Calling Asian American Youth into Ministry (East Region internship)

From Andrew Lee (ISAAC East Region Director)

There is an overwhelming need for clergy to lead the second generation, English language ministries of immigrant Asian churches.  Few from this generation go into ministry, many opting instead for high salaried professional careers at the urging of their parents.

In order to assist Asian American congregations in the CT/NJ/NY areas to address this urgent need, a summer internship program will be offered for college aged young adults who are considering full-time vocational ministry.  Successful applicants will serve in their respective churches and be mentored by a team of pastoral and lay leaders at their church, as well as by the ISAAC project coordinator.  Furthermore, the interns will meet weekly for support and peer mentoring.

At the end of the internship, there will be a worship service with the theme of calling at each participating church.  Interns will share about their experiences and members of the mentoring team will also have an opportunity to address the congregation and advocate the pursuit of God’s call.  Public conversation will be initiated on a topic that is seldom broached in the immigrant church.

Program Highlights

• Summer internships jointly funded by ISAAC and the church.[1] College students will serve in various ministry capacities at their respective churches for approximately 8 weeks from June to August.
• An English Ministry pastoral staff member will oversee the work and mentor the youth for the summer.  A learning covenant between the two will serve as the basis for their working relationship.
• There will be a Lay Mentoring team of three people from the church with representation from both genders.  The intern with meet with this team as a group and not individually.  A learning covenant will be set up.
• ISAAC staff will coordinate the entire project and meet with all the interns.  The interns will gather as a cohort to receive guidance, eat, pray, fellowship with and support each other.  This weekly meeting takes precedence over any church activity or responsibility.
• End of summer service where the intern and mentoring team will share about calling with the congregation.
• End of summer banquet/evaluation for all the mentoring teams
• Application forms will be posted on the ISAAC website and can be downloaded here [download Application for ISAAC Summer Internship Program.2011].
• Interns will be accepted beginning March 1 until all five are awarded.

ISAAC Project Coordinator: Rev. Dr. Andrew Lee

[Email Andrew] or call Phone: (718) 317-7930

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[1] Students will receive a $1,500 stipend.  ISAAC will contribute $1,000 and the church $500.  In addition, there will be transportation, food and book subsidies from ISAAC.

One-Day CONFAB Event – May 2 (Berkeley, CA)

You are cordially invited to a one-day

CONFAB INTERCHURCH EVENT

On Saturday, May 2, 2009 ( 9:30- 3:30 )

At the Berkeley Chinese Community Church
2117 Acton St. Berkeley (510) 549-2222
Parking available in the church parking lot

Purpose: To provide an opportunity for English-speaking adults from Chinese historic Mainline churches an opportunity for fellowship & sharing.

Theme: HONORING OUR RELATIONSHIPS

Exploring how family & extended Clan, teachers & mentors, spouses & friends have contributed to the persons we are today. This small group interactive experience will be facilitated by Rev. James Chuck.

$15.00 per person includes lunch. Make checks payable to “Confab.” Register with the designated registrar for your church. Individual registrations may be sent to James Chuck, 33 Linda Ave., #1701, Oakland, 94611.

We need your name, address, zip, phone, & email address. Questions? Call (510) 655-5100; or jameschuck1@gmail.com

What is CONFAB? Confab is the abbreviated designation for the National Conference of Chinese Christian Churches in America. Confab was organized in 1955 to bring together Chinese churches from time to time for fellowship, inspiration, and learning. The current programmatic emphasis for Confab is the strengthening of relationships between the historic Mainline Chinese churches in the Bay Area. The current Confab cabinet includes Carole Jan Lee (chair), Byron Chan, Fred Hee, Paul Hom, Adlai Jew, Esther Lee, Jean Low, Don Ng, Sebastian Ong, Alan Wong, & Yale Yee

Sam Tsang Seminars on the Bible

ISAAC is delighted to announce the following free Bible seminars to be given by Dr. Sam Tsang, Vice President of the Overseas Theological Seminary (San Jose, CA) and ISAAC partner:

April 14-16 (7.30-9.30 pm)
Seminar on Acts
25th Anniversary Celebration of the Far East Broadcasting, Canada
Vancouver Chinese Alliance Church Fraser Lands Branch,
3330 Marine Drive, Vancouver, B.C. V5S 4R8
Contact numbers are: 604-717-8369×171 or 778-885-2731

June 6th (10 am)
Galatians – “Understanding Paul’s Gospel as the Way Forward for the Chinese Church?” [In Cantonese]
West Valley Chinese Alliance Church
400 Llewellyn Avenue, Campbell, CA 95008
Contact: 408-364-1388

Oct. 23 (7.30 pm) and Oct. 24 (9.30 am)
Revelation – “What does Revelation have to do with Silicon Valley?: The Message of Revelation for Our Time” [In Mandarin]
Sponsored by Worldwide Bible Society
Chinese Church In Christ -Cupertino
10455 Bandley Drive, Cupertino, CA 95014

Dr. Tsang is a blogger. His latest blog is about U2 and our faith. Check it out at
sacredsaga.org/sam-tsangs-blog

Also, Sam’s newest book (in Chinese) just came out. Here’s the book information:
http://www.mingdaopress.org/Common/Reader/Channel/ShowPage.jsp?Cid=17&Pid=13&Version=0&Charset=big5_hkscs&page=0

ISAAC receives “Calling Congregations” Grant from the Fund for Theological Education

ISAAC is delighted to announce that our East Region will receive a “Calling Congregations” grant from the Fund for Theological Education. FTE will provide $12,000 over a two year period for “activities and reflection designed to help congregations nurture the principles and practices that support vocational discernment, in general, and the call to ministry, in particular, among youth and young adults.”

Dr. Andrew Lee, Eastern Regional Director for ISAAC and author of the proposal, Calling Chinese American youth into Ministry, says that this program will be “a summer internship program in the New York metropolitan area for Chinese churches. College and High School students who are considering full-time ministry may apply to work as ministry interns in their respective churches.  The interns will receive guidance throughout the summer from mentoring teams.  There will also be directed times for them to meet together to process their experiences and to contemplate their potential call to ministry.  The objective of the funding grant is to aid churches in becoming calling congregations that are able to identify, nurture and raise up leaders for vocational ministry.”

The program will begin in the summer of 2009. ISAAC hopes to expand this program to other regions where Asian American congregations face the challenge of raising up young people to enter the ministry. Please direct questions to Dr. Andrew Lee.

The Growth of the Chinese Churches in the Bay Area – 2008 report available in November!

ISAAC is pleased to announce that “The Growth of the Chinese Churches in the Bay Area – 2008 report of the The Bay Area Chinese Churches Research Project, Phase II” will be available this November! This report, edited by Dr. James Chuck and Timothy Tseng, is a follow-up study of Dr. Chuck’s 1996 profile of the Chinese churches in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The report will include an updated profile of Bay Area Chinese churches along with essays that explore the demographics of Chinese Americans in the Bay Area, the history of Chinese Protestantism and Catholicism, reflections on ministry, and essays that highlight issues in Chinese American ministry. Here is the report’s table of contents:

• Chinese American Demographic Change in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1990-2000, by Russell Jeung and Dean Adachi
• The Growth of the Chinese Churches in the Bay Area, by James Chuck
• Report on the church consultations, by Donald Ng
• “Faith, Hope, and Love” – Themes in the History of Chinese Protestantism in the Bay Area, by Timothy Tseng
• A History of Chinese Catholics in San Francisco and the Bay Area, by Ricky Manalo CSP
• Patterns in Development of the English Ministry in a Chinese Church, by Ken Carlson
• Flourishing for More Than 3.8 Years in Ministry, by Johnson Chiu
• From Surgery to Acupuncture: An Alternative Approach to Managing Church Conflict from an Asian American Perspective, by Virstan B.Y. Choy
• The Search for Asian American Worship, by Russell Yee
• Issues in Asian Youth Ministry, by Victor Quon
• Bathsheba Transformed: From Silence to Voice, by Chloe Sun
• Ministry is Like a Marathon, by Steve Quen

Information about how to order the report will be provided on the ISAAC website soon. You can also find out by attending one of the three “Growth of Chinese Churches” half-day research report conferences in November 2008. – Tim Tseng