The Progressive Asian American Christians (PAAC) community is full of people who come from all walks of life, particularly the creative. After hearing that PAAC community member Yiann had recently released an EP, we reached out to them for an interview with us to learn more about their journey into writing and performing music, and how they are creating new liturgies for those who want to connect with faith through the musical form.

This outfit is the victory in a long war I’ve been waging with my Mom about church clothes. We’ve negotiated a tenuous compromise where I don’t have to wear a dress anymore, but I have to wear something that we both agree is “nice”.

Editor’s Note: This piece is sourced from the author's sermon, Honor Your Mother and Father at Forefront Brooklyn on June 30, 2019.

I think by my family’s standard, I am a total rebel. When I reflect back on my life growing up, I feel like I’d find any excuse to rebel against my parents, even if I didn’t do it on purpose. Just by nature, I went against most things they wanted me to do.

Sustainability consciousness does not come naturally in a culture of capitalism. Capitalism teaches us to master the art of taking from the land. It reinforces a consumer relationship with resources, automating a modus operandi within us that prioritizes accessibility, convenience, and affordability. It plants a seed of consumerism within us at such an early age, seducing our eyes with all the possibilities of what we can have and overwhelming us with the question “what do you want?” that when we finally realize that production of a thing comes at a cost, it is too late. Uprooting our lives is too unimaginable. And everything does come at a cost. Much of what we consume comes at a cost far too costly than what it is worth. What might not cost us in dollars may cost us the earth. Incorporating sustainability practices into our everyday is a practice of decolonizing our minds, and therefore, unbecoming colonizers of the land.

Though this passage is attributed to Paul, it echoes the radical love we see preached by Jesus in everything attributed to Him in the Bible. We’re told to love unconditionally, to give everything and then everything again, to take hatred and turn it around by offering the other cheek.

In my youth, I felt valued and whole in the conservative evangelical Asian American church I called home. This community gave me a foundation for understanding God’s engagement with the world and my role in it. This place provided me a family with mentors who believed in my potential as a leader.