Thriving Congregations Initiative
Asian American Church Leaders Program
Goals of TCI
EMPOWER
faith leaders to shape participating church’s values and missions
ENGAGE
faith leaders in modeling and practicing facilitative leadership and design adaptive congregational cultures
EQUIP
faith leaders with tangible skill sets in both personal and organizational leadership
ISAAC and Grace Mission University are partnering to offer the “Thriving Congregations Initiative” (TCI), a one-year educational program designed to strengthen Asian American church leaders by facilitating change within their congregations. With these goals in mind, Thriving Congregation Initiative (TCI) hopes to see AAPI faith leaders navigate change and experience thriving congregational ministry. Program participants will engage in a variety of activities including online reading material, zoom sessions, and in-person retreats.
2025 SCHEDULE
Orientation Retreat - April 6-9, 2025
Orchestrating Conflict
Module 1 | May 2025
Story Theology in Asian American Ministry
Module 2 | July 2025
Mission & Money: Fundraising as Ministry
Module 3 | Sept. 2025
Final Project - December 2025
*Dates subject to change. The Orientation Retreat will be in person, but the rest of the Modules and reading assignments will be online through Google Classroom.
Each Module will be 4 sessions and include 2 hour- Live Zoom sessions.
Questions? Contact Diana Shing at projectmanager@isaacweb.org. Apply by Dec 31st
Our Team
Young Lee Hertig
Project Director / Instructor
Co-Founder/Executive Director of ISAAC (Innovative Space for Asian American Christianity) and a founder of AAWOL (Asian American Women On Leadership). She taught at Azusa Pacific University from 2002-2017 and was formerly a Vera B. Blinn Associate Professor of World Christianity at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. She was an Assistant Professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. She is an ordained Presbyterian clergy and a member of the Presbytery of the Pacific and serves the Committee on Preparation for Ministry (CPM) and Committee of Staff (COS). The programs she developed and directs are: I. PastoraLab for Asian American Women Ministers (funded by Lilly Endowment). Quantitative research, Asian American Congregation Leadership Practice, is underway [Survey link: https://tinyurl.com/5etyrm3r] II. When Women Preach Podcast (AAPI and Latina Faith Leaders) III. How to Fuel Your Passion Online Cohort Program, funded by Trinity Church Wall Street equips participants with financial competencies, grant writing, business plan, fund development, etc.
Diana Shing
Project Manager
Diana supports ISAAC through donor management, event planning, and any other ways to build ISAAC’s mission. She was as a Pastoralab participant in the LA Cohort where she found the space of belonging and empowerment truly meaningful. Diana graduated from Fuller Seminary with a Master of Divinity in 2011, and since then has served in various ministry settings including Pepperdine University, Azusa Pacific University, Lake Avenue Church and recently was the Minister of Family Life at First Evangelical Church of Glendale.
Shauw Chin Capp
Instructor
President of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Foundation and the chief development officer for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF). Shauw has 29 years of nonprofit experience. Prior to joining CBF, she was the CEO of a nonprofit organization in Beaufort, South Carolina, that serves the needs of victims of child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault for over 15 years. She took a dying organization with a budget of $200,000 and four staff members and grew it to become a vibrant and reputable $3M+ organization with 50 staff members serving some of the poorest counties in South Carolina. A graduate of Baylor University and the Carver School of Church Social Work at Southern Seminary and lives in Decatur, Georgia with her spouse Paul, an ordained Baptist minister.
Kevin Park
Instructor
Kevin completed his MDiv from Knox College, Toronto, and ThM and PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey. He served in various church youth, college, and English speaking congregations in Korean North American contexts in Canada and U.S. He was an Adjunct Professor of Theology at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in NJ and Assistant Director of the Asian American Program at Princeton Theological Seminary. For five years he was the pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church, a multicultural community, in Bloomfield, NJ. He also served as an Associate for Theology in the Office of Theology and Worship at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, KY. He was the Associate Dean for Advanced Professional Studies and Assistant Professor of Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary. He currently serves as an associate pastor for EM and Christian Education at the Korean Central Presbyterian Church.
Alex Choi
Panelist
Alex Choi is a church planter preparing to start a ministry in Pasadena, CA. This church plant comes on the heels of serving as the Executive Pastor at Imago Dei Community in Portland, OR. Before moving to Portland Alex was the Lead Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church which he and his wife planted in downtown Los Angeles in 2006. Alex has served in both Korean and multiethnic communities as a pastor and consultant specializing on helping churches navigating leadership transition(s). Alex is a graduate of the University of Southern California where he completed undergraduate degree and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary where he received his MDiv and ThM.
.png)
James Cho
Panelist
James Cho is a transplant from Northern California. He studied civil engineering at UCLA and received his Master’s of Divinity from Talbot School of Theology and his Ph.D in Intercultural Studies from Biola University. He previously served as a pastor in a couple churches in Koreatown for fifteen years. He is currently teaching at Grace Mission University in Fullerton and serves on a number of organizations including Innovative Space for Asian American Christianity, ByGrace Children’s Home, Korean Churches for Community Development, and Great Commission Research Network. His passion is to raise awareness of the marginalized both in Los Angeles and in Kenya.
Sally Lee
Panelist
Sally is an ordained elder in the Free Methodist Church, recently residing in the Seattle area. She is a Canadian-born 2.5-generation Chinese American. She is currently the Chief Operations Officer in the denomination’s church multiplication network, Mission Igniter. In addition to oversight of the organization’s operations, her role includes coaching and developing church planters. Before full-time ministry, as a Mechanical Engineer/MBA, she had a career in the automotive industry in international product development and supply management and served in 3 metro-Detroit churches in worship, church planting, and turnaround.
David C. Wang
Panelist
David is a licensed psychologist, pastor, and editor of the Journal of Psychology and Theology, and serves on the editorial board for the APA journal Spirituality in Clinical Practice. He teaches and speaks internationally, maintains a small clinical practice in Fullerton, California, is pastor of spiritual formation at One Life City Church, and serves on the advisory board of the Caring for Clergy Field Guide, Joya Scholars, Speak Your Truth Today, and the Mosaic Center for Spiritual Formation. He has also consulted with the Global Aftercare Program of the International Justice Mission, an international nonprofit organization devoted to ending the global slave trade, and has co-authored their manual on Trauma Informed Care.
Collaborative Partnership
