Volume II, Number IIn this Newsletter you will find:*A letter from NYTS Vice President of Academic Affairs, Lester Edwin J. Ruiz, Ph.D. *An Article by Weishan Huang on Exploring the Institutional Character of Religion in the Ethic Chinese Community *An Article by K. Christine Pae on Korean Churches in the Market Place in Flushing, Queens *Upcoming News and Events at The Ecologies of Learning Project |
A Letter from Lester Edwin J. Ruiz, Ph.D.
Dear Friends, In my last letter I announced with great sadness the passing of Dr. Lowell W. Livezey, beloved Professor of Urban and Religious Studies and Director of the Ecologies of Learning Project. Dr. Livezey died of pancreatic cancer on December 9, 2007. As we mourn the loss of this researcher-teacher-activist we have also reflected on his work, life and legacy. Our team is committed to honoring Dr. Livezey by continuing the project he was so proud to create. We are committed to fulfilling Lowell’s vision for the Ecologies of Learning Project by forging ahead with the research plan he carefully crafted over the last six months - by making 2008 a productive, exciting year. Professor Livezey was interested in every way congregations impact the city. He was interested in understanding efforts like congregations organizing and calling for more affordable housing, and in ways people managed diversity within their congregations and how such internal negotiations impact neighborhoods. He insisted that congregations shape the city with political, economic and cultural force. He brought deep concern over urban inequities to his research, and constantly challenged researchers to look for ways congregations challenged – or supported – troubling social structures. We strive to bring this nuanced understanding of congregations and passion for justice to our continued research. We will continue to research the role of religion in the Lower East Side, Flushing Queens, and Brooklyn, sites that share traits characteristic of an increasing number of New York area locales. All three have been transformed in the past two decades by an influx of diverse migrants/immigrants. All three have been subject to gentrification — manifested by rising rents and the displacement of long time residents. All three have become more demographically diverse, with resultant clashes among cultures and efforts to bridge culturally differences within the community and within newly multi-cultural congregations. We have recently expanded our studies to include other neighborhoods with similar traits: we are studying how congregations make a difference in Harlem, Mt. Vernon and the Bronx. Throughout this year EOL researchers will produce academic journal articles and begin preparing an edited volume on New York City congregations and globalization. The project will submit papers to the annual conferences of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR). We look forward to publications that will be of practical use to congregations, that will illuminate religion’s role in the contemporary global city, and that will inspire and facilitate future research on urban religion and New York City. In keeping with Dr. Livezey’s vision, EOL will continue to be a research, action, and teaching center. We will host two community forums, three focus groups, and our annual metropolitan level conference on faith-based housing and community development. Our website and newsletter will continue to share findings, resources, and discussion that supports congregational urban ministry and the study of urban religion. Our much-anticipated Faculty Development Institute, an annual intensive training in EOL research methodology for academics, will convene again this June (See ‘What’s Happening’ for more details). Moses Biney (Ph.D., Princeton Seminary), who served as head teaching fellow for Professor Livezey’s course last year, will teach Church and Community Analysis at NYTS this semester. Our hopes for the year are Dr. Livezey’s: that our work enriches congregational life in Metro New York, advances theological education at NYTS and other seminaries, and produces research that captures how religion impacts our city – research that helps congregations challenge social structures and make our city more just. We hope, as he did, to lay the groundwork for a permanent Center for the Study of Urban Religion at NYTS that can serve scholarship and urban ministry for years to come. On behalf of the EOL family: staff, administrators, researchers, advisory board, supporters, and New York Theological Seminary, I wish to thank you for your continued commitment to out work. May the new year bring us closer to the vision of research, education and advocacy that Lowell so dearly loved.
Lester Edwin J. Ruiz and the EOL Leadership Team
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The Institutional Characters of Religion in Formation of Ethnic Chinese Community and Cultural Incorporation of Immigration Life By Weishan Huang Exploring the institutional character of religion in the ethnic Chinese community is a two fold research project. First, this research aims to understand how congregations/temples respond to the increasing racial/ethnic and income diversity in Flushing, Queens, which results from the global processes of migration/immigrations. Second, this research examines the impact of the gentrification processes on local faith based organizations in downtown Flushing from 1900 to 2007. Downtown Flushing, Queens, has been a new and revived commercial zone in Flushing since the 1980s. Its prosperity reflects not only the successful investment of Taiwanese and Korean merchants, but also the formation of a new Asian community. There are two reasons behind the concentration and investment of Taiwanese business capital in downtown Flushing. Since the late 1970s, the economy growth in Taiwan fostered these immigrants to emigrate with their family-oriented fortune. This middle-class population lost their old business networks when they migrated, as a result, real estate was the choice of investment in the host society. Second, in the 1980s, Taiwanese and Korean immigrants were in a global immigration market where nation-states competed with each other to attract potential business immigration. Immigrant visas became ever more available to people with financial resources and those willing to invest in the host country. Today, as the Chinese and Indian population in Flushing continues increasing, The Ecologies of Learning Project hopes to explore with continued research the ethnic diversity within the neighborhoods, in churches and temples, and understand the extent to which these churches/temples challenge racial/ethnic boundaries in the community. Furthermore, we hope to find out what kind of roles that faith based organizations plays in this process of neighborhood gentrification.
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Commercial Evangelicalism or Evangelized Commercialism? Korean Churches in the Market Place in Flushing, Queens By K. Christine Pae Korean churches actively use the secular media as means to evangelize people. The American versions of major Korean newspapers regularly introduce the locations and the special events of Korean churches in the tri-state area, while these same newspapers in South Korea rarely advertise religious sites. In Flushing, various posters usually attached to the show windows of Korean stores (hair salons, restaurants, convenient stores, book stores, bakeries, etc.) introduce Korean Christian events in the tri-state area such as the revival service, a Korean evangelical leader’s visit to Greater New York, and Christian concerts. These stores concentrate on Northern Blvd. and Union Street, the Korean commercial areas. A surprising way Korean evangelical churches deliver Christian messages to unimagined numbers of people is by using Korean grocery stores. Korean grocery stores in Flushing attract Koreans living throughout the North East. By placing church bulletins, Christian news papers, and tapes and CDs of sermons in these stores, Korean evangelical churches can reach Koreans beyond Flushing. For example, H-Mart, located on the shopping mall on Northern Blvd., is one of the largest Korean grocery stores in Flushing. In front of the entrance of the market are placed news stands which distribute church advertisements along with secular news papers and ads. The shutter of the restaurant next to H-Mart is covered with the ads of various Korean churches. While Korean evangelicals use ethnic and cultural networks based on “Korean food,” the religion which they are promoting is less cultural. Unfortunately, however, it is questionable whether to place Korean churches’ ads and CDs in the market place is effective. Korean shoppers rarely pick up these papers or CDs. Korean businesses and churches share mutual interests. Korean stores offer Korean churches for opportunities to advertise themselves, while Korean churches’ bulletins or directories advertise Korean businesses. The market places exist for street evangelicalism, too. The street evangelicals sing, dance, and distribute Christian papers quite often in the market place on Union Street in Flushing as well as Manhattan’s Korea Town. This sort of street evangelicalism might be commonly found across diverse ethnic evangelicals. The urban commercialism creates the channels for Korean evangelical churches to deliver their belief without borders.
Chinese Restaurant next to H-Mart on Northern Blvd. Its shutter is covered with Christian and other advertisements.
News stands in the H-Mart market place which carry church bulletins, newspapers,
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WHAT’S HAPPENING
EOL Upcoming Events:Over fall 2007, EOL focused on structuring and refining its research procedures and made concrete plans for focus groups, forums and seminars for spring 2008. EOL anticipates continuing to focus on the themes that are strongly relevant to congregational ministry: housing, youth services and services for the most needy. We plan to host:
*You will receive email updates about these events monthly.
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