Cultural Expression and Liturgical Theology in the Worship Songs Sung by British-Born Chinese

Abstract

Multilingual and multicultural worship can take on many models and expressions. Initially, Chinese immigration to the UK in the 1950s and 1960s led to an increased population of churches. Many Chinese church services were conducted in Cantonese, catering to the needs of first-generation immigrants, mainly from Hong Kong. Yet, the children of these older generations grew up with a bicultural hybridized identity expressed first in small English-speaking youth groups that led to English-speaking worship services within Chinese churches. Contributing to the field of worship studies through music repertoire studies over four weeks in June and July 2017 at Birmingham Chinese Evangelical Church, we raised the following questions: (1) what do the chosen worship songs represent with regards to the liturgical theology and cultural expressions of this community and (2) how is self-perception and perception of the divine expressed in the lyrical themes of these songs? Our study revealed that singing English songs from the West dominated the corporate liturgical identity of these services. Yet, through a British-born Chinese evangelical cultural reading, some lyrical themes were particularly resonant within Chinese culture, such as honor, shame, reverence, and bowing.

1. Introduction

There have been rapid changes in religion among the Chinese, with a fast increase of Christians in both China and the Chinese diaspora across the world, and there is need for additional research and understanding into the culture that is coming to Christ at a rate never experienced before (See Yang and Tamney 2006, p. 128). The Chinese culture is a distinct culture steeped in tradition and contains many unique expressions, and how this identity interacts with the Christian faith is something that requires further research. In order to elucidate the liturgical theology of believers of a certain ethnicity, it is important to understand how religious practices interact with their ethnic culture; as Chong states, this can be “in one of two ways: either as identical to or precedent to ethnic identity, or as ancillary to ethnic identity” (See K. H. Chong 1998, p. 264). Through an initial exploratory study of worship music repertoire, this paper seeks to identify the liturgical theology and cultural expressions of British-born Chinese (BBCs) who attended monolingual English-speaking worship services within a multilingual, Evangelical Chinese church in Birmingham, UK.1

The liturgical identity of this community could quickly be labeled “Western” based on the language used (English), location of the church (Birmingham), and the Western origins of the worship songs sung (UK, USA, and Australia). Contributing to the fields of cultural studies and worship studies, we explore numerous theological themes in the song repertoires that resonate with cultural identities on several levels.2 Though research around BBCs and their Evangelical worship practices is scant, this initial exploratory study examines the selections of worship songs chosen for worship over four weeks between 18 June until 9 July 2017 at Birmingham Chinese Evangelical Church (BCEC), a prominent church in the UK. Drawing from approaches around the study of the theological content of congregational song repertoires within specific communities, we seek to analyze the songs sung as liturgical texts through a BBC cultural reading.3 Contributing to this special volume’s study of multilingualism, this paper provides a unique case of a monolingual worship service within a multilingual church with multilingual families, broadening awareness of the cultural and linguistic complexities of worship song and matters of agency in communities with hybrid cultural identities and dual belonging.

This study first explores the cultural backgrounds of BBC evangelical Christians, including the challenges they faced as immigrants and how these experiences have influenced their cultural identity. Following this, we briefly look into the history of BCEC and the journey it has taken regarding musical worship. An analysis of the song choices of BCEC over a four-week period provides us with a small sample of data that allows us to investigate themes and tendencies that are linked to the cultural identities and liturgical theology of being a BBC within a particular ecclesial context. Our thematic lyrical analysis of this musical repertoire is carried out under the framework of two key questions. Firstly, how do these BBCs perceive themselves? Secondly, how do these BBCs perceive God? In our view, these songs provide a unique corporate expression and dual liturgical identity for BBCs at BCEC, expressed in monolingual contemporary worship songs from the West alongside expression of other cultural identities through the specific theological themes of the songs.

2. Backgrounds of British-Born Chinese Evangelical Christians

Most BBC families can trace their history in the UK back to the 1950’s and 1960’s, when major immigration took place.4 Initially, many Chinese migrants took up manual occupations such as cleaning and catering, and these occupational choices would not change until more recent times, where the children of those migrants would start taking on white-collar and middle-class jobs (Lau-Clayton 2014, p. 17). Lau-Clayton emphasizes that the BBCs who grow up in the families of the first-generation Chinese in the UK face many challenges of cultural identity as they seek assimilation into the society they were born into, and it is this bicultural and often bilingual identity that then influences the way they approach the Church and their liturgical identity. For example, research into BBC culture shows that these cultural tensions cause hindrances to intimacy levels between parents and their children (Lau-Clayton 2014, p. 129). This tension is likely to be caused by the challenges the children face in having to adjust and alternate between the culture at home and the Western culture they are called to function in. This identity crisis can lead these children to reconfigure their own cultural identity, thereby forming a cultural amalgamation or a hybrid culture, or even a third culture (Lau-Clayton 2014, p. 20). In Chinese culture, the priority is to be well fed and have housing and financial stability before anything else can be considered (Settles 2012, p. 24). This would then explain the cultural peculiarities that the BBCs possess, as they live balancing between Chinese cultural priorities and the desires and priorities of Western culture, which may often conflict. As they carry “the baggage of Chinese and Western values and beliefs all mixed up into one concoction”, it leads to many having feelings of anxiety and insecurity (Ling 1999, p. 80).

First-generation Chinese parents endured many challenges themselves as they went through the immigrant experience, causing them to put extra effort into raising their children to do well in school and society in the hope they would avoid the discrimination and downward mobility they experienced themselves (ChenFeng 2014, p. 7). The suffering they went through may explain why Chinese parents have been found to be less emotionally, physically, and verbally expressive with their children, as they prioritize providing for and preparing their children for society (Lau-Clayton 2014, p. 128). Acculturation stress is a major factor contributing to depression among Chinese immigrants, and the stress experienced by the first-generation Chinese has been argued to have influenced their approach to parenting and how they interact with their children (Leung et al. 2012, p. 62). Chinese parents and their children have different expectations concerning communication, as parents expect children to listen to them obediently without question, leaving children frustrated and feeling that obedience is demanded as communication channels are closed (ChenFeng 2014, p. 7). Furthermore, due to traditional Chinese views of familial hierarchy, it is hard for the children to be confident enough to address these concerns (ChenFeng 2014, p. 23).

Despite the efforts of the BBCs and Asian immigrants in the USA in seeking total assimilation to Western cultures, Settles points out that they may feel that they fall short as there is always still a sense of foreignness they cannot escape, due to their physical features (Settles 2012, p. 22). Therefore, many settle for a selective assimilation approach, as this allows them to preserve certain aspects of Chinese culture. Yang notices this in the Asian–American church, as this approach is extremely evident in the ethnic churches they attend, where their churches serve “as a social mechanism that immigrants use to fend off unwelcome aspects of American customs and values while selectively preserving Chinese norms and values” (Yang 1999, p. 99). Hall also recognized that many young Chinese do not relate entirely to non-Chinese due to differences in their upbringing, because being Chinese is still important to them, even if they may seem very American on the surface (Hall 2006, p. 67). The status of being a bicultural minority causes the BBCs and Asian–Americans to live in uncertainty and tension. Yee describes the dilemma: “On the one hand, people who choose to identify themselves as belonging to a minority group (whether racial or otherwise) do not want to be simply assimilated, to be treated as ‘honorary white’. On the other hand, they do want to fit in, to not be treated as ‘forever foreigner’” (Yee 2009). So, whilst the Chinese overseas may be perceived to be drawn to Christianity because of the perceived benefits of association with Westerners, they still desire their own cultural identity. Cultural lines are not fixed, but rather, they are dynamic. At the intersection of worship music and culture, Marcel Stuernagel uses “messiness” to “recognize the fluidity of the cultural flows that result from play in the context of church music” (Steuernagel 2021, p. 155). As we analyze “messy” issues in liturgical identity in a multilingual BBC congregation, we attend to the “hybridity and fluidity of identities of these congregants” (Yoon 2005, p. 219). As Yoon states, identity is a “complex navigation” between stable and hybrid, often forming new identities in the process (Yoon 2005, p. 269). In fact, even those living within the same community and sharing the same ethnicity may still undergo a process of adaptation and evolution as they interact with different cultural characteristics. Xian discusses the distinct characteristics that exist in churches in Hong Kong even between mainland Chinese, Hong Kongers, and also foreigners, where understanding and acceptance of another’s culture is essential in building a “mosaic type of community” that all cultures can reside in together (Xian 2014, p. 101).

When it comes to Chinese culture and Christianity, numerous factors relate to compatibility. Chinese values and traditions are heavily influenced by the teachings of Confucius, where conservative social values and filial piety play significant roles in value systems in the community. In support, Knapp observes that Confucian teaching on hierarchy “has shaped nearly every aspect of Chinese social life: attitudes toward authority, patterns of residence, conceptions of self, marriage practices, gender preferences, emotional life, religious worship and social relations” (Knapp 2005, p. 3). Tseng stresses that these cultural influences are evident in the Chinese church, as there is emphasis placed on group, duty, hierarchy, deference, restraint, and achievement (Tseng 2002, p. 258). For example, ChenFeng highlights that the biblical teachings of honoring one’s parents (Exodus 20; Ephesians 6) directly coincide with the Chinese cultural values of filial piety and hierarchy within the family (ChenFeng 2014, p. 21).5 The “comfortable fit” between Confucianism and Christianity has allowed for many Chinese to feel at ease within the church, as it matches up quite well with the values they have grown up with, and the integration is largely seamless with only a few modifications required (Hall 2006, p. 140). For example, Hakka Christians (an ethnic–linguistic Chinese group), were observed by Nicole Constable in Hong Kong, where she witnessed them modifying Confucian rules and transforming worship of ancestors into expressions of respect that did not conflict with their Christian beliefs. As she explains, “Hakka Christians still maintain genealogy, manners, and moral unrighteousness as key issues in their claim to Chinese identity”. In her view, “Hakka identity persists in Shun Him Tong because of, not in spite, of Christianity” (Constable 1989, p. 232). Here, we see Christianity preserving aspects of culture, rather than critiquing or transforming it.

Given their social uncertainty and struggles with identity, it is no surprise that the Chinese church acts as a home away from home for first-generation Chinese and their families. The church for them is seen as “center for culture and language transmission and preservation” (Kyaw-Tun 2015, p. 16). Kyaw-Tun goes on to add that they find comfort in meeting people with a common identity background and even physical appearance (Kyaw-Tun 2015, p. 167). Those who attend the Chinese church benefit from the cultural similarities, especially in the way they express themselves, and immigrant converts often rely on the preachers in the Chinese church for many things, from explaining Christian beliefs to practical worldly advice and wisdom. The church community and leaders are often expected to provide wisdom, to comfort and ease anxieties and assure their identity in the overseas society.6 According to Cao, the pastor is often viewed as the “father of the younger generation and the son of the older people” (Cao 2005, p. 191). This dynamic leads Chinese evangelical churches to be run much like a family, with a hierarchical system that expects the younger generation to honor and obey their elders. As Toyama-Szeto notes, the Chinese culture is a dyadic culture, where the perceptions and expectations of others determine one’s identity, which is in contrast to Western culture, which promotes individualism (Toyama-Szeto and Gee 2006, p. 57). The way the Chinese evangelicals function as a community influences the way they approach theology, thus making their church community a significant factor in their liturgical theology. As their honor–shame culture generally emphasizes group solidarity and respecting elders, there is pressure for the BBCs to conform and fit in with the church culture they grow up in and to abide by the traditions handed down by their elders, who are often their parents and their parents’ peers. Outside of the worship service, it is clear that community and tradition are held in high regard (both being pillars of Chinese culture), as churches are often places where people eat and experience fellowship together. After all, as Cao notes, religion “can mean a great deal to uprooted people”, (Cao 2005, p. 183) and, as Chong notes, church members are motivated by “their sense of marginalisation from the larger society” (K. H. Chong 1998, p. 282).

Allowing cultural values to influence the functioning of the church community also affects the way the BBCs approach worship music and the lyrics that accompany it. Settles describes her observations of a Chinese immigrant church, stating that “although people love music and the arts, it is usually on the low priority when it comes to allocating budget for equipment or programs. Evangelical Chinese Christians tend to focus on the applications of practical everyday living from the Bible rather than engaging in theology through workshops or classes” (Settles 2012, p. 24).

Exploring how these cultural values impact the way an evangelical BBC church approaches worship may provide insight as to why the Chinese church is still seeing a silent exodus of church-raised young people who find their immigrant churches, as described by Kyaw-Tun, as “irrelevant, culturally stifling, and ill-equipped to develop them spiritually or life in the multicultural society they inhabit” (Kyaw-Tun 2015, p. 12). One of the reasons may be that the Chinese culture has been found to be inward-looking, most probably due to the first-generation Chinese being so focused on survival during immigration. A divide between first- and second-generation immigrants may exist, where the first generation is characterized by urgency and grit, while the second generation can be more open and comfortable. Subsequently, that has translated into how they perceive the local church should function. As Tseng observes, the “immigrant Chinese evangelicals are so proudly independent, most of their second-generation youth grew up with very little contact with Christians who are not Chinese” (Tseng 2002, p. 255). Growing up in their churches, the BBCs are, at times, deprived of significant exposure to the Church as a global community, and they grow up linking church with their parents and their parents’ friends. Combining that with the cultural conflicts and communication problems they experience, many do not feel comfortable in their Chinese churches anymore, and once they become adults and are finally exposed to different expressions of Christianity and church, they choose to leave, even if they do not fully fit in anywhere else (Yee 2009). Kibria argues that the bicultural identity held by groups such as the BBC and Asian Americans is “itself an identity of assimilation, both reflecting and facilitating integration into the dominant culture and society” (Kibria 2003, p. 198). Despite the challenges and tensions that come with holding a bicultural identity, there are also opportunities for creating a third culture that can provide a unique perspective from which they can incorporate diverse cultural expressions of Christianity into forming their own hybrid liturgical identity and spirituality within Asian diaspora communities (Kim 2006, p. 225). In particular, worship music can provide a unique space for the interaction of ideas, values, beliefs, community, and objects that are combined into culturally meaningful sounds and lyrics that reflect the historical and social contexts of songwriters and the groups of people that choose them for their own worship services. Singing Western English songs within a Chinese immigrant church allows the maintaining of familial structure and Chinese cultural values while expressing liturgical hybridity with the surrounding majority culture.

3. Global Contemporary Worship and BBC Liturgical Identity

The Church is not insulated from its culture, and the surrounding culture influences liturgical worship that can only function when it assimilates to the various components of the culture. Thormodson notes: “Humanly speaking, an effective liturgy contains powerful cultural symbolism and language that is able to communicate the Gospel without detailed explanation” (Thormodson 2010, p. 1). He goes on to add that worship has a cross-cultural dynamic, where liturgies are enriched through the sharing of ideas between cultures (Thormodson 2010, p. 5). In agreement, Yee suggests that all worship involves the cultures of those gathered to worship, and God-pleasing offerings of worship are created when those cultures are embraced and utilized (Yee 2009). The Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture states the ideal that worship “transcends and indeed is beyond all cultures”. Furthermore, the “sharing of hymns and art and other elements of worship across cultural barriers helps enrich the whole church and strengthen the sense of the communion of the Church” (Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture 1996). While humanity consists of a beautiful range of diversity in cultures, technology, globalization, and the exposure they bring also affect the worship that is conducted in these different cultures. According to both Beyer and Stringer, this new way of connecting cultures only came about in the later part of the twentieth century, and has caused people, cultures, and discourses to meet and interact with each other continuously (Beyer 1994, p. 7; Stringer 2005, p. 209). The product of this interaction is a burgeoning “global culture”, as described by Beyer (1994, p. 7). The contemporary worship movement based in the West has capitalized on these trends, exporting Pentecostalism and Charismatic theological beliefs and worship practices of churches, such as Hillsong Church in Australia and Bethel Church in the USA. As we will see, their songs are often adopted and adapted by Asian–Americans and the BBC churches. It is the mission of these churches for their music to be used globally. Bethel Music, based out of Bethel Church in Redding, seeks “to carry the culture of Heaven to the nations through worship and to see the global expansion of God’s kingdom through His manifest presence” (Bethel Music 2017). The music ministries of these churches have swept across the globe and their worship models have been adopted by churches worldwide, regardless of denomination and, at times, even local cultures. In particular, Wong observed a rising prominence of “megachurches” across the globe, noting the reforms that the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements fostered in local church patterns and practices (Wong 2006, pp. 88–89). A potential danger here is that global culture can be quickly imported to a degree where local cultural expressions around the globe begin to lose their own identity or even consider another form of cultural expression more holy and superior (i.e., “the culture of Heaven”), choosing to adopt trends from communities with very different experiences and cultural backgrounds and peculiarities. In adopting the songs that come from other cultures, there is a high risk of losing the genuine authenticity and vulnerability that comes with singing songs from the heart of your own local culture and community.

One of the challenges associated with such access is that an increasing number of churches sing songs written by a relatively small group of songwriters and worship leaders.7 Though these songs may bring fresh momentum to new ways of worship that contain personal expressions of praise, confessions, brokenness, and forgiveness in Christ, they may not necessarily speak specifically into or reflect the theological beliefs or cultural identities of local churches. The risk here is that songs become more ambiguous and irrelevant to the groups that try to sing them, losing the effectiveness and the spirit in which the song was originally written. Busman stresses that many churchgoers are now expecting the same “curated experience” that the megachurches and conferences offer, often resulting in disappointment and frustration when their expectations are not met (Busman 2015, p. 69). Once believers have become used to listening to the high-quality music performances that they listen to and see being recorded from big conference gatherings across the world, they become disillusioned because their own small church congregations are incapable of replicating the same mood for worship. Simultaneously, Busman adds that there are also those who have benefited from worship recordings that have helped smaller and newer congregations, who may lack resources and musicians, in defining their own identity (Busman 2015, p. 69). As contemporary worship music becomes more global and the sacredness and authenticity of songs become harder to distinguish from popular songs, it is the responsibility of individual cultures and congregations to selectively choose, adopt, and adapt songs that sometimes originate from the other side of the world, finding strategies to make these songs relevant for their own contexts.

Chinese churches in the West, especially English-speaking congregations, have not been exempt from these global influences. As Yee observes, there is no Asian–American Christian music, just as there are “no particularly Asian-American ways of gathering, forms of prayer, styles of preaching, customs for the Lord’s Table, or central themes in spirituality and discipleship” (Yee 2009).8 He goes on to add that worship in the Asian–American setting is simply a slight variation of majority-white culture, theology, and worship, and raises the concern that Asian–Americans have not taken steps in cultivating ways of worship that acknowledge their own cultures and embrace their whole selves. Similarly, Settles suggests that the Chinese in the USA need help in understanding their unique identity and to be made aware of the possibilities for expressing it through songs (Settles 2012, p. 7). After all, music does not simply emerge from communal experience but creates an experience that brings people together in the first place, and as Ingalls points out, “musical style does not only reflect the preferences of the existing congregation, but increasingly it affects the very constitution of that congregation as evangelical churchgoers base their choice of a church home on varying theological, aesthetic, and practical criteria” (Ingalls 2008, p. 342). A cultural bifurcation between Asian and American or British and Chinese liturgical forms is at best naïve, as entire communities gather to express a multiplicity of diverse cultural identities, seeking to incorporate many aspects of their liturgical identity. In his research on spiritual formation and worship song in China, Lim Swee Hong discerns an “interdependent relationship” between musicking and community. He states, “In this relationship, the community relies on musicking for its construction, while the relevance of musicking is authenticated by the community’s continued use” (Lim 2017). Additionally, Sweehong defines phases of contextualized congregational worship as “adopted”, “adapted”, and “actualized”, revealing the agency and activities of local churches in drawing songs from a Western context and actualizing their own hymnody (Lim 2017). This entire process places an enormous demand on local churches as they work to discerningly contextualize the overwhelming reach of the global worship brands exporting the “culture of Heaven”.

The dynamics between music and diasporas has come to be of increasing interest to researchers in recent times. As research into ethnomusicology has developed, the relationship between music and identity has become a major theme that has highlighted the fact that “diasporas depend on expressive cultural practices for their very existence” (Turino 2008, p. 107) and that music is an essential contributor in constructing a distinctive diasporic identity. Music is a central component in people finding their own identities (Slobin 1994, p. 243) and plays an important role in expressing ethnic and religious identities amongst ethnic minorities such as the BBCs (E. K. C. Chong 2011, p. 11). Maynard-Reid also reminds us that cultural “worship patterns” are “not monolithic”, because each culture includes its own diverse spectrum due to the fluid and dynamic nature of culture itself (Maynard-Reid 2000, p. 17). Thus, a worship style that may work for one BBC church may not necessarily be the preference of another. Additionally, a church such as BCEC may offer multiple services in multiple languages and music styles to serve and express the identities of various members of their BBC community.

The sheer amount of time and effort devoted to music in BBC churches shows that it is an important part of the contemporary music culture in these Chinese communities. Chong argues that for most Christians, it is the hymns sung in childhood, and not the Bible, that express their beliefs the most, and the theological vocabulary that those hymns provide act as a foundation for future experience to supplement (E. K. C. Chong 2011, p. 42). The solution to the worship and cultural challenges discussed above is not quite as simple as creating a new stylistic strand of worship that belongs to the Chinese in the West or creating a new multilingual worship service within a Chinese church in the UK. Instead, each congregation should seek to discern how its unique cultural expression can be drawn together to express liturgical identity. The challenge is to consider the unique cross-cultural experiences of the BBCs, including the trials and challenges, and allowing the Word and Spirit of God to speak into those cultural contexts to provide similarly unique worship experiences. Interestingly, it is the weakening of language barriers due to globalization and transnational migration that has allowed groups such as the Chinese diaspora to adopt so many songs from the majority-white culture. As they sing in English, they proceed to emphasize their own culture through the language of another aspect of their culture, which is the focus of our analysis of the worship repertoire of the English-speaking service of Birmingham Chinese Evangelical Church (BCEC).

3.1. Birmingham Chinese Evangelical Church

The BCEC is a church based in Birmingham, UK and consists of three congregations that cater for the three main spoken languages in the church: English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. There is also a satellite congregation in Telford that conducts services in Mandarin. The congregation that was the subject of this repertoire study was the English congregation, which in 2017 consisted of 140–160 regular attendees. In June and July of 2017, we collected data on the songs sung in corporate worship by this congregation, for theological analysis of a monolingual worship service within a larger multilingual church. This community seeks to accommodate the bicultural expressions and identities of the BBCs whilst still welcoming people of many diverse backgrounds and cultures. In 2017, the demographic of the church was distributed between children, teenagers, students, young adults, families, and those over 45 years of age; it could be described as a relatively young church as only approximately 10–15% of the congregation were over 45. Like Asian immigrant churches in America, some of the members of the English congregation were children of the immigrant members who attended the Cantonese or Mandarin services in either Birmingham or other Chinese churches in the UK (Yang 1998, p. 57). Reflective of the Chinese settlers in the U.K as a whole, the congregants in BCEC spoke some form of Chinese as their mother tongue, such as Cantonese, Hakka, or Mandarin, or Vietnamese (Lau-Clayton 2014, p. 17), and most grew up with relatively greater affluence than earlier generations of Chinese (Tseng 2002, p. 255) due to most of them being well-educated, having professional jobs, and living in middle-class suburbs (Yang 1998, p. 243). All these traits are characteristic of many BBC and Asian–American churches in the UK and USA, respectively. The goal of BCEC is to not only be aware of the cultural peculiarities that their congregants possess, but also seek to accommodate and embrace all the believers that come through their doors. Our study particularly focused on the liturgical identify of the English-speaking service as bicultural worship through monolingual singing drawing from Western contemporary worship songs yet with some lyrical themes particularly resonant within Chinese culture.

BCEC was founded as Birmingham Chinese Christian Fellowship (BCCF) in 1964 by Reverend Frank Cheung, meeting in the basement of a Chinese takeaway. The fellowship was established as BCEC in 1992. For the first thirty-three years, the congregation met and conducted services in Cantonese, and in 1997, they held their first separate Mandarin and Cantonese services. Two years later, in 1999, the English house ministry started and was established as a service three years later in 2001. In the last twenty years of existence, the English service has blossomed and outgrown the other two services, and now provides training for leaders for both the other services and other Chinese churches around the country. As the church has grown, the style of worship that can be seen on a Sunday morning and in cell groups has also grown in different ways.

Throughout the early years, BCEC had similar struggles to many Chinese churches; given the small numbers in the church, resources and personnel were lacking. Through the first ten years of the English service, the pastor Reverend Bert Han would often lead worship and then preach himself. Many of the first-generation Chinese at the church did not have the luxury of learning musical instruments growing up, so the church struggled for musicians. As the church gradually grew, the recruitment for worship team members was still challenging and the main requirement was not necessarily musicianship skills, but a willing heart and personal character, factors resonant with many Chinese immigrant churches.9 Along with many other small churches, it was difficult to even find members who were able to harmonize, showing the lack of resources that were available for worship. These factors led to musical worship being a simple, straightforward affair with song choices often dictated by their level of difficulty and accessibility to both the musicians and the congregation.

Another challenge that was beginning to evolve was the different musical and theological ideals that were beginning to emerge and conflict with each other. As Kim-Cragg noticed in the Korean American church, groups were not only linguistically but also theologically different, and younger generations were attracted to contemporary English Christian liberal theology and contemporary worship music, finding their beliefs and preferences conflicting with the adults who were primarily drawn to more conservative Christian perspectives and the traditional hymns that seemed to match them (Kim-Cragg 2012, p. 121). These same challenges continue to exist in BCEC as well as other Chinese churches across the UK, further highlighting the differences between the BBCs and their more traditional Chinese predecessors. In the unique case of BCEC, the leaders in charge were more open to change and interested in creating a church model that would not be too different to the seeker-sensitive models popularized by megachurches around the world, where churches prioritized making church accessible and comfortable for both believers and non-believers.10 As the worship leaders and pastors of BCEC continued to grow in their own personal faith journeys, as well as seeing the church multiply, they were given the freedom to express, allowing BBC individuals to achieve what Kim defines as a “creative synthesis of exclusion and belonging” within the confines of their spiritual community (Kim-Cragg 2012, p. 237). As with those in America, most Chinese churches in the country had been conservative in theology and nearly half were nondenominational evangelical (Yang 1998, p. 240), but BCEC in recent years has begun finding its own identity and therefore its own confidence in stepping out to explore other expressions of spirituality. While many of the cultural identifies mentioned above still exist within the church, the church’s growth has also brought in a second and third generation of Chinese who are beginning to exhibit traits noticed by researchers that are different from previous generations. For example, Lau-Clayton noticed in her investigations that contemporary BBC parents were now becoming more “direct and emotionally expressive with their own children. Parents demonstrated their open display of love and affection through hugging and kissing, as well as praising children more generally” (Lau-Clayton 2014, p. 131). This influx of “next-generation” parents of BBCs are more culturally fluid than in the past and may be one of the reasons why the worship services at BCEC have begun to evolve and become more expressive in recent years.

3.2. Theological Themes and Cultural Identities within Worship Songs in the English-Speaking Service at BCEC

While musical worship is not the only expression of a believer’s faith, as noted above, the repertoire of a congregation can provide us with a picture of a community’s theology and cultural identity. Through the analysis of the song choices over a timespan of four weeks (consecutive Sundays, starting 18 June 2017), we were able to gain a glimpse into how the liturgical identity of the BBCs influenced their approach to worship at BCEC.

A typical Sunday service at the BCEC consists of a welcome greeting and announcements by the “emcee” (often conducted by one of the pastors), followed by two worship songs, a sermon, and three response songs. At the end of the last response song, the preacher returns to offer a final prayer and benediction. In the four Sundays that were used as a study, the services followed this same pattern, resulting in five songs each week that contributed to an overall list of twenty songs that formed our case study. It should also be noted that in this four-week period, the worship leader was different at every Sunday service; all four were BBC males in their 20s.11 Appendix A presents the four worship set lists that were used for the study, with information regarding songwriters also included.

Of the worship songs sung during this period, all came from the UK, USA, or Australia, and all of them were written and/or had been performed by internationally renowned Christian artists and churches. Seven of the songs emerged from Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia (“At the Cross”, “Christ is Enough”, “Cornerstone”, “From the Inside Out”, “Hosanna”, “Man of Sorrows”, “This is Our God”), while four of the songs were written by worship leader Chris Tomlin and one by Charlie Hall, who were both part of the Passion movement in the U.S. (“Enough”, “Give Us Clean Hands”, “God and God Alone”, “Our God”, “Whom Shall I Fear”). Four songs were written by popular UK-based contemporary Christian artists Tim Hughes (“Here I Am to Worship”) and Matt Redman (“10,000 Reasons”, “I Will Offer Up My Life”, “You Never Let Go”), who have been involved in UK worship and the youth movements Worship Central and Soul Survivor. The remaining three songs were from the following American artists: Jonathan and Melissa Helser (“No Longer Slaves”), who have links to Bethel Music and Bethel Church in Redding, California; Aaron Keyes (“Dwell”), a worship leader with 10,000 Fathers & Mothers based in Colorado, Spiring, CO; and All Sons & Daughters (“All the Poor and Powerless”), also popularized by The Digital Age, a band from Texas that consisted of former members of the David Crowder Band, also linked to Passion. Though “Before the Throne of God Above” was originally written by Charitie Lees Smith, it has been popularized by Phil Wickham, Shane and Shane, and Sovereign Grace Music, all based in the USA (Bancroft and Cook 2009).

Initially, there appears to be no direct link between any of these songs and BBCs or Asian–Americans, which supports Yee’s lament that there is no such thing as Asian–American or BBC music, and rather, the worship conducted in English-speaking Chinese churches is strongly connected with and similar to white contemporary worship culture (Yee 2009). All the churches and songwriters whose songs were used here are of white descent; these artists presumably came from very different cultures to the BBCs and presumably do not share the same cultural identities and experiences. As discussed above, the struggle with identity that most BBCs go through has resulted in them not necessarily being able to embrace either of the cultures they find themselves stuck between, therefore resulting in their choosing to adopt and assimilate into the white-led contemporary worship culture made popular by megachurches such as Hillsong and Bethel. This process has been made possible by technology and the exposure and access it grants to people in search of new worship music to use in their own churches. While these megachurches have benefitted from the developments in digital technology over the past few decades, Bowler and Reagan also note their “entrepreneurial spirit to act as able partners with the expanding worship industry in production, marketing, distribution and tracking of new worship music” (Bowler and Reagan 2014, p. 188). The expansion of the worship industry has provided small local communities such as the BBCs with access to a broad range of worship music that is adopted and adapted into local corporate worship services. Yet, the question is, how is the English-speaking service at BCEC able to relate to the songs written by people of such different backgrounds and cultural context? While an initial answer is that the lyrics of these popular worship songs generally address the core doctrines of faith shared across cultures, thereby allowing them to be easily adopted cross-culturally, further analysis does allow us to gain a better understanding of why the BBCs chose these songs and attended a service which exclusively sang these songs. After all, even predominantly white contemporary Christian music still consists of a large range of styles and genres, and through analysis of the lyrical theology of these songs, we can gain insights into how the BBCs perceive themselves and God.

3.3. Self-Perception in Congregational Songs of BCEC English-Speaking Service

Drawing from the above discussion on cultural identity, scholars have highlighted a tendency of BBCs to be more conservative in nature when interacting within their community. This conservative nature is not limited to social interaction, but also relates to spiritual interaction with God. Evangelical Chinese Christians generally identify with more conservative theology, and their cultural context discourages them from disclosing personal emotions and experiences while simultaneously valuing self-control and indirect communication. Cao notes that it is this Chinese “way of life” that “tends to underplay all matters of the heart” and prevents many younger-generation Chinese from sharing personal emotions with their parents, let alone in public settings (Cao 2005, pp. 194–95). This conservatism seems in direct contrast with Western cultural values present within the modern contemporary worship sung at BCEC, which promotes self-expression, individualism, and embodied celebratory dancing and clapping. How are these diverse cultural expressions evident in their repertoire? While the worship leaders at BCEC select songs exclusively from contemporary worship music from the West, they also seem to avoid the more up-tempo songs that those same churches also produce. Within the set list, there are no songs that lend themselves to dancing or upbeat celebration; furthermore, there are not even any lyrics that encourage the lifting of hands or any bodily expression other than bowing down. Worshippers at BCEC utilize Western songs but adopt specific songs that encourage reverence over emotive celebratory songs.

In the case of BCEC, the worship leaders are aware that their role requires them to firstly select and lead songs that are both accessible and relatable to the cultural identities of the BBCs, but then strive to lead them to a place of worship that is free from the inhibitions and misconceptions their cultural backgrounds have instilled. One of those inhibitions that is commonly experienced in Chinese churches is the concept of shame. Honor–shame cultures are often linked to world-majority cultures and particularly cultures of the Middle East and East Asia where particular sociocultural values and practices center on avoiding public and personal shame and honoring their communities above personal guilt or individual success, which are emphasized more in Western contexts.12 With regards to soteriology, Western contexts emphasize Christ’s work bringing freedom and cleansing from individual sins, while honor–shame cultures highlight Christ’s salvation as covering shame and restoring from communal disgrace. Within Chinese cultures, as Settle emphasizes, the fear of public perception and the need to “save face” contributes to the honor–shame culture, preventing individuals from being able to freely and joyfully operate in the realm of grace, as it is of great importance to them to save face and not shame the family with their sins and problems (Settles 2012, p. 23) Furthermore, the Chinese culture is rich with traditions and rituals that are supposed to help protect people from shame. The song “Give Us Clean Hands” (Week 1) is a popular song at BCEC, as the lyrics are in reference to Psalm 24 and relates to this honor–shame culture, honoring God and asking Him to cleanse and purify the worshippers’ hands and hearts. The lyrics to the verse address Chinese cultural norms of honoring ancestors and gods through bowing and bending:

We bow our hearts, we bend our knees,

Oh, Spirit come make us humble.

We turn our eyes, from evil things,

Oh Lord, we cast down our idols.13

Additionally, worship leaders seemed to address the honor–shame culture that gave cause for rituals followed by many BBCs growing up, as they chose songs that focused on emphasizing the grace of God. An example of this is “From the Inside Out” (Week 2), where the lyrics at the beginning of the song highlight the mercy and grace of God despite the many failures of humans, giving assurance and hope to the worshippers that they are not exempt from God’s forgiveness:

A thousand times I’ve failed, still your mercy remains.

And should I stumble again, I’m caught in your grace.14

The messages conveyed by those lyrics, in general, are atypical of Chinese culture (See Wu 2013), with shame and failures being things that are often hidden from the sight of others, and the fear of failure governing the way they live. The same message is also portrayed in another song, “At the Cross” (Week 4), where the words once again highlight the fact that God’s love remains for us despite Him already searching and knowing our hearts and failures:

Oh Lord, you’ve searched me, You know my way.

Even when I fail you, I know you love me.15

Another reoccurring theme around self-perception is the reassurance in identity. Though BBCs may face social uncertainty, they find identity as God’s children. While Yee calls into question the lack of worship songs that speak to the social uncertainty and marginalization suffered by the Chinese in the West (Yee 2009), it is also evident that in BCEC, this issue is addressed through song choices such as “No Longer Slaves” (Week 1), where the repetitive chorus references the Scriptures from Galatians 4:6 and Romans 8:14–15, reminding the congregation of their identity as children of God despite their social status wherever they live:

I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God.16

The addressing of fear also appears in “Whom Shall I Fear” (Week 4), where congregants declare the assurance they have in God, reminding them that there is no need to fear the “darkness” or the “enemy” because no opposition can stand against God. The lyrics in the bridge speak strongly to this theme of banishing the fear within their hearts:

And nothing formed against me shall stand,

You hold the whole world in your hands.

I’m holding onto your promises,

You are faithful, you are faithful.17

This theme was also found within the same set list (Week 4), as the song “Dwell” echoed a very similar message. The words in the bridge again provide the congregants with a space to repeatedly declare the power of God against the forces of darkness that they fear, using Scripture from Isaiah 54:17:

No weapon formed against me will prosper,

No weapon formed against me will prosper,

No weapon formed against me will prosper,

Says the Lord.18

The lyrics of the chorus remind worshippers of the safety they find in God, and that there is no need to fear when they trust in the Lord, even in the face of the “enemy” (Verse 1, Line 2), the “terror” (Verse 1, Line 3), the “darkness” (Verse 2, Line 2), and “evil” (Verse 2, Line 3).

In the same set list, the worship leader chose to conclude the service with another song addressing fear in “You Never Let Go”. The theme running through the song again echoes the songs sung earlier in the set (“Whom Shall I Fear”, “Dwell”), and overcoming fear is once again the main focus:

And I will fear no evil, for my God is with me.

And if my God is with me,

Whom then shall I fear?

Whom then shall I fear?19

The worship leader from Week 1 also chose a song with a similar message to conclude the service, with the song “Our God” leading the worshippers in declaring the Scripture from Romans 8:31. Once again, there seems to be a focus on letting go of the fears they have as they hold close to God’s faithfulness and strength:

And if our God is for us,

then who could ever stop us.

And if our God is with us,

then what could stand against.20

The selection of songs focusing on the theme of overcoming fear is significant, showing corporate worship as a space to publicly name and negotiate areas of fear and shame.

Within this honor–shame culture, a lack of self-esteem can emerge. As ChenFeng notes, the negative impacts of facing intergenerational and intercultural conflict while growing up mean that Chinese immigrants can tend to have lower self-esteem than their Western counterparts (ChenFeng 2014, p. 26). Entering into worship in BCEC is often humble and reflective in nature, as opposed to the triumphant and vibrant introductions into worship that are commonly found in more Western megachurches. For example, “All the Poor and Powerless” was used as the first song in Week 1, with a distinct sense of humility and a hint of shame as the song calls congregants to worship:

(Verse 1)

All the poor and powerless, and all the lost and lonely.

All the thieves will come confess and know that you are holy.

(Verse 2)

All the hearts who are content, and all who feel unworthy.

All who hurt with nothing left, will know that you are holy.21

In summary, the adapted and adopted Western songs utilized by BCEC reflect many of the conservative values and expressions that are prevailing within their Chinese culture. Although their song choices are taken from different cultural contexts, the lyrics of the songs link to fear, shame, honor, and bowing resonate with and stretch beyond Chinese cultural norms, giving expression to a unique liturgical identity for BBCs. The agency of BCEC is observed as they sing the songs of the dominant worship culture, while selectively maintaining some of their own cultural distinctives. The song lyrics may not specifically mention “shame”, as they originated outside honor–shame cultures, yet the appropriation and assimilation of these dominant worship songs are selectively oriented towards images of shame, even if the word “shame” goes unsung.

3.4. Perception of God in Congregational Songs of the BCEC English-Speaking Service

Through continued repertoire analysis, we now explore how BCEC perceive God. Tseng notes that Chinese evangelicals in the USA adhere “closely to the theological and cultural assumptions of mainstream evangelicalism” (Tseng 2002, p. 253). In his analysis of the lyrical theology in the most sung worship songs in the USA from 1989–2004, Lester Ruth found many worship songs referred to God generically, while Jesus Christ was named much more than the Father or the Holy Spirit when a divine person was named explicitly. He attributed this fact to the Incarnation possibly giving Jesus Christ the advantage as he can be visualized more easily than the other two (Ruth 2015, p. 71), and highlighted the critical importance of worship songs recognizing the Godhead Persons and the roles each play in salvation (Ruth 2015, p. 69). Out of the twenty songs utilized at BCEC, only four explicitly addressed or referred to Jesus, while there were an additional three that implicitly referred to him through lyrical content and description. This factor may indicate that worshippers at BCEC are not as attracted to the visual imagery of Jesus and salvation as much as white evangelical communities, due to their overriding inclination perceiving God as the Father that demands honor, reverence, and fear. It must also be noted that not one song referred to the Holy Spirit as the divine Person, supporting the notion that the BBCs are comparatively more conservative in their approach to theology and worship, distinguishing themselves from the beliefs of the Charismatic churches who write many of the songs that are sung. Here is where we see potential agency, as they intentionally choose not to sing certain songs from these churches that relate to an emotive experience with the Spirit. The lyrical theology of the songs sung present access to God with more distance, humility, and reverence as opposed to the closeness, intimacy, anthropomorphic encounter, and individual confidence referenced in other popular worship songs by these non-Chinese songwriters.22

Reverence and humility in approaching God through a strong sense of honor was observed. For example, the action of bowing is the only action that is referred to in the twenty songs, such as in “Here I Am To Worship” (Week 3):

Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down,

Here I am to say that you’re my God.23

Another song that continues the action of bowing or kneeling is “This is Our God” (Week 2):

I will fall at your feet,

I will fall at your feet,

and I will worship you here.24

The previously mentioned songs “At the Cross” (Week 4) and “Give Us Clean Hands” (Week 1) both contain the action word ‘bow’ as well. Furthermore, there is an overriding sense of humility and reverence in other songs too, such as “I Will Offer Up My Life” (Week 2):

In surrender I must give my every part,

Lord, receive the sacrifice of a broken heart.25

Lau-Clayton highlights that one of the main characteristics of Chinese culture when expressing love is in serving others; therefore, service to God is one of the main ways in which they express their love and worship (Lau-Clayton 2014, p. 17). Thus, this song resonates with cultural expressions and theological beliefs, as the chorus provides an opportunity for the congregation to offer themselves back to God in service and sacrifice. The first lines of the chorus are representative of this:

Jesus, what can I give, what can I bring?

To so faithful a friend, to so loving a King?26

Strong evidence of the importance of knowing God through Scripture is observed in these worship songs. With many contemporary worship songs being criticized for lacking content in regards to the Gospel, it can be said that the songs selected by the leaders at BCEC are scripturally grounded.27 Songs such as “Give Us Clean Hands” (Psalm 24), “No Longer Slaves” (Romans 8:14–15), “Our God” (Romans 8:31), “100,000 Reasons” (Psalm 103), “Man of Sorrows” (Isaiah 53), “Dwell” (Isaiah 54:17, Psalm 91), “You Never Let Go” (Psalm 23), “I Will Offer Up My Life” (John 4:24, Philippians 2:8), and “Cornerstone” (Psalm 118:21–23, Matthew 21:41–43) are direct references or paraphrases of Scripture, whilst other songs in the repertoire contain many doctrinal truths and core concepts of biblical faith. The objective in choosing these songs is clear; the worship leaders select songs that portray important theological truths and reminders that God is known first and foremost through his Word. The experiential language of many popular songs is limited within this BCEC repertoire. Instead, the song choice indicates a high regard for Scripture as the primary source of authority and theological knowledge. In summary, the adapted and adopted Western songs utilized by BCEC reveal a God who can be known through Scripture. This God is worthy of worship through humility, reverence, and the offering of one’s entire life in service.

4. Conclusions

Multilingual and multicultural worship can take on many models and expressions. For the BBCs that attend BCEC, singing English songs from the West has dominated their corporate liturgical identity. Initially, Chinese immigration to the UK in the 1950s and 1960s led to an increased population of churches. Many of the Chinese church services would be conducted in Cantonese, catering for the needs of first-generation immigrants mainly from Hong Kong. Yet, the children of these older generations grew up with a bicultural hybridized identity expressed first in small English-speaking youth groups that led to English-speaking worship services within Chinese churches. Though limited research on these communities exists, our initial exploratory study of the worship music repertoire of English-speaking services at BCEC over a four-week period revealed the following. First, there was no specific BBC worship music employed at BCEC. With the population of BBC Christians being small, combined with their struggles in establishing their own identity in faith and in their musical preferences, their worship songs were all taken from prominent contemporary worship churches and bands led by white Americans, Australians, and British. A BBC evangelical Christian reading of these songs revealed that they were adopted to resonate with cultural norms such as honor, shame, reverence, and bowing. Secondly, though these songs originated from more charismatic Western churches, the song lyrics downplayed anthropomorphic encounters and lacked more expressive actions such as dancing, jumping, and lifting of hands. Instead, the songs emphasized knowing God through singing Scripture. Third, the English-speaking service within a larger Chinese church seems to provide a liturgical home for these BBCs to sustain cultural values, express hybrid worship identities, and maintain familial structures.

Our hope is that this study will encourage additional research on the worship activities of BBCs, which could include ethnographic research with BCEC worship leaders and congregants for a fuller reading of the liturgical and cultural meanings drawn from these worship songs. Drawing on a larger sample size that revealed the repertoire of BCEC for an entire year would increase certainty in our findings and provide additional insights into the relationships between BBCs and contemporary worship music. Additional repertoire studies to compare the worship songs sung at all the various services at BCEC or in a larger sample of BBC churches could provide a wider view of the liturgical identity of this entire multi-lingual Chinese evangelical community. Though we have argued that the adopted and adapted songs from the UK, USA, and Australia carry meaning and identity within this congregation, we also look forward to future artistic worship expressions from BCEC and BBC Christians as they continue to discern how best to express their unique cultural identities in their worship of God.