Faith on Edge: Taiwanese Christianity in North America

Could Taiwan become the Ukraine of Asia? How are Taiwanese Christians in North America responding to the geo-political uncertainties of Taiwan’s relationship to China? The May 15, 2022 mass shooting at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California was, in part, a reflection of the fraught debates about the future of Taiwan. Also, how is the next generation of Taiwanese Christians experiencing the forces of assimilation in North America? In the face of possible erasure in Asian and North America, will or should Taiwanese Christian identity survive?In this deep dive episode of the Pearl Dive podcast, Tim Tseng talks to Shirley Lung, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Denver, about the story of Christianity in Taiwan and North America. This fits right into her research about transnational Taiwanese Christianities in the United States and Taiwan. Shirley’s broader research agenda includes religious nationalism, ethnicity, and politics. This interview was recorded on Feb. 26, 2025.This season of Pearl Dive was brought to you by the Asian American Christian History Institute (AACHI) at the Fuller Theological Seminary’s Asian American Center and with the support of the KT Foundation.LINKS* Shirley Lung, “Taiwanese Churches in Diaspora and Ethnic Identity Formation,” International Bulletin of Mission Research, 2024 Vol. 48:3 367­ –382* 2022 Laguna Woods shooting on Wikipedia.* “How many Taiwanese live in the U.S.? It’s not an easy question to answer,” Pew Research Center.* Carolyn Chen, “From Filial Piety to Religious Piety: Evangelical Christianity Reconstructing Taiwanese Immigrant Families in the United States,” International Migration Review. Vol. 40:3 (Fall, 2006), 573-602.* Catherine Lila Chou and Mark Harrison, Revolutionary Taiwan: Making Nationhood in a Changing World Order (Cambria, 2024) | Apple PodcastThanks for reading Pearl Dive, AACHI's digital platform! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. 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