts of Asia. As we have gone through some of those
difficulties, our faith was a gift of God, the source of our overcoming
these difficulties, in time of war or times of social change. The Christian
faith has meant so much in our personal lives."

In his travels as moderator, he said, "The most important impression that I
have ... is the faithfulness of Presbyterian people everywhere." He said he
has been heartened by a "more intentional effort to nurture the basic roots
of our faith," and a growing "spirit and attitude of reconciliation."

Speaking about racism, the moderator said: "We continue to look for a better
day, but we should not forget what God has done. It's almost like the people
of Israel in the time of slavery in Egypt and in the wilderness for 40
years. When you get to the Promised Land, do not forget the Yahweh who
brought you out of the land of Egypt. ... Sure, there is still a long way to
go, we all know that; but at the same time it is imperative for us to
remember that God has been with us and will continue to be."

In a Saturday evening sermon, the Rev. James Kim referred to the continuing
denominational debate over homosexuality and same-gender unions, telling his
audience:

"I don't like where we are as a denomination. People don't hear about lives
being changed; all they hear is our sexuality debate, and I'm tired of it.
Sometimes I think, what would happen if we ... spent as much time, energy
and money on evangelism as we now devote to these debates?"
Kim went on: "What causes us to be so schismatic? 
There is no other denomination in the world today that is as fragmented as
the Presbyterians are. ... Whenever we find something to disagree about, we
split up. ...

"Whose church is this, anyway? ... It's Christ's church. Let us hear each
other out, let's discuss, by all means, discuss the issues. We are a
stronger church because of our diversity. But we do not have a right to
divide, to split, our church. ... This summer you may not like the way we
vote, but that doesn't give us a right to divide God's church.

"We who love this church belong together."

_______________________________________________
pcusaNews mailing list
pcusaNews@pcusa.org

To unsubscribe, go to this web address:
http://pcusa01.pcusa.org/mailman/listinfo/pcusanews