Estranged Pioneers: The Case of African American and Asian American Multiracial Church Pastors

Abstract

AbstractThis article draws upon 121 in-depth interviews from the Religious Leadership and Diversity Project (RLDP)—a nationwide study of leadership of multiracial religious organizations in the United States—to examine what it means for African American and Asian American pastors to head multiracial churches. We argue that African American and Asian American pastors of multiracial churches are estranged pioneers. They have to leave the familiar to explore a new way of doing church, but their endeavors are not valued by their home religious communities. African American pastors face challenges to their authenticity as black religious leaders for leading multiracial congregations. Asian American pastors experience a sense of ambiguity that stems from a lack of clarity about what it means for them to lead multiracial congregations as Asian Americans. Yet, despite differences in how they experience this alienation, both are left to navigate a racialized society where they are perceived and treated as inferior to their white peers, which has profound personal and social implications for them.