Recap: 2021 Asian American Theology Conference

With the rise of anti-Asian racism in the United States, there has been renewed interest in critical reflection on the role and responsibility of Asian Americans in domestic politics among Christian clergy and laity. Held virtually from April 23-24, the 2021 Asian American Theology Conference, Lived Theology in Asian America: Race, Justice, and Politics in Transpacific Context, drew upon history, social science, and ethnography to explore the lived experience of Asian American communities and articulate a lived theology by, for, and about Asian Americans. Centering the experiences of Asian American Christian communities, the conference asked attendees to examine timely questions:

• How does Christian faith shape Asian American participation in conversations about race, justice, and politics?
• How do stories of transpacific migration motivate Asian communities differently than other groups in the work of justice?
• What historical precedents or case studies might we turn to in order to form a better kind of politics in our churches and communities?

Speakers included professors and leaders from Baylor University, the City Seminary of New York, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, New York City College of Technology, Occidental College, Princeton Theological Seminary, the University of Michigan, and the University of St. Andrews.

View all recordings in the 2021 Asian American Theology Conference playlist on Princeton Seminary's YouTube channel.

Click here to learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary's Center for Asian American Christianity. To view the conference blog, click here.

Editor’s note: In July 2021, this story was updated to reflect the Asian American Program’s renaming to the Center for Asian American Christianity.