Christianity
An Asian Religion in Vancouver
by Jason Byassee, Albert Y. S. Chu and Ross A. Lockhart
Foreword by Darrell L. Guder
Afterword by Mi-Jung Lee
Imprint: Cascade Books
Is God changing the face of the church in North America today? The secularization thesis makes it appear that churches are inevitably declining in membership and influence. Too often, however, this assumption of decline is based on only watching the denominations that were "church plants of Western Christendom" in North America. Christianity: An Asian Religion in Vancouver focuses on the context of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and notes through a mixed-methods study including interviews and participant observation that many churches in Vancouver with predominantly Asian composition are growing both in size and influence. What might we learn about God's transforming power by looking to Asia rather than Europe to predict the future of Christian witness in the Pacific Northwest of North America?
Jason Byassee is the senior minister of Eaton Memorial Church, Toronto, and the former Butler Chair in Homiletics and Biblical Hermeneutics at Vancouver School of Theology.
Albert Y. S. Chu is the director of the Centre for Missional Leadership at St. Andrew’s Hall and the lead pastor of The Tapestry Church in Richmond, British Columbia.
Ross A. Lockhart is dean of St. Andrew’s Hall and professor of Mission Studies at Vancouver School of Theology.
“In Christianity, Jason Byassee, Albert Chu, and Ross Lockhart share stories of the Asian immigrant Christian experience—part of the migration reshaping the narrative of global Christianity. As a denominational leader, the story of a thriving, growing, and evolving Christian witness is a much-needed corrective to narratives of fatigue and decline. May the faith and hope chronicled in these stories provoke our churches to newness of both imagination and witness.”
—Victor S. J. Kim, principal clerk, The Presbyterian Church in Canada
“Christianity provides a much-needed glimpse into an often-overlooked facet of the Canadian church. The authors give voice to Asian Christians and provide a convincing depiction of how Christianity in Vancouver has become an Asian religion. This is a refreshing book that speaks to a faith world that frequently goes unnoticed, and it is a must-read for anyone serious about engaging Canadian ecclesiology.”
—Sarah Han, assistant professor of pastoral ministry, Tyndale Seminary
“This book makes a unique contribution to the understanding of faith within the Asian-Canadian community. Told from the vantage point of Christian Asian-Canadians, it is an important contribution to understanding Asian migration to North America and how faith plays a critical role in supporting such migration and integration into Canada. This book is well worth the read.”
—Santa J. Ono, president, University of Michigan and former president, University of British Columbia