Recently we heard from one of our long-time friends, Dave Gibbons, pastor at New Song Church, based in Irvine, CA. New Song is a multi site church with locations in Irvine, North Orange County, Los Angeles, and Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok? Yeah, that’s right, Bangkok. And soon to be Mexico City and London. New Song shares a lot of common ground with a lot of other evangelical, multi site churches yet also has some very unique differences. You can read a brief snapshot on their website - http://www.newsong.net/about/strategy.php. A better way is to just jump on a plane and go out there for a visit. But back to the main thought here – diversity.
At first glance, New Song appears to be a mono-ethnic, somewhat homogenous congregation composed of young Asian Americans. It’s true that it is composed of mostly young Asian Americans but generalizations can be deceiving. There’s a lot more there than meets the uneducated eye. To help this Texas native understand Asian ethnicity and culture a little better, Dave passed along some data from the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, an official U.S. Census Information Center. If you’re not a data junkie, you may want to forward the rest of this post to someone who is and just go visit New Song’s website instead. To read the full report, visit the Center's web site.
By the way, how well do you know the demographics in your area and the implications for your ministry?
Population:
14.4 million
The estimated number of U.S. residents in July 2005 who said they were Asian or Asian in combination with one or more other races. This group comprised about 5 percent of the total population. California had the largest population (4.9 million) of people of this group. Census Link.
3%
Percentage growth of the Asian population between 2004 and 2005, the highest of any race group during that time period. The increase in the Asian population over the period totaled 421,000. Census Link.
Education
49%
The percentage of single-race Asians 25 and older who have a bachelor's degree or higher level of education. This compares to 27 percent for all people 25 and older. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)
20%
The percentage of single-race Asians 25 and older who have a graduate or professional degree (e.g., master's or doctorate). This compares with 10 percent for all people 25 and older. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)
Income, Poverty and Health Insurance
$61,094
Median household income for single-race Asians in 2005, the highest among all race groups. Census Link.
11.1%
Poverty rate for single-race Asians in 2005, up from 9.8 percent in 2004. Census Link.
17.9%
Percentage of single-race Asians without health insurance coverage in 2005, up from
16.5 percent in 2004. Census Link.
Businesses
1.1 million
Number of businesses owned by Asian-Americans in 2002, up 24 percent from 1997. The rate of increase in the number of Asian-owned businesses was about twice that of the national average for all businesses.
Nearly 6 in 10
Proportion of all Asian-owned firms in the United States that were in California, New York, Texas and New Jersey.
New York, Los Angeles, Honolulu and San Francisco Cities with the highest number of Asian-owned firms.
Languages
2.3 million
The number of people 5 and older who speak Chinese at home. After Spanish, Chinese is the most widely spoken non-English language in the country. Tagalog and Vietnamese have more than 1 million speakers each. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)
Serving Our Nation
293,321
The number of single-race Asian-American military veterans. About one in three was 65 and older. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)
Jobs
47%
The proportion of civilian employed single-race Asians 16 and older who work in management, professional and related occupations, such as financial managers, engineers, teachers and registered nurses. Additionally, 23 percent work in sales and office occupations, 15 percent in service occupations and 11 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)
Age Distribution
35.1
Median age, in years, of the single-race Asian population in 2005. This is younger than the corresponding figure of 36.4 years for the population as a whole. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)
The Future
33.4 million
The projected number of U.S. residents in 2050 who will identify themselves as single-race Asians. They would comprise 8 percent of the total population by that year. Census Link.
213%
The projected percentage increase between 2000 and 2050 in the population of people who identify themselves as single-race Asian. This compares with a 49 percent increase in the population as a whole over the same period of time. Census Link.
Props to the following people for sharing this info with us:
Don T. Nakanishi, Ph.D.
Director and Professor
UCLA Asian American Studies Center
3230 Campbell Hall
PO Box 951546
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1546
phone: (310) 825-2974
fax: (310) 206-9844
e-mail: dtn@ucla.edu
Please visit the Center's web site: www.aasc.ucla.edu
Tim Tseng 曾 祥 雨 :: PHD
President
Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity
(510) 962-5584
isaacweb.org
timtseng@isaacweb.org
Linda Stanley serves as Director of Life Stage Leadership Communities and provides leadership for the Next Generation Pastors Leadership Community groups. The Next Generation Pastors Leadership Community exists to create relational peer networks of senior pastors who share similar ministry challenges and desire connections to other leaders serving in similar ministry situations. Additional information is on our website - www.leadnet.org, linda.stanley@leadnet.org
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