Yes, I'm a minister. No, I don't have a church.

Have you ever been in a space where people speak movingly about the faith of their grandmothers? I always think, “oh, that’s interesting you have Christian grandmothers who talk about their faith.” My two paternal grandmothers were secular Jews. I saw convictions, not religious practice. My maternal grandmother was Presbyterian, but she certainly didn’t talk about it with me. I saw her actions more than anything else. Yuriko Nishita , my maternal grandmother and my last living grandparent, lived among us from January 31, 1926 to November 29th, 2016. I do not have all the facts about my grandmother, and I may have gotten some of the details wrong. What I do possess is my experience of her. She loved me and made sure I knew it, and she was salty. Whoever came up with the stereotype that Asian American women are meek and quiet probably never met anyone in my family. Over half of the women have (or had) sharp tongues. In 2010, I told her I had gotten a new job in Atlanta after ye...

Here's your one stop shop for resources we offer from the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, via TheThoughtfulChristian.com . The majority are geared toward a more general Christian audience than just Presbyterians. Happy reading! Books The Bible’s Yes to Same-Sex Marriage: An Evangelical’s Change of Heart , by Mark Achtemeier UnClobber: Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality , by Colby Martin Mom, I’m Gay: Loving Your LGBTQ Child and Strengthening Your Faith , by Susan Cottrell Permission Granted: Take the Bible into Your Own Hands , Chapter 4, by Jennifer Grace Bird Inclusive Marriage Services: A Wedding Sourcebook , edited by Kimberly Bracken Long & David Maxwell From This Day Forward: Rethinking the Christian Wedding , by Kimberly Bracken Long What the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian? , Chapter 9, by Martin Thielen A Letter to My Anxious Christian Friends , Chapter 11, by David P. Gushee Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality , b...

"GOD LOVES BLACKNESS. Too many have denied this basic truth for too long. Our choice to align ourselves with love and not hate requires both a rejection of racism and a positive proclamation that God delights in black lives." This comes from the newly approved PC (U.S.A.)  revised antiracism policy (newly dubbed "intercultural" policy). This week has only reinforced the need for the proclamation that God loves blackness.  And then...  A beautiful night shared between a very proactive police department (seriously, they were trying to do some good work) and a city with significant support for nationwide reform of policing, was destroyed in gunfire, another mass shooting in a nation already weary. I know this pastor interviewed in the links listed below (the Rev.  Michael W. Waters ). He's the first of many pastors in Dallas I thought of when I heard about the sniper fire. I knew he and others I know would be at the march to end the violence that ...

This was first spoken in chapel at the Presbyterian Center on May 11, 2016. Just because most of us speak English doesn’t mean we speak the same language. Studies show we are, in our political landscape, increasingly polarized in our beliefs. A cursory review of social media reveals many of us are speaking different languages, listening to argue, speaking past each other. Just because most of us speak English doesn’t mean we speak the same language. We have regional dialects, turns of phrase that not everyone understands. “Might could” is a southern-ism that wouldn’t pass muster in the Pacific Northwest. There, it would make no grammatical sense whatsoever. In the south, it makes perfect sense. Just because most of us speak English doesn’t mean we speak the same language. We have a few dominant narratives in the wind of mainline Protestantism these days. One narrative claims the reign of God is inbreaking, increased diversity of worship and worshiping communities, a shift f...

There was a little blackface incident at Presbyterian-related Whitworth University. Click here for the story. I like that university and I really respect the administration. See P.P.S. below. What I find absolutely puzzling is that this kind of incident isn’t isolated. I have seen countless reports during the 21st century of people (mainly on college campuses) dressing up like "Mexicans" or dressing in blackface or donning "Indian headdresses" or any other number of offensive things. I know I’m getting old when I think, “these idiots are going to be in charge of the world when I’m elderly and can no longer care for myself. Good luck to us.” Here’s the thing. These people probably aren’t idiots about everything. As I have said before, common sense isn’t common. It is taught. A perfectly savvy and mature young person might make a racist decision because someone, namely parents-pastors-teachers-older siblings-grandparents-friends-pop culture, never bothered t...

This is the first blog post for the Companions on the Inner Way retreat. You may find the second blog post here: Seeking Home: Where Do We Come From? Here are the other blog posts: Seeking Home: Where Do We Come From?  Who Have We Become? UnBelonging Exile and Belonging Beloved I am delighted to spend this week as the blogger for the summer Companions on the Inner Way retreat (more information at www.cotiway.org ), a “guided retreat grounded in the Christian tradition. By honoring body, mind and soul, companions are invited to the inner journey with the Spirit.” It is an ecumenical gathering at the Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center at Lake Tahoe. (If you want to make my heart flutter, say “ecumenical” or “Lake Tahoe.”) This week’s theme is “Seeking Home & the Practice of Belonging.” The featured speaker is Enuma Okoro, who is a fabulous human being, author, speaker, and consultant. You can find her at http://enumaokoro.com/ First, a word a...

I spend a lot of time thinking about race in the U.S., but for me, race is all bound up in religion. The whiteness of my family is shaped by American Jewish and Unitarian and not-religiously-affiliated experiences. The Asian Americanness of my family is shaped by Buddhism, the not-religiously-affiliated, and Christianity in its mainline/Pentecostal/Roman Catholic/evangelical experiences. The multiraciality meshes with our multifaith nature. I remember an early conversation with my parents when they sat us down and explained we would not be sending out Christmas letters to friends and family, because not everyone celebrates Christmas. Instead, we sent out Thanksgiving letters (sorry, Native American friends).  I could decide that all religions are basically the same, because they point to the same things, but I don’t actually believe that. Different religions are quite distinct. There are some qualities shared across religions, and many beliefs in different religions that have no...

Welcome to the blog series celebrating the 2015 Asian Pacific American Hertiage Month, inspired by the "Our New Day Begun" series celebrating Black History Month by the Rev. Tawnya Denise Anderson. This month, you will read profiles of Asian Pacific American Presbyterian leaders, spanning many generations and ethnicities. Check back throughout May for more profiles! A look at other posts: Presbyterians Celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month The Rev. Phil Tom The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow The Rev. Yena Hwang The Rev. Joann Haejong Lee The Rev. Shawn Kang The Rev. Neal Presa The Rev. Jim Huang The Rev. Charlene Han Powell of New York, NY, is the Associate Pastor for Education and Engagement at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church . Are you a “cradle Presbyterian,” or did you come to the tradition later in life? Both.  I grew up going to a Korean church but would attend a “white” Presbyterian church as well. However, I didn’t truly come into my Pr...

Welcome to my blog series celebrating the 2015 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, inspired by the “Our New Day Begun” series celebrating Black History Month by the Rev. Tawnya Denise Anderson.  I loved reading the profiles of young black leaders in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and asked Denise if I might be inspired by her work to do an Asian Pacific American series. We talked about what the series might be titled, as the Black History Month features was called by a line in “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the black national anthem. I said, bluntly, that all we have in common as Asian Pacific Americans is racism. And the month of May, of course. Here are the profiles featured so far: The Rev. Charlene Han Powell The Rev. Phil Tom The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow The Rev. Yena Hwang The Rev. Joann Haejong Lee The Rev. Shawn Kang The Rev. Neal Presa The Rev. Jim Huang A quick primer on Asian Pacific Americans… The U.S. census puts us into two catego...