How does the way you think or talk about faith help you respond to racism? How does the way you read the Bible address social injustice? Where I grew up, “uncles” with powerful faith kept raising these questions in bible studies and Sunday School. I believe these “eccentric uncles” were always in our Asian American faith communities. But during the 1960s and 1970s, they spoke up in a more public manner. Black, Latino, and indigenous church leaders were already speaking so elegantly against racial discrimination at the time. Our theological “uncles” did the same, demanding liberation for the Asian American church. In the process, they left us an impressive record of theological reflection and ministry practices that attempted to give voice to the growing Asian American Christian churches.
In this deep dive episode of the Pearl Dive podcast, I talk to Shijie (SJ) Lu. S.J. is a doctoral candidate in Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary. His research focuses on the intersection of race, Christian mission and ethics in the context of the San Francisco Bay Area. SJ grew up in Singapore and studied Anthropology and Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Most recently, he completed his MA in World Christianity at Regent College, where his thesis explored Singaporean Christians’ missional-ethical responsibility towards foreign domestic workers. His interests in Asian American (Christian) history include Asian American liberation theology, the genesis of the model minority stereotype, and theological roots informing its ethical witness. SJ lives in Berkeley with his wife and baby daughters. - Tim Tseng
This interview was recorded on September 27, 2023.
This season of Pearl Dive was brought to you by the Asian American Christian History Institute (AACHI) at the Fuller Theological Seminary’s Asian American Center and with the support of the KT Foundation.
LINKS
Helen Kim, “Niseis of the Faith: Theologizing Liberation in the Asian American Movement,” (undergraduate thesis, Stanford University, 2006)
Wikipedia article: Roy I Sano
Densho Encyclopedia: Paul M. Nagano
Densho Digital Repository: Paul Nagano Interview
Densho Digital Repository: Lloyd K. Wake Interview
The Theologies of Asian Americans and Pacific Peoples: A Reader. [The PACTS Reader, originally published in 1976, revised and reprinted 2023] (Claremont Press, 2022) compiled by Roy I. Sano, edited by Daniel D. Lee.
Inventory of the Pacific and Asian American Center for Theology and Strategies Collection at the Graduate Theological Union.
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