Dissecting the Quadrilateral: Conversation with Jeff and John

What does it mean to be progressive Christians living in a multi-cultural world? How do we celebrate our diverse Asian traditions in worship? How do we become more informed instruments of God’s peace through social action in the wider community? These are some of the questions being discussed in our informal gatherings of Pan Asian Ministry.

On Sunday, November 12th, we renew our explorations with a dynamic discussion about what it means to be grounded in the Wesleyan tradition, and what it means to be progressive Christians surrounded by rich Asian traditions. Jeffrey Kuan will lead us to explore our theological “roots” by revisiting John Wesley (Who is he? Come find out!) and discussing what it means to be Methodist and Asian and living in an increasingly diverse America.

We gather at 4:00 p.m. at the Tran sisters’ residence in Berkeley to examine our roots. All are welcome on the spiritual journey. Come join us on November 12th!
For more information, please contact Becky or Burt or Jeffrey.

Oct. 1, 2006

Discussion notes:
We revisited three primary goals of PAM which were written (in March 2004) and reported to Charge Conference 2004. [Please see Becky and/or Burt for a handout.] We don’t have an official mission statement but we do have a vision as a ministry.

We currently don’t have a website for PAM and neither do we have a link with CCUMC’s website. How do we view our connections/link with CCUMC? Do we need a sponsor group? There may be some advantages to having a link or website connected with CCUMC. BURT said that we’ll talk to Matthew about the possibilities. Jeffrey noted that at the Wesley Foundation silent auction and dinner, there was a discussion about Wesley Foundation having conversation with CCUMC regarding an Asian ministry.

What is meant by “Worship Service” as stated in our primary goal #1? We can look at this in more communal terms as opposed to individualistic terms. It is both a style of worship and a spirituality.

In defining one of our primary goals, we commit ourselves to an ongoing and continuous exploration of what it means to foster an awareness of pan-Asian worship – worship which recognizes and celebrates our diverse Asian American culture and spirituality.

Spiritual formation, Theological innovation, and Social action are interwoven together as the central foci of PAM’s ministry. In different ways, we’ve touched upon those things (e.g. Pride parade, Manzanar pilgrimage) but have not articulated them with clarified/concrete connections to our larger goals and vision. Perhaps we should take steps to help us view those things through lenses that help us better understand the diversity of our communities as Asian Americans.

We should document the things that we’ve done so that it could be a resource for other communities.

We commit ourselves to defining what we want/need this group to be by setting certain parameters for our spiritual journey. What we do is part of our spiritual practice, part of how we engage in theological thinking, to investigate why we do what we do. Deciding how we function as a group will relieve anxieties about how we be a group what others want us to be.

Multiplying our numbers is not a primary focus. Whether or not we begin drawing more members to the group is a secondary importance but we still commit to continue to engage others. We want to engage in our own growth first then find others who are engaged in the same spiritual journey.

Some things we’d like to investigate further in our continuous discussions:
Engage in inter-religious dialogue. How do we understand other religions?
Explore what it means to have Asian roots
Explore “loss of sacred space”
Research our own understanding of the Wesleyan tradition. How do we understand it and how can we critique it?

What if we devote the next year to spiritual formation? Each of us take one element and explore with more depth…

What if we go back to look at Wesleyan tradition and then comparing what it means to be progressive Christians…? What if we go back to our roots?

We investigate what Wesley means in defining what are United Methodists…
Then add what it means in conversation with being progressive Christians…
Then add what it means to us as Asian Americans…

We could use the same methods that we’ve been employing…
Read on our own, then engage in conversation
Invite others to participate in our conversation, speakers, leaders, etc.
Take trips, visit sites, write liturgy, things to do that are rooted in practice/practicality

To root ourselves in our tradition, we could look at the Quadrilateral.

For future conversations, we could look at:

• Prayer
• Sacred space
• Music
• Hospitality
• Habitus
• Influences in our spiritual practices/worship experience
  
  

Taking Our Pulse: Sept. 4, 2006

PAM gathered at CCUMC on Sunday afternoon to discuss the progress of the group and to determine its future direction and goals, as well as the function and nature of the group.

In this meeting, the group:

1. Defined itself as not being a Task Force, at this present time
2. Defined itself as not being a church planting group, at this present time
3. Articulated a need for more organization and specified leadership
4. Noted the possibility of contacting prior visitors (of PAM) in an attempt to understand and articulate our strengths and growing points
5. Acknowledged the desire to grow stronger in order to support others and be a foundation and resource for others
6. Acknowledged that we need to draw upon our diverse social, personal, and spiritual autobiographies as diverse Asian Americans so that we may work towards forming a (Bible Study group) space for conversations and study and fellowship and support for social action, for theological innovation and for spiritual formation

Possible Agenda for the meeting:
1. Setting the calendar (for 1 year, for 6 months, for ???)
2. Short-term goals (how long is short term? 1 year? 3 years?)
3. Possible topics for discussion (in the next year? In the next months? For future?)
4. Re-articulate/re-define/revisit our mission statement?

Notes about the group:
Formed approximately 3 years ago
Is exploring what it means to participate in “Asian worship”
Is exploring its mission statement and foci
Is exploring what it means to be “progressive Christians”

PAM blurb

Pan Asian Ministry meets on the 1st and 3rd Sundays, at 4:00PM in Berkeley . Issues to be addressed will include God and natural disasters, Advent/consumerism/no room at the inn, the Japanese Internment & Reparations, and Reflections on Vietnam , past and present. The vision of the Pan Asian Ministy include:
1. Developing a worship service that is Pan Asian in nature.
2. Being open to exploring a progressive theology.
3. Promoting social justice in the wider community, especially in those areas that speak to the needs of the Asian community.
We find strength in the unity of our vision and our passion to see it begin to become a reality. We hope to be a resource to others who are interested in developing Pan Asian ministries.