Religious Participation of Korean Immigrants in the United States

Abstract

The specific aims of this research were: (1) to review past studies on the Korean ethnic church in the U.S., (2) to analyze the religious participation patterns of Korean immigrants in light of various theories on the immigrant church, and (3) to explore theoretical and practical implications of the findings from historical, comparative, and structural perspectives. The empirical data for this study derived from interviews with 622 Korean immigrants (20 years and older) residing in the Chicago area. In general, regardless of length of residence, sex, age, education, economic status, or sociocultural assimilation, church participation was found to be a way of life among Korean immigrants in the U.S. Data analyses generally confirmed the meaning, belonging, comfort, and mental-health theories but lent no support to the assimilation/mobility theory. In addition, historical and structural factors accounting for the Korean immigrants' pervasive participation in their ethnic church were explored, such as the Christian legacy of Korean immigration, the urban middle-class background of recent Korean immigrants, and their adaptation as a racial/ethnic minority in the United States.

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