How Am I Going to Grow Up? Congregational Transition among Second-Generation Chinese Canadian Evangelicals and Servant-Leadership
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Second-generation Chinese Canadian evangelicals inhabit a complex liminal space, positioned between the world of their parents and broader Canadian society. In this study, Dr. Enoch Wong explores the “silent exodus” of these Canadian-born Chinese from their parents’ churches, tracing their journeys to negotiate their cultural, ethnic, and faith identities for themselves. Utilizing both sociology of religion and leadership studies, Wong’s research engages Robert Greenleaf’s concept of foresight in servant leadership to examine the role of church leaders in mediating (or failing to mediate) these transitions for children raised in immigrant churches. This multi-case inquiry offers insight into the concerns of Canadian-born Chinese evangelicals and the cultural and generational conflicts that prompt them to search for new communities capable of understanding their identities and supporting their yearnings – whether inside or outside of the church.
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- Explores the “silent exodus” of these Canadian-born Chinese.
- Offers insight into the concerns of Canadian-born Chinese evangelical.
- Helps understanding their identities and supporting their yearnings.
With an appreciative understanding of the idea of service in the tradition of Robert Greenleaf’s Servant-Leadership, Dr. Enoch Wong sets out to comprehend the transitioning experiences of the second-generation Chinese Canadian Evangelicals (SGCCE) in the areas of ethnicity and religiosity. His research also surveys the Chinese Christian churches and their leaders’ handling of the transitional experiences of the SGCCE. The meanings of these experiences are revealed through Dr. Wong’s use of the qualitative case study method rather than the classical use of the phenomenological methodology. His work implies that Greenleaf ’s philosophy of the idea of being the “servant first” could be realized and embraced with appreciation by individuals and communities so that all can “become freer and wiser and become servant-leaders.”
--Peter L. Lim, PhD. Headington Chair of Global Leadership Development, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California, USA
Surely one of the greatest challenges and responsibilities of the church is “passing on the faith” from one generation to the next. This is always a challenge and always a responsibility, but it is particularly so for relatively new immigrant communities, whether it is Russian Mennonites or Cantonese Chinese, Filipino or Somalian. In this publication, Dr. Enoch Wong focuses on the Chinese diaspora communities in Canada; however, what emerges in this study is invaluable for all communities and churches that are keen to foster the capacity of the church to nurture faith in the children of the church.
--Gordon T. Smith, PhD. President, Ambrose University and Seminary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Author, Beginning Well
- Title: How Am I Going to Grow up? An Exploration of Congregational Transition among Second-Generation Chinese Canadian Evangelicals and Servant-Leadership
- Author: Enoch Wong
- Publisher: Langham
- Print Publication Date: 2021
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Pages: 490
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subjects: Evangelicalism › Canada; Chinese › Canada--Social conditions; Chinese › Canada--Religious life and customs; Children of immigrants › Canada; Children of immigrants › Religion; Servant leadership › Canada
- ISBNs: 9781839736360, 9781839736377, 9781839736384, 1839736364, 1839736372, 1839736380
- Resource ID: LLS:HOWAMIGOINGGROW
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-10-17T10:10:58Z