About the CAC Forum
History of the CAC Forum
The CAC mailing list originated in 1995 after a dialogue between Dr.
Timothy Tseng and Prof. Sze Kar Wan. During the summer of 1996, the CAC
Forum started collecting more email discussion about ministry issues, perhaps
around the time of the publication of an article by Helen Lee that appeared
in Christianity Today magazine (issue dated August 12, 1996, Vol. 40, No.
12). Although there were not many revealing new insights into the ministry
challenges for the Asian-Americans, the article brought the issue to mainstream
evangelical-dom. A formal mailing list sponsored by the list server at
BCCN (Boston Chinese Christian Network) was initiated with 64 members on
September 6th, 1996. Discussions on the mailing list is not limited to
Chinese American Christian issues, and often involves issues related to
a broader spectrum of Asian-Americans and second-generation population
in various locations around the world. [DJ Chuang]
The following is an excerpt of the history of the CAC Forum, according
to Dr. Timothy Tseng; (the full text can be found in CAC
Digest #6):
The CAC list was originally the brainchild of Prof. Sze Kar Wan (Andover-Newton
Theological School) and Dr. Timothy Tseng (Denver Seminary). At the Association
of Theological School's seminar for Underrepresented Scholars in March,
1995, Sze-Kar, a number of colleagues, and Dr. Tseng discussed the possibility
of developing a network of Asian Americans Christians from the academy,
church, and laity to discuss matters pertinent to Asian American Christian
ministries/research.
After much enthusiastic discussion, we felt that we had to start slowly
and with a small group. So the CAC internet list was started in 1995 -
limited to Chinese Americans (i.e., OBC/ABC/ARC). [The discussions were
distributed manually by Dr. Tseng over email, with a growing list of email
addresses and carbon copies]
Well, conversation has been light until this month [August 1996]. So
please keep talking. At this point, I'm fairly certain that this list doesn't
want to limit itself to ABC matters. But, I'm not sure we're ready to expand
to include other Asian ethnic groups.
Edited: 26 Sep 96
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