Welcome to the 2026 Mental Health Conference!
Our Flourishing, Our Faith: Navigating Rupture and Repair in Asian American Christian Communities
University Address
13800 Biola Ave, La Mirada, CA 90639
You can enter campus through one of two checkpoints: one via Biola Ave (#49 through Entrance #7) and one via La Mirada Blvd (#1 through Entrance #1).
For any emergencies, please call Campus Safety at ext. 5111 or (562) 777-4000.
Friday: The gatehouses at the checkpoints will be staffed starting at 8:00 AM, but the gates will be lifted starting at 7:30 AM. If you plan to arrive before the 8:00 AM check-in time, please be sure to print out your parking pass.
Saturday: The gate will be lifted from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM. If there’s no attendant and the gate is closed, you can use the Intercom to speak to Campus Safety and get buzzed in.
The Venue
Andrews Banquet Room
The conference venue is Andrews Banquet Room and a smaller overflow room in Talbot East, Biola University. Many thanks to Biola University for hosting the Asian American mental health conference this year!
View location on the Biola campus map: biola.edu/campus-map#talbot-east
Andrews Banquet Room Location
Talbot East, La Mirada, CA 90639
Parking on Campus
Guests may park in any unmarked parking spot on campus. However, on Friday, please try to utilize Parking Lot S (parking structure with a “Jesus Saves” sign) so that the other lots closer to buildings can be used by employees and students. On Saturday, it is best to utilize Parking Lot A, as it is closest to Talbot East. Please reference the campus map attached in the “Venue” section for details on how to get into campus.
Prior to the conference, please click the button to either print the parking permit to display at your windshield or download a copy on your phone. When entering campus, you can present the digital copy at the Gatehouse to receive a physical pass.
Schedule
All time markers are in US Pacific Time. Exact location will be provided in post-registration email.
Friday, April 10
Location: Biola University, La Mirada, CA
Time
Session
Presenter
8:00 AM–8:30 AM
Registration and Breakfast (included in registration)
Virtual Lounge and Exhibitor Booths open
8:30 AM–9:00 AM
Welcoming and opening remarks
9:00 AM–10:00 AM
Plenary 1
“A Long Faithfulness Across Generations: Rupture and Repair in Asian American Families”
Read the description here.
Jessica ChenFeng
10:00 AM–10:30 AM
Coffee Break
Virtual Lounge Discussions
10:30 AM–11:30 AM
Plenary 2
“When We Stay But Disappear: Hidden Ruptures and the Hope of Church as a Healing Community”
Read the description here.
Christina Lee Kim
11:30 AM–1:00 PM
Lunch (included in registration)
Virtual Lounge Discussions 11:30 AM–12:00 PM
1:00 PM–2:00 PM
Plenary 3
“Enduring and Grieving Unresolved Ruptures”
Read the description here.
Sangeetha Thomas
2:00 PM–2:15 PM
Break
Virtual Lounge Discussions
2:15 PM–3:15 PM
Panel: Ministry Leaders and Clinicians
A conversation with ministry leaders and clinicians on the challenges and possibilities of cultivating emotionally healthy Asian American faith communities.
Ben Shin
Stan Sonu
Sandhya Oaks
3:15 PM–4:15 PM
In-Person Social Hour and Poster Session
Virtual Lounge Discussions
Carissa Dwiwardani
Eu Gene Chin
Saturday, April 11
Location: Biola University, La Mirada, CA
Time
Session
Presenter
8:00 AM–8:30 AM
Registration and Breakfast
Virtual Lounge and Exhibitor Booths open
8:30 AM–9:00 AM
Morning Worship
9:00 AM–10:00 AM
Workshop 1
“Healing the Asian American Family: Practices for Repairing Generational Rupture with Honor”
Read the description here.
Tansy Kadoe
10:00 AM–10:30 AM
Coffee Break
Virtual Lounge Discussions
10:30 AM–11:30 AM
Workshop 2
“Church Culture and Mental Health: Building Congregations That Support Well-Being”
Read the description here.
Alex Chang
11:30 PM–1:00 PM
Lunch (included in registration)
Virtual Lounge Discussions from 11:30–12:00
1:00 PM–2:00 PM
Workshop 3
“Unresolved Ruptures: Find Healing When Repair is Not Possible”
Read the description here.
Eunhyey Lok
2:00 PM–2:30 PM
Break
Virtual Lounge Discussions
2:30 PM–3:30 PM
Panel: Spiritual Formation
A closing conversation on spiritual formation, psychiatric and psychological care, and the future of healing practices in Asian American Christian communities.
Dave Wang
Thomas Okamoto
Ciin Kham
3:30 PM–4:00 PM
Closing Remarks
David Chao
Carissa Dwiwardani
A Long Faithfulness Across Generations: Rupture and Repair in Asian American Families
Family rupture in Asian American contexts is shaped by immigration narratives, cultural scripts, and intergenerational silence that can sometimes fuel disconnect and distance. This plenary explores the sources of familial rupture and offers a multi-layered framework for repair that integrates intrapersonal reflection, neurobiological regulation, and relational attunement while honoring generational distinctions and Asian American relational ethics. The conversation will be grounded in the reality that repair is sanctification work – a decades-long journey across seasons of life that finds its sustaining hope not in resolution but in Christ who came to give us fullness of life.
When We Stay But Disappear: Hidden Ruptures and the Hope of Church as a Healing Community
This plenary examines subtle and often unseen relational ruptures within church communities—those marked not by open conflict, but by emotional withdrawal, quiet disengagement, and unspoken disconnection. Within many Asian and Christian cultural contexts, values such as harmony, endurance, respect for authority, and sacrificial service may unintentionally foster the concealment of hurt, discouraging lament, repair, and honest confrontation. This plenary seeks to give insight into how these unacknowledged ruptures affect spiritual vitality and community belonging. It also seeks to offer a hopeful vision for how church communities can be a place of healing, connection, and repair.
This plenary will explore how we can grieve ruptures that are left unresolved between persons and endure our experience of separation through faith. Whether by estrangement, emotional cutoff, immigration trauma, abuse, or death, some ruptures may not be repaired in our lifetimes, leaving our hearts with an ever-aching longing for connection. Participants will learn how to navigate this separation through the lens of neuroscience, psychology, and faith and discover rest in the peace and love of Christ.
Healing the Asian American Family: Practices for Repairing Generational Rupture with Honor
Generational rupture often begins with disconnection from self, others, and the stories shaped by survival, sacrifice, and systemic forces. This workshop invites participants to practice honor by reconnecting to their God-given worth (Self), relating with courage and grace (Other), and sharing vulnerable family stories (Context). Together, we explore how honoring self, others, and context opens pathways for repair so families may stand seen, known, and honored in God’s presence and in one another.
Church Culture and Mental Health: Building Congregations That Support Well-Being
This workshop will explore how pastors, elder/governing boards, and volunteers together shape a church’s cultural environment in ways that support mental health and overall well-being. Through practical tools, real examples, and actionable strategies, this workshop will help participants understand how behaviors and leadership practices ultimately influence congregational well-being. Attendees will leave equipped to nurture healthier church cultures where leaders and members alike can thrive.
Unresolved Ruptures: Find Healing When Repair is Not Possible
What do we do when the ruptures we face have no easy resolution? At both the individual and collective levels, many Asian Americans suffer from deep relational wounds that cannot be repaired because the other party is gone or because interactions with them harm us. When that happens, we are left with emotional hurricanes that disrupt our sense of normalcy and safety, as well as our ability to connect to God, ourselves and those with whom we desire to continue relationship.
In our time together, we will seek healing by applying frameworks that help us make meaning of what we are experiencing, learning to be present to our emotions in God’s presence, and exploring practices that facilitate healing in the absence of the other party.
This workshop will involve optional opportunities for group participation with guidelines for creating safety as we share and listen to one another. Bringing a journal or writing surface is recommended.
View/Download the Session Slides
“A Long Faithfulness Across Generations: Rupture and Repair in Asian American Families”
Jessica ChenFeng
“When We Stay But Disappear: Hidden Ruptures and the Hope of Church as a Healing Community”
Christina Lee Kim
