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Evangelical Chinese Christians respond to Feb
We received many responses to my Feb. (UBC Press).
The piece, as it is posted on my blog, is headlined: "Vancouver's Chinese flock to Christianity more than Buddhism."I am posting a letter received this weekend from the They are one of the groups representing Metro more than 100,000 Chinese Christians (along with mainline Protestant and Catholic denominations). The letter below was signed by Rev. James Ip and Rev. Wayne Lo (right).
I appreciate hearing from leaders of the evangelical Chinese Christian community. Their comments provide an opportunity for dialogue, and to straighten out some possible misunderstandings and misinterpretation. Perhaps I will remark upon some of the concerns raised here in a future posting. (Please see an earlier article, 'Ethnic churches flourishing.')
Readers are invited to compare the comments made in this letter with the original piece, which can be found here:
Dear editor of Vancouver Sun and Mr. Douglas Todd,
In response to D. Todd column article published in Vancouver van cleef fake necklace Sun on Feb. 5, Christians celebrate festival despite shift in religious beliefs the undersigning association would like to dispute a few major points at the latter part of that article.
Representing Vancouver Chinese Evangelical Ministerial Fellowship [VCEMF for short], we are an association of Chinese Protestant pastors living and working in Metro Vancouver area, comprising the vast majority of ministers of Chinese Evangelical churches. We are upset by what we read in that article, and after discussion amongst ourselves, would now express our disagreements with your article in the following three points.
It is our hope that you either [1] gather all other letters you have received over the past week that dispute the Todd article, and disclose their arguments in this week Todd column, or [2] , publish in Todd or Letters to Editor column, at least some of the disputing letters so as to let your readers know of our disagreements, of what we think the fact of Chinese churches in metro Vancouver is.
Here are the 3 disputed points :
1. "Many Chinese churches in Vancouver are very much like living in a Chinese society. That might be a problem," Yu said. "The Chinese churches strengthen people's original identity, not their Canadian identity. Whether that is good or not depends on how you see it."
While it is true that many first generation immigrants of Chinese descent flock to Chinese churches because of language barrier and cultural preference, their choice does not mean they do not want to integrate into the Canadian society. After all, are Chinese churches not part of Canadian Christianity just as all Christian churches are part of the Canadian society ? Does not Christianity as represented by the churches over the past 400 years form part of the culture and society of Canada ? Historians won deny this fact!
If you take multiculturalism as the norm and reality of the Canadian society, people are entitled van cleef copy clover necklace to have their own choices in their daily living, including their choice of church and language of worship. It is misleading and illogical for Mr. Yu to draw a conclusion that Chinese Christians have no intent of integrating if they clover fake necklace van cleef choose a Chinese speaking church. The same principle applies to Canadians of Irish, British, French, German, and Italian descent, who are entitled to choose their own cuisines, native languages, customs and churches. No one would consider them as anti assimilation of the culture of Canada, and their behavior as a Does Mr. Yu know that many Chinese pastors and Chinese Christian leaders participate actively in conferences and seminars together with their counterparts of mainstream churches ? There are even more Chinese Christians who are dedicated volunteers serving in governments, NGO army and many other institutions of the Canadian societies. Chinese Christians also nurture their next generation with excellent English language skill who will participate even more fully and thoroughly in the Canadian society!
2. According to Douglas Todd's article, Yu contends that "Chinese Christians strongly criticize some socially liberal views in Canadian society, especially on such matters as family or marriage". Even though Canada is an officially multicultural country, Yu is not convinced the process of integration is being served by Chinese immigrants' devotion to ethnically uniform churches in Metro Vancouver. whether Chinese and Korean churches in Metro Vancouver may be hindering members' ability to engage the wider Canadian culture.
Chinese Christians may be conservative or liberal minded, so are Caucasian Christians. Canada is a democracy which welcomes every citizen to have his/her social and political view and make his/her views heard. I don know why being a conservative Chinese or joining a Chinese speaking church would necessarily hinder him/her to engage the wider culture. Say, if a Caucasian Christian joins an English speaking church, MUST that lead him to disengage from social involvements ?
Being a member of a Chinese church does not necessarily lead him/her away from the mainstream culture. To name a few: firstly, many ethnic Chinese Christians watch and follow NHL hockey games on a regular van cleef butterfly fake necklace basis. Also, I remember in last year, 2010 , throughout the Winter Olympic, many of them got involved in supporting Canadian athletes just like other citizens of Canada. When they saw that the Canadian team won medals, they cheered, rejoiced and celebrated as any other Canadian citizen would do. Thirdly, they treat Christmas time just as mainstream citizens celebrate that season, buying gifts, decorating their homes, donating to charity organizations and sharing with the less fortunate. Are these not part of the Canadian culture or engagements with the Canadian society?
3. In the pertinent Vancouver Sun column , Todd quoted that Chinese churches are " hindering members' ability to engage the wider Canadian culture. Unlike the majority of Metro Vancouver Muslims who, due to their linguistic diversity, tend to attend mosque services held in the common language of English Chinese Christians are more mono cultural, their services most often held in Chinese languages."
This kind of juxtaposition would create even more bigotry against the Chinese Christian churches, for it implies that Islamic mosques are doing a better job than the Chinese churches in helping people integrate into Canadian culture. Anyone who takes time to study the real scenario of organized religions in Canada will find this point very mistaken. That statement quoted from Mr. Yu seems to indicate that NOT SPEAKING English IN PUBLIC will necessarily stop people from knowing and integrating into Canada.
That many of our Chinese Christian friends who do not feel comfortable to speak English in public is due to their deficient skill of the English language. However, through their own efforts, they have developed personal friendships with Canadians of other ethnic groups through sports, cooking, gardening, parenting, charity, and political activities.
To conclude, the fact that they belong to a Chinese speaking church does not reflect their lack of intent to integrate into the Canadian society. James Ip, chairman of the executive board.
We received many responses to my Feb. (UBC Press).
The piece, as it is posted on my blog, is headlined: "Vancouver's Chinese flock to Christianity more than Buddhism."I am posting a letter received this weekend from the They are one of the groups representing Metro more than 100,000 Chinese Christians (along with mainline Protestant and Catholic denominations). The letter below was signed by Rev. James Ip and Rev. Wayne Lo (right).
I appreciate hearing from leaders of the evangelical Chinese Christian community. Their comments provide an opportunity for dialogue, and to straighten out some possible misunderstandings and misinterpretation. Perhaps I will remark upon some of the concerns raised here in a future posting. (Please see an earlier article, 'Ethnic churches flourishing.')
Readers are invited to compare the comments made in this letter with the original piece, which can be found here:
Dear editor of Vancouver Sun and Mr. Douglas Todd,
In response to D. Todd column article published in Vancouver van cleef fake necklace Sun on Feb. 5, Christians celebrate festival despite shift in religious beliefs the undersigning association would like to dispute a few major points at the latter part of that article.
Representing Vancouver Chinese Evangelical Ministerial Fellowship [VCEMF for short], we are an association of Chinese Protestant pastors living and working in Metro Vancouver area, comprising the vast majority of ministers of Chinese Evangelical churches. We are upset by what we read in that article, and after discussion amongst ourselves, would now express our disagreements with your article in the following three points.
It is our hope that you either [1] gather all other letters you have received over the past week that dispute the Todd article, and disclose their arguments in this week Todd column, or [2] , publish in Todd or Letters to Editor column, at least some of the disputing letters so as to let your readers know of our disagreements, of what we think the fact of Chinese churches in metro Vancouver is.
Here are the 3 disputed points :
1. "Many Chinese churches in Vancouver are very much like living in a Chinese society. That might be a problem," Yu said. "The Chinese churches strengthen people's original identity, not their Canadian identity. Whether that is good or not depends on how you see it."
While it is true that many first generation immigrants of Chinese descent flock to Chinese churches because of language barrier and cultural preference, their choice does not mean they do not want to integrate into the Canadian society. After all, are Chinese churches not part of Canadian Christianity just as all Christian churches are part of the Canadian society ? Does not Christianity as represented by the churches over the past 400 years form part of the culture and society of Canada ? Historians won deny this fact!
If you take multiculturalism as the norm and reality of the Canadian society, people are entitled van cleef copy clover necklace to have their own choices in their daily living, including their choice of church and language of worship. It is misleading and illogical for Mr. Yu to draw a conclusion that Chinese Christians have no intent of integrating if they clover fake necklace van cleef choose a Chinese speaking church. The same principle applies to Canadians of Irish, British, French, German, and Italian descent, who are entitled to choose their own cuisines, native languages, customs and churches. No one would consider them as anti assimilation of the culture of Canada, and their behavior as a Does Mr. Yu know that many Chinese pastors and Chinese Christian leaders participate actively in conferences and seminars together with their counterparts of mainstream churches ? There are even more Chinese Christians who are dedicated volunteers serving in governments, NGO army and many other institutions of the Canadian societies. Chinese Christians also nurture their next generation with excellent English language skill who will participate even more fully and thoroughly in the Canadian society!
2. According to Douglas Todd's article, Yu contends that "Chinese Christians strongly criticize some socially liberal views in Canadian society, especially on such matters as family or marriage". Even though Canada is an officially multicultural country, Yu is not convinced the process of integration is being served by Chinese immigrants' devotion to ethnically uniform churches in Metro Vancouver. whether Chinese and Korean churches in Metro Vancouver may be hindering members' ability to engage the wider Canadian culture.
Chinese Christians may be conservative or liberal minded, so are Caucasian Christians. Canada is a democracy which welcomes every citizen to have his/her social and political view and make his/her views heard. I don know why being a conservative Chinese or joining a Chinese speaking church would necessarily hinder him/her to engage the wider culture. Say, if a Caucasian Christian joins an English speaking church, MUST that lead him to disengage from social involvements ?
Being a member of a Chinese church does not necessarily lead him/her away from the mainstream culture. To name a few: firstly, many ethnic Chinese Christians watch and follow NHL hockey games on a regular van cleef butterfly fake necklace basis. Also, I remember in last year, 2010 , throughout the Winter Olympic, many of them got involved in supporting Canadian athletes just like other citizens of Canada. When they saw that the Canadian team won medals, they cheered, rejoiced and celebrated as any other Canadian citizen would do. Thirdly, they treat Christmas time just as mainstream citizens celebrate that season, buying gifts, decorating their homes, donating to charity organizations and sharing with the less fortunate. Are these not part of the Canadian culture or engagements with the Canadian society?
3. In the pertinent Vancouver Sun column , Todd quoted that Chinese churches are " hindering members' ability to engage the wider Canadian culture. Unlike the majority of Metro Vancouver Muslims who, due to their linguistic diversity, tend to attend mosque services held in the common language of English Chinese Christians are more mono cultural, their services most often held in Chinese languages."
This kind of juxtaposition would create even more bigotry against the Chinese Christian churches, for it implies that Islamic mosques are doing a better job than the Chinese churches in helping people integrate into Canadian culture. Anyone who takes time to study the real scenario of organized religions in Canada will find this point very mistaken. That statement quoted from Mr. Yu seems to indicate that NOT SPEAKING English IN PUBLIC will necessarily stop people from knowing and integrating into Canada.
That many of our Chinese Christian friends who do not feel comfortable to speak English in public is due to their deficient skill of the English language. However, through their own efforts, they have developed personal friendships with Canadians of other ethnic groups through sports, cooking, gardening, parenting, charity, and political activities.
To conclude, the fact that they belong to a Chinese speaking church does not reflect their lack of intent to integrate into the Canadian society. James Ip, chairman of the executive board.
The Wall