Ecologies of Faith in New York City: The Evolution of Religious Institutions

3. Korean American Churches and the Negotiation of Space in Flushing, Queens

81  Korean American Churches and the Negotiation of Space in Flushing, Queens Keun-Joo Christine Pae 3 Eventually English will become a primary language at Korean Catholic churches in the U.S. At St. Paul Church, however, Korean will be more likely to remain an official language. The church will play the role of the cathedral church in the Korean Catholic community in Greater New York due to its location–Flushing. As long as Korean immigrants keep coming to New York City, my church will be the Catholic community center for them. Father Lee, St. PauL Chong ha-Sang CathoLiC ChurCh Every day, New York City’s No. 7 train, also known as the Oriental Express, carries thousands of Asian Americans in and out of Flushing.1 Stepping out of Main Street Station, one faces a diversity of cultures and backgrounds, including the largest Chinatown on the East Coast. An Indian teenage daughter and her mother in traditional attire walk by young Korean and Chinese women dressed in the latest fashions. The smell of Chinese food and the scent of Oriental herbs envelop historic St. George’s Episcopal Church, which is next door to the modern Sheraton Hotel. Downtown Flushing, where Main Street, Roosevelt Avenue, College Point Boulevard, and 38th and 39th Streets intersect on another, is filled with Chinese and Korean restaurants, clothing stores, grocery markets, Korean Protestant churches, Indian-owned convenient stores, and Korean snack stores, along with Starbucks coffee and Pink Berry frozen yogurt. Queens Public Library stands against tall buildings containing office space, shopping malls, and apartment complexes. Flushing, the largest urban center in Queens, is known for its large Asian population, Keun-Joo Christine Pae 82 which surpasses the number of Caucasian residents. Koreans are one of the main groups that have created Flushing’s Asian culture and religiosity, as well as accelerated the area’s gentrification. For many Koreans living in Greater New York City, Flushing has special meaning.2 The section represents “Little Seoul,” a place where they can freely speak Korean without worrying about their imperfect and accented English , enjoy Korean food without being concerned about the smell of kimchi, meet other Koreans at various social and private events, go Korean grocery shopping, check out the most recent Korean movies and dramas, accidently encounter Korean celebrities, attend political campaigns organized by U.S. or Korean parties, and most important for this chapter, attend services at their respective religious organizations. Although Koreatowns are now found in Manhattan and in Fort Lee, New Jersey, Flushing still boasts the oldest and largest Koreatown on the East Coast. Scholars from various academic disciplines, from sociology to theology, agree on two characteristics common to Korean Americans: most are post1965 immigrants and their children, and Christianity, especially evangelical Protestantism, is a generally shared religious practice (Lee 1995, 23–25; Kwon, Kim, and Warner 2001). To what extent have urban Korean churches been able to create and preserve Korean spaces in major U.S. cities where religiously, culturally, and ethnically diverse groups compete for limited space and cope with urban development? More specifically, what roles have Korean Christian churches played in formatting Korean spaces in Flushing? What challenges are Korean churches facing as Flushing experiences rapid urban development? How do Korean churches understand their spaces when they are forced to share limited space with other ethnic groups such as the Chinese, who also envision Flushing as their new home? This essay contemplates these questions within an ecological frame, which considers the mutual relationships and effects that take place between the local community and religious institutions (Eiesland and Warner 1998). the eCoLogiCaL Frame and negotiating SPaCe The ecological frame considers a congregation to be a social institution that forms and contributes to society–politically, economically, and culturally. Within this frame, “the congregation is analyzed as a unit interacting with other units in society: people, organizations, and cultures” (Eiesland and Korean American Churches and the Negotiation of Space 83 Warner 1998, 40). The ecological frame challenges one to see Korean religious congregations as one among many social institutions that have constructed spaces in Flushing. Korean congregations consciously or unconsciously cooperate and compete with other institutions, as well as with local residents. Korean churches have contributed to the ethnic, racial, cultural, religious, and civic identity formation of Korean Americans. The ecological frame suggests that the process of Korean American Christians’ identity formation is interwoven with their congregations’ local (and transnational...