Korean American Evangelicals: New Models for Civic Life

Abstract

Sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund's book convincingly details how the American evangelical church provides moral schemas for members to become “good” civic Americans. In her ethnographic work on two Korean American congregations, she suggests that they promote different frameworks of their members' social locations and civic identities. Although the two churches appear similar in race, social class, and even evangelical affiliation, their members approach civic life and volunteer in their local city in divergent ways. Korean American Evangelicals is thus more than a description of this ethnic group, but an inventive analysis of how religion can construct incipient sociopolitical identities. Beyond providing social capital, ethnic religious institutions also provide meanings to their members' multiple identities and, consequently, develop models of civic participation for new Americans. Interestingly, neither congregation provides strong models of political involvement. The book's focus on Korean American evangelicals and their civic involvement is very appropriate. Members of this group are part of the growing percentage of second-generation Americans who are non-white and whose families have little previous engagement with American politics. Ecklund intelligently recognized that their incorporation as new Americans within civil society will reshape American institutions for years to come. Furthermore, Korean Americans are among the most religiously active of all ethnic groups in the United States, and they are the fastest growing ethnic group in evangelical seminaries. The development of their congregations will change the face of American evangelicalism.