Does Asian American worship music exist, and what could it sound like? Over the past several years I’ve been on a quest to answer these questions as an Asian American songwriter looking for inspiration and songwriting role models who look like me. Though many Asian American churches and ministries often sing worship songs from the likes of Hillsong and Bethel, or Western hymns for the older generation, with a bit of digging, I’ve discovered that worship songs written by and for Asian American Christians have actually been around for decades. And this blog post highlights songs, composers and efforts toward creating worship music for a variety of different Asian American contexts from the 1970s till today. Continue reading “A History of Asian American Worship Music”

Lunar New Year falls on January 22nd this year, and I’m back with more songs and ideas to celebrate the holiday in a worship service, building off my blog post from last year on this topic.

1. May the Love of the Lord –  Dr. Swee Hong Lim and Maria Ling

This English language benediction song has a pentatonic melody. The song’s background story can be found here. A choral arrangement is available here.

Continue reading “More Ways to Celebrate Lunar New Year in a Worship Service”

Advent is a season of preparation in anticipation of Christ’s birth as well as Christ’s second coming, and it is observed for 4 Sundays before Christmas. It is a time of reflection, mourning and yearning for Jesus to come make all things new. Below are 5 songs for the Advent season written by Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander songwriters. Continue reading “5 Songs for Advent by API Songwriters”