Asian-American Song

According to this author's view, there is no distinctive hymnody that prevails in Asian-American churches, but there are certain characteristics and trends that typify these congregations. In providing detailed distinctions among the various Asian groups, this article does give some perspective on the music used in Asian-American churches and challenges that these churches are facing. Background of Asian-American Groups The Chinese were the first to come to the United States over a century ago. Since most of their churches continue to be affected by immigration and are mainly immigrant (first-generation) churches, the worship services are in Cantonese and/or Mandarin. A sizable group of Chinese born in the U. S. are English-speaking members of the Chinese churches, and a few hold English services. The Japanese, whose immigration to the U. S. basically stopped in 1924, are composed of second to fifth generation English-speaking congregations, with a smaller group of immigrants wo…