I am a third-generation Chinese American pastor of an ethnic heritage church. My church was founded by Chinese immigrants and still has Chinese immigrants in attendance, yet we welcome individuals of any ethnicity to attend.
Recently, a member of my church sent me an article highlighting how ethnic heritage churches have been failing to retain the second generation. She was saddened because over the last decade, the vast majority of articles written about ethnic heritage churches have only voiced the silent exodus of the second generation, which was the opposite of her experience. While she does not speak the mother tongue of my church, she found it to be a spiritual home. She wished there were more voices to express why second-generation immigrants stay or return to their ethnic heritage churches.
I appreciate Erin Dinh voicing her experience in returning to the ethnic heritage church, and Helen Lee voicing her observation that ethnic minority Christians are boomeranging back to the ethnic heritage churches. I hope this article will add a voice about three Biblical reasons for ethnic heritage churches. Ethnic heritage churches are not just for first-generation immigrants but play an important role in contributing to the beauty of the body of Christ.
First, God uses ethnic heritage churches for missional purposes to fulfill the Great Commission through diaspora missions. Dr. Enoch Wan defines diaspora missions as Christian participation in God’s mission to evangelize their kinsmen on the move, and through them to reach out to natives in their homeland and beyond.
This diaspora missional calling is seen in Romans 1:14, when Paul writes about his obligation to reach both the Jews and Gentiles, and in in Romans 9:3, in which Paul expresses his deep longing to reach his fellow Jew and his willingness to suffer so that they might be saved. Throughout Paul’s missionary journeys, he often shared the gospel first with the Jews, a diaspora people clustered in cities throughout Asia Minor and Greece, and then with the Gentiles. Paul practiced diaspora missions.
Likewise, ethnic heritage churches practice diaspora missions by reaching their people in America first. Many if not most multiethnic and majority culture churches in America are not equipped to minister to first-generation immigrants. As a result, the vast majority of first-generation ethnic minority conversions to Christianity in America happen through ethnic heritage churches practicing diaspora missions.
In addition, the vast majority of second-generation ethnic minority conversions also happen in ethnic heritage churches. At many ethnic heritage churches, it is the English-speaking adults, many of whom are second- or third-generation, who evangelize and disciple the second and third-generation children, youth, and college students; they sow and harvest doing the work of diaspora missions without knowing it.
Engaging in diaspora missions is also reaching beyond your ethnic group. The English-speaking congregations of many ethnic heritage churches can reach beyond their own kinsmen to other diaspora and majority culture people. I know of a Korean heritage church that has had Mexican and Chinese Americans participating in their leadership. As a result of practicing diaspora missions, ethnic heritage churches are uniquely positioned in their mission to reach first-, second-, and third-generation ethnic minorities and those who are receptive to their mission.
Second, God uses ethnic heritage churches to foster intergenerational relationships, discipleship, and evangelism within the church, which produces strong Christian families. In Ephesians 2:19, through Christ, we are no longer strangers but we are now members of God’s household. The church is a family. This sense of family is extremely important in many immigrant cultures where adults are addressed as uncles and aunties by the youth and children, and the elderly are addressed as grandpas and grandmas.
When these family relationships are also seen within the ethnic heritage church, church community feels like home or one large extended family. As a result, people of all ages may enjoy serving together in missions, on various committees, on worship teams, in the children’s ministry and youth ministries. There is a beauty to seeing different generations serve together, especially in the United States where people are often segregated by age at church.
Furthermore, because many ethnic heritage churches have ministries across generations and languages, these churches can evangelize an entire family unit. In my church, I’ve seen a Christian grandmother who attends the Cantonese service invite her believing adult daughter and non-believing son-in-law to the English service. They in turn bring their daughter to the children’s program. I’ve also seen adults who attend the English service invite their non-believing parents to Cantonese and Mandarin services where some eventually become Christians. The entire family can be evangelized in ways that leverage language and culture
Third, God uses ethnic heritage churches to provide a spiritual home, a place of belonging and acceptance for ethnic minority Christians. The Apostle Paul said, “to the Jews I became a Jew to win the Jews (1 Corinthians 9:20)”; he sought to minister to people in their cultural context. Similarly, ethnic heritage churches provide a cultural context where ethnic minorities can feel ministered to.
Erin Ding writes, “As they [the second and third-generation children of immigrants] raise their own children, many are pondering the type of faith and cultural environment they want to bestow on their kids. That often means a search for churches that will incorporate their stories, embrace their heritage, and hire leaders who look like them.”
In addition, ethnic heritage churches provide space for ethnic minorities to follow Christ in culturally appropriate ways. In Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, Paul urges the believers to be sensitive toward the cultural values of those offended by eating meat offered to idols. All churches tend to operate by the culture of the majority.
Korie Edwards writes, “Because people who are ethnically similar share similar ideas of how church should look: the length of worship services, the music sung, the preaching style, the appropriate clothing, the languages spoken, and the food served … Without this commonality, more conflict arises, and those with more power set church culture and structure.”
During the pandemic, many majority culture churches chose to not wear masks as a sign of faith, while many Asian heritage churches chose to wear masks as a sign of love to provide safety for all who worshiped together. I talked with a number of Asian Americans who left majority culture churches during the pandemic. When they wore masks to church, they were forced to sit with sick individuals even though they were not sick. When they returned to the ethnic heritage churches, they felt safe to worship. They did not feel that they were alone in their value to love others by wearing a mask.
A sense of shared values, culture, and background also allows individuals to more easily serve together. In Acts 18, Priscilla and Aquila quickly became effective co-workers with and companions of Paul. They were Hellenistic Jews in Asia Minor like Paul, and they also shared the same profession of tent making. Their shared backgrounds made it easier for them to serve together. Likewise, the shared cultural values in ethnic heritage churches help ethnic minorities come to serve together.
I’ve noticed over the years that many Asian American Christians, who leave ethnic heritage churches for large majority culture-dominated churches, tend to cluster with each other at these churches and frequently do not serve there. However, when they return to the ethnic heritage churches, many easily start using their spiritual gifts because of the familiar setting and way of doing church.
Whether it is providing space for ethnic minorities to feel accepted, pursue Christ in culturally appropriate ways, or be empowered to serve, ethnic heritage churches are a spiritual home for ethnic minorities. They celebrate the people, culture, and values that majority culture churches may overlook or may not see.
Ed Stetzer wrote, “We must understand that sometimes ethnic or minority churches do more to further God’s kingdom than any effort majority culture churches could make to blend multiple ethnicities into a single church. When we fully comprehend this, we are freed to do more work that empowers all members of Christ’s kingdom.”
In conclusion, God has and continues to use ethnic heritage churches missionally and intergenerationally, and to provide a spiritual home for ethnic minorities and others. Ethnic heritage churches may start off ethnic-specific, but they may broaden over time. Regardless of whether they become ethnically diverse or not, they are generationally, linguistically, and culturally diverse and have already made a positive contribution in reaching certain ethnic minorities, whom majority culture or multiethnic churches may not be able to reach.
Editor’s Note: Parts of this essay are based on “An Apologetic for Chinese Heritage Churches,” a foundational document of the Chinese Heritage Church Collaborative.