Evangelical fruits & Confucian roots: Ethnicity and religious identity in Korean American congregations

This dissertation examines the ways in which Korean American congregations provide an important social context in which Korean Americans simultaneously develop and negotiate ethnic and religious identities. I argue that Korean American congregations are emerging ethnic Evangelical communities that are an amalgamation of both the Confucian and American Evangelical traditions. Qualitative ethnographic research methods were utilized in studies of two largely Korean American congregations located in the Boston area. Antioch Presbyterian Church is typical in size and circumstance of other Korean American congregations across the nation. Alternatively, Hillcrest Covenant Church was designed by its Korean American founders to be a ministry in which ethnic markers were intentionally downplayed. In addition to conducting participant-observation, I also interviewed members of both congregations, making special effort to interview pastoral and lay leaders.;Korean American congregations not only serve as the primary context for Korean Americans to develop faith, they also function as the primary setting where Korean Americans can find a sense of ethnic and cultural affinity. At first glance Korean American congregations resemble White Evangelical churches in terms of style and theological rhetoric; however, upon closer examination it becomes apparent that Confucian values and traditions are diffused within the context of these Korean American churches. While establishing their own congregations, Korean American Evangelicals are informed by cultural values and norms that are rooted in the Confucian tradition. Confucian propriety and its emphasis of community can be identified in the structural organization of the congregation, in the relational dynamics among members, and in ways that leaders are defined. Confucian values (e.g., dutifulness, emphasis on education, filiality, shame) are also reflected in the ways many Korean American Evangelicals demonstrate religiosity. Confucian influence in the shaping of theological views further distinguishes Korean American Evangelicals from their White counterparts. Essentially what is emerging on the American Evangelical landscape is a new kind of ethnic church that is in part a product of a Korean Confucian heritage, in part a product of an American Evangelical heritage, and is wholly Korean American.