D.J. Chuang, former Leadership Network Director for Asian-American Churches, recently co-authored an informative presentation for church leaders focused on the fastest growing group in the United States: Asian Americans. Some of the many significant facts within that document are
- less than 5 years ago Asians overtook Hispanics as the largest immigrant group entering the United States,
- by 2011 over 18 million Americans self-identified as Asian American and the number is projected to approximately double by 2040,
- Asian Americans are unequally distributed geographically with nearly half living in the West, a fifth in the Northeast, a fifth in the South, and a tenth in the Midwest.
So What?
Currently there are just over 7,000 ethnic Asian congregations in the United States. Additionally, many Asian Americans opt to worship in ethnically diverse congregations.
This macro level shift in our population will have many implications for local congregations. In planning for the future does your leadership body look not only at the projected population growth for your area, but also the makeup of such? How close is the nearest ethnic Asian congregation and what might you learn from and/or how might you partner with them?