The David of Chinatown
Philadelphia’s China Gate. Photograph by Johann Knechtel via Flickr. Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Sharealike 2.0 Generic License.
Rev. Michele Turek
In a classic David and Goliath scenario, the people of Philadelphia’s Chinatown faced the monumental fight for the preservation and well-being of their community as the city was contemplating the construction of the new 76ers arena nearby. Seeing similar patterns in places such as the Chinatown of Washington, D.C., the community feared the higher cost of living and increase in traffic that would inevitably lead to the closing of businesses, less frequented restaurants, and the pushing out of residents.
At an event organized by Asian American Christian Collaborative (AACC) and the Chinese Christian Church & Center (CCC&C) in Philadelphia, Rev. Joshua Cho from Chinese Community Church in D.C. shared about felt effects on the D.C. Chinatown community. Following the construction of the MCI Center (now Capitol One Arena) in 1997, the once bustling hub of the D.C. Chinatown went from being a thriving five-square-block cultural center to what it is currently, dwindled down to one block on a single street. Its spirit zapped and a shadow of its former glory for the Chinese community, the D.C. church faces the new reality of what their neighborhood looks like and embraces it with grace. On the other hand, Raymond Chang, president of AACC, asks the question: how does one navigate an identity crisis that’s being imposed on you?
The fight against the 76ers arena was eventually won in no small part because of the CCC&C. Since the early 1940s, CCC&C served the community by meeting the practical, cultural, social, and spiritual needs of Philadelphia’s Chinatown, a legacy still honored and implemented today. In the battle facing the arena, the church and center served as meeting space and community organizers, some staff stepping into the role of representatives to the city ensuring that the voice of the residents and businesses of Chinatown were heard at the table.
An interesting aspect of this particular David and Goliath story comes forth as we take a closer look at our David, who goes against the grain of what might typically be expected of a socially conscious church who gets involved in advocacy matters. CCC&C breaks the mold of these labels, being what traditionally is described as a more theologically conservative church.
Rev. Wayne Lee realized that if he was called to serve the people of Philadelphia’s Chinatown, he needed to care about what the people cared about. His example of faith pushes against the theological and social boxes that have been drawn for us.
The English-language pastor of CCC&C, Rev. Wayne Lee, reflects on his own journey during the same AACC panel. Five years ago, he shares, if you asked him what it meant to be a Christian, he would have agreed that it meant to do things like “pray, read the Bible, disciple my family and friends, serve through my church, and so on.” All things that have come to be the typical American evangelical understanding of what the Christian life looks like. But Rev. Lee realized that if he was called to serve the people of Philadelphia’s Chinatown, he needed to care about what the people cared about. To do so is to show the depths of Jesus’s love for them. Through the 76ers arena struggle, his ministry expanded to include the city hall and the streets of Chinatown, expanding his pastoral role in new but also not-so-new ways.
This example of faith pushes against the theological and social boxes that have been drawn for us. After all, what are these expectations other than lines drawn in the sand defined by finite people and shaped by majority culture understanding? Rev. Lee’s journey and ministry is a witness to letting persistent faith and the seeking of Spirit define how we live and operate. It is an opportunity to break the mold, blur the lines, and say “God led me here.”
Perhaps we’ve forgotten that God’s ways can be surprising and unpredictable; that God cannot be limited to the boxes we try to put God in, on one side or the other. Rather than seeing in unflinchingly clear-cut ways, we can grow to be more accepting of perspectives and understandings that may challenge the lines that have been drawn for us. Maybe, along the way, we would discover that the path God has forged for us is a new one that hasn’t been traversed before or is less traveled. It also means that the people we meet on the road may surprise us as well. Perhaps we can learn from them and how God has led them thus far.
Rev. Michele Turek is the national coordinator for Asian Ministries at the American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
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