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Doctor of Philosophy in Theology, This dissertation focuses on an overlooked population in the study of Korean American Christianity—Korean-speaking young adults in immigrant churches. Considering that almost all of the literature about the emerging generation in Korean churches in the U.S. exclusively attend to the English speaking generation, this research project raises the question of “How should the Korean immigrant church as a community understand and serve Korean speaking young adults?” In light of this central research question, this study seeks to bring awareness to the hidden younger generation of Korean-speaking young adults, and to suggest a discernment process for Korean immigrant churches in the U.S. to engage in more faithful practices. The opening two chapters lay the methodological groundwork. With an overarching methodology of practical theology and a qualitative research method, chapter 1 provides a detailed account of the research methodology, including how this study’s field research was conducted. Chapter 2 surveys and evaluates the current understanding of this consistently ignored population from the existing literature. Chapter 3 expounds upon the results from data collected through a survey of 404 Korean-speaking young adults and 40 in-depth interviews with Korean American pastors. Throughout the discussion of the research findings, this study addresses Korean-speaking young adults’ intersectional struggles (as emerging adults and ethnic minorities), their experiences of loneliness, their transnational perspectives, and their relationships with their church communities. Based on these findings, chapter 4 proposes an ecclesiology for Korean immigrants and their young people in a transnational context, in conversation with contemporary migration theology. This constructive ecclesiology recommends that the Korean immigrant church as a community should embody these features: people finding their identity and dignity based on the imago dei, beyond national origin or migration st

Doctor of Philosophy in Theology, This study seeks to explore how Chinese ethnic churches in the United States can faithfully respond to the migrant Chinese emerging adults around them, in light of the significant degree of perceived loneliness among these migrants. The study is explicitly bound to a four-stage practical theology method, and it engages in the praxis-theory-praxis cycle using a mixed methods research design. After carefully examining the current practices of American Chinese ethnic churches and thoroughly exploring the context of the surrounding migrant Chinese emerging adults, I have proposed a new paradigm for discipleship based on insights derived from the work of Michael Wilkin, Stanley Grenz and Miroslov Volf. I have named this paradigm “participatory discipleship”, which I define as “the process of learning to live a fully human life in union with Christ, mediated by the Spirit, through participating in the community of disciples (the church) moving toward God’s eschatological kingdom”. This new paradigm for discipleship urges American Chinese churches to rework their definition of discipleship, calls them to participate in God’s mission, creates a space of mutual edification and appreciation for people of different generations and cultures, invites older adults to participate in the lives of younger adults, and pushes the churches to develop a fuller understanding of themselves as community.