Navigating Seminary: A Q&A with AAPI Seminarians
By Emily Leung, Katie Nguyen, Isaiah Hobus, and Joshua Huver
W
hen I was a sophomore in my undergraduate program, one of my Bible professors stopped me in the hallway and asked what I intended to do after I graduate. I said I’d likely apply to several churches in hopes of finding a ministry position. He seemed supportive but not enthusiastic. He said, “Well, have you considered going to seminary?” To be honest, it never crossed my mind that I should consider seminary education. Why should I? And if I did, which school or degree? Should I pursue a graduate school, divinity school, or an evangelical seminary? For many students like myself, the prospect of pursuing seminary or higher theological education is exciting, but at the same time, daunting.
Moreover, as I began perusing seminary websites, I realized that finding a seminary that actively supports AAPI students and engages AAPI perspectives in the classroom is rare. Not to mention, statistically, Asian American professors account for less than 10 percent of seminary/theological educators in the US. I can’t help but ask myself, would my identity as an Asian American be valued or diminished during my education? Is it possible to pursue a seminary that nourishes both my ethnic identity and vocational calling?
In this final installment of our Reclaim Seminary series, I speak with three seminarians at different stages of their seminary careers: Isaiah Hobus, who just finished his first trimester; Katie Nguyen, who is in her final year; and Emily Leung, who graduated from seminary. They share their journey and advice for future AAPI seminary students.
To begin our discussion, what seminary did you attend and why did you choose your particular seminary?
EL: Hey y’all, I’m Emily. I attended Fuller Theological Seminary and graduated with a Masters in Theology. I chose to attend Fuller for both educational and personal reasons. I’m originally from southern California and at the time was living on the east coast. I was also choosing between Fuller and Princeton. For me, Fuller offered the opportunity to study with a myriad of accomplished scholars while also being closer to my family. After being across the country for a few years, I decided it was time to return.
KN: Hey! My name is Katie Nguyen, and I essentially chose to attend seminary (instead of pursuing an MA in Literature w/ an emphasis in Chaucer/Medieval Lit) because God told me to. Seriously. I wasn’t thinking about it at all until God pretty much led me by the nose to the application and degree program sites. I ended up choosing Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) mainly because they had the most robust online distance program, as I was also about to enter into full-time youth ministry. At the time, I was just looking for a seminary that didn’t have wildly unorthodox theology, and I liked that I could pursue their MA in Christian Leadership, which is basically a Master of Divinity (MDiv) minus Hebrew and Greek.
IH: I attend Northern Seminary in Lisle, Illinois, a suburb right outside of Chicago. I recently graduated from my Biblical and Theological Studies program at Bethel University this past spring. I jumped straight into my MDiv program at Northern a few months later while taking a full-time job in youth ministry. The majority of my program is virtual, but for intensive courses over the summer, I go to campus. This works well alongside my job. I decided to attend Northern following the recommendation of one of my professors from Bethel who specialized in practical theology and missional theology.
In my undergraduate program, I grew increasingly interested in thinking about ministry theologically, following the lead of this professor, and bridging my identity as a Korean American to my studies. Given its diverse faculty and wide range of programs, Northern seemed to provide the best context to stretch my thinking and pursue the questions I was asking. The final confirmation for me was a conversation I had with an alumni from Northern who told me he went to Northern to study to be a pastor. He wanted to be inside of the homes of people and sharing in the lives of others. I saw myself in those words.
What kind of resources did your seminary have for cultivating your identity or fostering AAPI communities? Did you find them helpful?
EL: Fuller’s Asian American Center offers many opportunities as an AAPI student. From course offerings to centering groups, I am thankful for the time spent learning and growing with my fellow classmates. Shout out to Daniel Lee, Academic Dean for the Center for Asian American Theology and Ministry who leads the Asian American Center!
KN: *insert chuckle here* None. Even though DTS is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which has a relatively high AAPI population, they don’t (and still don’t to my knowledge) really have any specific resources to help me develop an embodied identity or theology that envelops my AAPI identity. Even less so when you take into consideration that I’m bicultural, mixed Vietnamese/White. All of the work of developing an embodied theology is work I’ve done externally from my seminary as I’ve made connections to different AAPI Christian voices and leaders across the country through various methods. Shout out to Angie Hong, Nikole Lim, Michelle Reyes, Kathy Khang, & Tiffany Bluhm — all of whom have fantastic ministries worth following and getting acquainted with as AAPI seminarians — for being among those life-giving connections! We are not alone.
That being said, something else I have appreciated is that the professors and staff at DTS are aware of ways they have caused hurt in the past and are actively seeking to listen, learn, and grow. That self-awareness has made all the difference while I’ve been at DTS.
IH: Northern has two great Asian American faculty: Nijay Gupta and Gabriel Catanus. I hope to take as many classes as possible with both of these professors. To my knowledge, the two faculty are really the only resources for AAPI seminary students at Northern. Although this is not specifically for Asian Americans, Northern has a Christian Community Development program, which revolves around ministry courses informed by social justice and racial reconciliation deriving from the gospel. This program is the emphasis for my MDiv program. I hope these courses, along with others, will continue to inform my journey of intersection with my Korean American identity and my faith.
How has your identity as an Asian American informed your work or theology as a seminarian?
EL: When I started at Fuller, I had moved back from a large east coast city to my childhood home. Moving from coast to coast, from a metropolitan community to a beach city in the suburbs, I experienced a sort of culture shock. I’m a fourth-generation Chinese American and I grew up in a predominantly White space. I had always considered myself more multicultural rather than Asian American. I don’t speak Cantonese or Mandarin and I have a great-grandparent who worked on the California railroads, but my last name is also a paper last name. It was at Fuller where I really had the chance to explore the intersectionality of my identity. There was so much to unpack and I hadn’t really started any of it until seminary. I am thankful for the time spent in my Asian American Ministry and Identity class and the AAPI Centering group.
As I continue to explore what it looks like to continue to connect with people, I am grateful for the opportunities I had to be curious about my culture. Now, more than ever, I am able to lean into the harder questions surrounding race, culture, and the imago Dei. It’s a process and I encourage those who are considering seminary (and those who aren’t) to be encouraged to know that we are always in the process and to both challenge oneself and be patient with oneself in our self discovery and God-given gifts.
KN: As I mentioned already, I haven’t necessarily had resources within my seminary experience to explicitly participate in that sort of development. However, something I’ve felt every time I’ve had an in-person intensive is that I am a minority voice amongst the majority of my DTS peers. Meaning, my background and experience is outside of the norm for DTS students in a lot of ways: being mixed, being Southeast Asian, being raised by a single mom, having a heavily matriarchal heritage of faith in my family, and even being a woman for that matter.
Nevertheless, what I have always appreciated about my professors is that in every in-person class they have always taken time to acknowledge the need for non-White, non-male voices. Not necessarily because those are bad voices to have, but to expand what voices are speaking and heard in the realm of theology and church leadership in America. I actually felt more intentionally supported, seen, and encouraged specifically as a mixed Vietnamese female pastor by the professors at DTS than I did by the church I was working at and attending at the time.
IH: For as long as I can remember, I have professed faith in Christ, but for the majority of my life, I never knew the God I worshiped had anything to say about my experience as an Asian American. It was not until I had an Asian American professor who had our class read an Asian American biblical scholar where this thought crossed my mind. Following this, I began to read other Asian American theologians like: Sang Hyun Lee, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, and Andrew Sung Park (all of whom are Korean like myself). Reading these scholars helped me uncover repressed emotions, remember racist experiences I forced myself to forget, give language to my experience, and encounter a Christ who brought healing to my experience with foreignness. My theological imagination was completely subverted.
Eventually, this led me to write my senior thesis on uncovering the “Christ-ness” of the category imposed on Asian American of being perpetual foreigners. In short, I found Jesus’ experience, according to the Gospels, reflecting the experience of myself and other Asian Americans particularly in Jesus being mocked as a foreigner, by people he called his own (John 9:48) and being rejected by his hometown (Mark 6:1-6). I saw Jesus perpetually existed in a third space of foreignness like Asian Americans. This Christ, that the Gospels witness toward, has deeply shaped my studies and discipleship. My hope is to pursue further study in these questions surrounding who I am and my faith in seminary and beyond.
What advice would you give for those considering seminary?
EL: Seminary is a challenging experience not only because of the academic commitment, but also the time you take to examine your own understanding of theology, biblical study, spirituality, and more. I remember hearing someone say, “seminary is cemetery,” suggesting many people lose their faith. I would challenge and encourage someone who is considering seminary to evaluate and consider the why, what, and who.
Why are you seeking a theology degree? Why now? Why school? What expectations are you bringing into the experience? You’ll likely need to be ready for change because you’ll probably take a class or have a discussion or experience that will influence your worldview and understanding of God. Who are your people? Community is essential. Seminary can be a lonely place. Having a community of support — people who lament, celebrate, and walk alongside you — makes the experience all the more enriching.
Finally, I want to extend an open invitation to anyone who may have further questions about my own experience and process. I am so thankful for all those who I was able to connect and speak with. Please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, or my website!
KN: COMMUNITY MATTERS. All caps, emphasis added. Attending seminary and studying theology can (and should be!) a beautiful experience, as you are literally dedicating your time, energy, and soul to contemplating the highest possible object of thought—our God. Attending seminary with a proper attunement to your own mental health, holding the tension of busy/less busy seasons, and remaining in God-centered, God-honoring community are all lifelines to being able to better behold that beauty. It’s when people disappear into the deep, dark hole of a purely individual pursuit of God outside of community that things begin to go wrong.
In my first class at DTS, one of the first things Dr. K said was this: “Theology and the study and pursuit of God is best done—and should be done—in community.” That’s not a direct quote, but I think he would agree that it’s a pretty good summation of his point: the Christian life is intended to be lived out, strengthened, and sharpened in community. We need each other, and seminarians are no different because you realize that you are a Master of None at the end of your program. In that light, I’m always available to talk and support newer seminary students, especially AAPI brothers and sisters. Feel free to connect with me on Instagram. The Body needs our voices.
Overall, don’t feel like you need to check your AAPI identity at the door for any sphere you step into. It’s that exact cultural and ethnic background that I believe God is using to equip the Body now. There’s a whole community of AAPI theologians out here cheering you on! It’s time.
IH: If you are considering ministry as a vocation, in any capacity, do seminary. It matters. Now that I am in youth ministry, there is nothing I have fallen back on more than my studies and learning. For me, it has stretched, challenged, and sharpened my vocation in a multitude of positive ways. I cannot recommend it enough. If you are an AAPI person interested in seminary, know your “Asianness” is deeply loved and cherished by God; I deeply wish I understood this earlier in my life. I personally believe theology is always informed by particular identity and narrative; theology is never not contextual. It is impossible to separate context from theology. The language of our faith (theology) does not only speak to the experience and crises of our largely White theological canon, but also to the experiences and crises of AAPI folks and all other persons that make up God’s creation. Also feel free to connect with me on Instagram or LinkedIn.
For more articles in this series:
“Direction for AAPI Seminary Students: A Professor’s Perspective” by Bernon Lee and Isaiah Hobus
“Being Asian American in Seminary: The Good, the Bad, and the Hopeful” by Christy Chia
“An Asian American Seminarians Journey Homeward” by Derek Wu.
“The State of Asian American Theology in Seminary: Thoughts from an Outgoing Graduate” by Justin Nitta.
“The Need for Asian American Theological Scholarship” by Chiwon Kim.
Photo by Fa Barboza on Unsplash
Katie is a bi-racial Vietnamese/White pastor, writer, & teacher who leads Sol Life, a joint Youth Ministry between two churches in the historically marginalized Eastside of Austin. She is currently completing an M.A. in Christian Leadership at Dallas Theological Seminary and earned her B.A. in English with teacher certification from Texas State University.
Isaiah Hobus is a recent graduate of Bethel University with a degree in biblical and theological studies, and currently a Master’s of Divinity student with an emphasis in Christian community development at Northern Seminary. He is also a youth outreach associate at a nonprofit ministry for teens, Treehouse Hope in Minnetonka, Minnesota, where he mentors teenagers. In his spare time, he enjoys reliving his days as a college athlete in cross country and track through runs, sticking his nose in a book, and guzzling black coffee.
Help us continue the work of empowering voices. Give today.