Dive Bar: 50 Years of Vietnamese Christianity in the U.S.

We trust that you have found the Pilgrimage: Manzanar, Memory, and Meaning podcast series featuring Elise Kaneshiro to be engaging and informative. During the interim between episodes, I would like to present a Dive Bar conversation held with Rev. Dr. Kiem Le on May 30, 2025.Dr. Kim Le, a Vietnamese-American church leader, recounted his personal migration experience and reflected on the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, which signaled the onset of a significant wave of refugees from Vietnam to the United States. He provided valuable perspectives on the evolution of Vietnamese-American Christian communities, emphasizing the notable presence of both Catholic and Protestant adherents, as well as the historical influence of organizations such as the Christian and Missionary Alliance in advancing Christianity within Vietnam and across the U.S. Dr. Le concluded by highlighting influential figures in the community’s establishment (such as Pastor Quan Dang, Pastor Le Vinh Thach, and Pastor Nguyen Anh Tai), discussing a newly launched theological initiative, and addressing ongoing challenges including cultural adaptation, evangelism, and intergenerational integration among Vietnamese American Christians.This episode was recorded remotely from Castro Valley, California, and is supported by the Asian American Christian History Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary, the K/T Foundation, and our audience.For further reading* Peter Phan, Christianity with an Asian Face: Asian American Theology in the Making, Orbis Books, 2003* Viet Thanh Nguyen, Nothing Ever Dies: Việt Nam and the Memory of War, Harvard University Press, 2016* Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Refugees: Việt Nam and the Memory of War, Grove Press, 2017* Elaine Padilla, Peter C. Phan (editors), Christianities in Migration:The Global Perspective, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016* Nathalie Huỳnh Châu Nguyễn (editor), The Routledge Handbook of the Vietnamese Diaspora, Routledge, 2024* Isabelle Thuy Pelaud and Lan Duong (editors), The Cleaving: Vietnamese Writers in the Diaspora, University of California Press, 2025 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fulleraachi.substack.com