Our Flourishing, Our Faith:
Navigating Rupture and Repair in Asian American Christian Communities
A Hybrid Conference on Mental Health and Ministry
April 10–11, 2026 · Biola University, La Mirada, CA
Center for Asian American Christianity, Princeton Theological Seminary
Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University
The Center for Asian American Christianity (Princeton Theological Seminary) and the Asian American Mental Health Initiative at the Rosemead School of Psychology (Biola University) invite you to join a two-day hybrid conference dedicated to strengthening the mental, spiritual, and communal health of Asian American faith communities.
Our conviction is simple yet urgent: flourishing in Asian American churches and households depends upon the integration of psychological science, biblical–theological wisdom, and honest attention to the migration and racialization experiences that shape our lives.
Our conference theme names both the ruptures that wound us—conflicts avoided, anger suppressed, forgiveness demanded without lament—and the hope of repair through God’s reconciling love. Together, we will explore how rupture can become the doorway to deeper communion with God and neighbor.
Organizers
Center for Asian American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary
Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University
Featured Plenary Speakers
Jessica ChenFeng
Rupture and repair in the family
Christina Kim
Rupture and repair in the Church
Sangeetha Thomas
Living with and grieving unresolved ruptures
Why Attend?
- Learn frameworks you can use immediately. Gain accessible insights from psychology, brain science, and theology—all rooted in Asian American lived realities.
- Practice repair. Interactive workshops will equip you with listening techniques, de-escalation skills, and practical strategies for families, leaders, and churches.
- Find your story in the conversation. From first-generation immigrants to second-generation pastors, singles to parents, adoptees to biracial Asians—this conference is designed to reflect the breadth of our communities.
- Destigmatize mental health in the church. Presenters will name harmful misreadings of theology and commend biblically faithful, psychologically responsible practices.
- Join a continuing conversation. Your participation contributes to a growing body of public scholarship, stories, and resources that will be shared widely after the event.
Plenary Speakers
Jessica ChenFeng, PhD, LMFT is an associate professor of marriage and family therapy and DMFT program chair at Fuller Theological Seminary, and an associate editor for Family Process journal. She has been a practicing MFT for almost 20 years and consults with academic, healthcare and church organizations to improve the well-being of people within their communities. Her research and clinical work center around social contextual intersections of race, gender, generation, trauma, and spirituality. She is the director of the Asian American Well-being Collaboratory and co-author of Finding Your Voice as a Beginning Marriage and Family Therapist and co-editor of Asian American Identities, Relationships, and Post-Migration Legacies.
Dr. Christina Lee Kim is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean in the Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University. She also currently serves as the undergrad psychology department chair. Dr. Kim is a licensed clinical psychologist; however, her current professional activities lie mostly in the realm of teaching, research, and administrative responsibilities. Her research areas include cross-cultural and multicultural psychology, mental health and the church, Asian-American psychology, and the use of qualitative research methods. Dr. Kim and her husband have three daughters and are active members of Living Hope Community Church in Brea, CA.
Sangeetha S. Thomas is a Licensed Professional Counselor and the Owner of Nepsis Counseling in Dallas, Texas. She is also the Director of Mental Health Ministries for the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA. As Director, she collaborates with an interdisciplinary team of experts in mental health, ministry, and theology to create resources that support the mental health needs of Orthodox Christians across the United States. As a psychotherapist, Sangeetha works with adults of diverse backgrounds who are healing from trauma, exploring multicultural identity and intergenerational trauma as children of immigrants, and learning to integrate their life experiences with their spiritual identity.
Workshop Speakers
Rev. Alex Chang is Lead Pastor of Princeton Alliance Church, a multi-ethnic church with over eighty-five ethnicities represented. Although he grew up as a pastor’s kid in a Korean immigrant church, ministry was never part of his vocational plans originally. He earned a BA in Economics from Boston College and worked as a banker for several financial institutions in New York City before moving to Princeton to earn his MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is an ordained minister in the Christian & Missionary Alliance (C&MA) denomination and also serves as Vice-Chairman on the Metropolitan District Executive Committee of the C&MA. He is currently pursuing a DMin at Fuller Theological Seminary.
Eunhyey Lok is a licensed marriage and family therapist, ordained pastor and spiritual director. She has been privileged to work in both therapy and spiritual direction with couples and individuals, particularly leaders in Christian ministry as well as cross-cultural and international NGO workers for 15 years. She provides a space to heal, recover and breathe for those experiencing burnout as they care for others.
Eunhyey received her MS MFT from Fuller Seminary. Formerly, she served as Director of Outreach and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at the now closed Asian American Christian Counseling Service. Before that, she worked as the Mobilization Director for Reah International and worked closely with field workers based in North Korea and NE China.
Eunhyey is married and has one son. She recently moved back to Minnesota after almost 20 years in Los Angeles. She enjoys all the parks and lakes the Twin Cities has to offer, even in the winter. You can learn more about her work in therapy at eunhyeylok.com and about giving spiritual direction at direction.eunhyeylok.com.
Panelists
Sandhya is a Ministry Leader, Trauma-Informed Certified Story Coach, and Spiritual Director. She has more than 17 years of combined experience in Campus and Church ministry. Sandhya currently walks closely with ministry staff in Athletes in Action, South Asian leaders, and Adult Adoptees. She holds multiple Certifications in Narrative Focused Trauma Care from the Allender Center, and her expertise is found at the intersection of Grief Care, Adoption, Identity, and Soul Care. She loves hosting retreats and creating experiences that invite healing and restoration. She has been featured by TEDX, Family Life Ministry, Yale University, and Denver Seminary. In her free time, she loves surfing, gathering around the table, and creating good cups of Chai.
Thomas H. Okamoto, M.D. is a Board Certified Adult Psychiatrist with a specialty in Adolescent Psychiatry. He has previously worked as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine as well as Medical Director of the Minirth-Meier Clinic West Adult and Adolescent inpatient and day treatment programs, working with John Townsend and Henry Cloud. He has lectured and written to many audiences, both scientific, church groups and the general public, on various topics in mental health. He has written chapters in Counseling and Mental Health in the Church as well as in the textbook Christianity and Psychiatry.
Dr. Okamoto is currently an Adjunct Professor of Talbot Seminary’s Spiritual Formation/MFT School and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. He is Former Chair of the Psychiatry Section of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations. He is a Distinguished Lifetime Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He currently practices psychiatry in Santa Ana, California.
He is married with 3 grown children.
Benjamin C. Shin has served in the ministry as a pastor, parachurch leader and professor for more than 30 years. He is a graduate of UCLA, Talbot School of Theology and Dallas Theological Seminary. He enjoys reading, music, sports (especially the UCLA Bruins) and spending time with people. His vision and passion includes mentoring leaders, rebuilding churches and teaching the Word of God. He is married to his bride, Jen, and has two wonderful boys. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Christian Ministry & Leadership and Director of the Asian-American Ministry track for the Doctor of Ministry at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, Calif.
Dr. Stan Sonu is an Associate Professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to providing medical care to patients of all ages, Dr. Sonu is the Medical Director for Child Advocacy at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; in this role, he oversees programming for Strong 4 Life, a prevention-based initiative focused on promoting child and family flourishing, and co-directs the Health-Law Partnership, an interprofessional medical-legal collaborative addressing health-harming legal issues affecting families. Dr. Sonu obtained his medical degree at the Medical College of Georgia and did his residency in combined internal medicine/pediatrics at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL. He then completed a fellowship at the Cook County Preventive Medicine and Public Health Program and obtained a Master’s in Public Health at Northwestern University. He is deeply committed to teaching professional and public audiences on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), relational health and resilience in primary care, trauma-informed care, medical-legal partnerships, and health equity.
Beyond any of these titles and activities that fill his bio, Dr. Sonu is a son, spouse, parent, friend, Asian American, and person of faith. He strives to live each day in the reality that his worth is found in his humanity, not his professional or educational accomplishments. In his free time, you can find him
drinking good coffee, reading a book, enjoying engaging conversations, and cherishing quality time with his family and friends.
David C. Wang, Th.M., Ph.D. is the Cliff and Joyce Penner Chair for the Formation of Emotionally Healthy Leaders and Professor of Psychology and Spiritual Formation at Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena, CA, USA). He is also pastor of spiritual formation at One Life City Church (Fullerton, CA) and a licensed psychologist (drdavidcwang.com). His academic and applied work focuses on the holistic formation of Christian leaders, inclusive of the formation of emotional health and resilience alongside the leader’s intellectual and spiritual formation. He also oversees research grants funded by the John Templeton Foundation, Templeton Religion Trust, and the Templeton Would Charity Foundation (on the human and spiritual formation of global and ecumenical Christian leaders; globalformationproject.com) as well as the Lilly Endowment (on mobilizing diverse local congregations to meet the spiritual and mental health needs of trauma survivors).
Register Today
Attend in Person
$40/ ticket
Early Bird Deadline is January 31, 2026
- The above Early Bird price is 33% off of regular price of $60
- In-person session participation at Biola University in La Mirada, CA
- In-person registration is capped at 150
- Direct contact with speakers and workshop leaders
- Lunches, coffee, and light breakfasts included
- Networking and discussion opportunities
- Indefinite access to online event and session recordings via Airmeet
Invite Your Friends
$100/ ~4 tickets
Early Bird Deadline is January 31, 2026
- The above Early Bird price is 33% off of regular price of $150
- Discount for groups of up to 4 in addition to Early Bird discount
- In person session participation at Biola University in La Mirada, CA
- In-person registration is capped at 150
- Direct contact with speakers and workshop leaders
- Lunches, coffee, and light breakfasts included
- Networking and discussion opportunities
- Indefinite access to online event and session recordings via Airmeet
Attend Virtually
$0/ ticket
- Attend sessions live from anywhere in the world
- Virtual networking and discussion
- Recordings available on Airmeet after conference
- Get your church or office together for a watch party (option in registration form)!
- Details on a limited watch party grant coming soon
From Attendees of the 2025 Mental Health Conference
Schedule
All time markers are in US Pacific Time. More details coming soon!
Friday, April 10
Location: Biola University, La Mirada, CA
Time
Session
Presenter
8:00 AM–9:00 AM
Registration and Breakfast (included in registration)
Virtual Lounge and Exhibitor Booths open
9:00 AM–10:00 AM
Plenary 1
“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.
Jessica ChenFeng
10:00 AM–10:30 AM
Coffee Break
Virtual Lounge Discussions
10:30 AM–11:30 AM
Plenary 2
“Church as a Healing Community: Mental Health and Congregational Life”
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”
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.
Sangeetha Thomas
2:00 PM–3:00 PM
Ministry Leaders’ Panel
Ben Shin
Stan Sonu
Sandhya Oaks
3:00 PM–4:00 PM
In-Person Poster and Networking Session
Storytelling Workshop
Virtual Lounge Discussions
Saturday, April 11
Location: Biola University, La Mirada, CA
Time
Session
Presenter
8:00 AM–9:00 AM
Registration and Breakfast
Virtual Lounge and Exhibitor Booths open
9:00 AM–10:00 AM
Workshop 1
“Healing the Asian American Family: Practices for Repairing Generational Rupture”
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”
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
Eunhyey Lok
2:00 PM–2:30 PM
Break
Virtual Lounge Discussions
2:30 PM–3:30 PM
Spiritual Formation Panel
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
The Venue
Andrews Banquet Room
This conference will take place in Andrews Banquet Room, located in Talbot East at Biola University. Many thanks to Biola University for hosting the Asian American mental health conference this year!
Address
Andrews Banquet Room, 13800 Biola Ave, La Mirada, CA 90639
Donate to Support Our Work
We are able to offer registration for free or at a highly subsidized cost thanks to the hard work of the Center for Asian American Christianity and the Asian American Mental Health Initiative. Help us continue to offer valuable content and discussion opportunities by donating to our host organizations!
Apply for the Common Table Grant
A small-group watch party grant by the CAAC for ministry teams participating virtually in the Mental Health Conference.
Organizers
Dr. David C. Chao is the director of the Center for Asian American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary. He teaches courses on Asian American theology and organizes academic programming in Asian American theology and ministry. His research and writing focus on Asian American theology, the uses of Christian doctrine for liberation, the convergence and divergence of Protestant and Catholic dogmatics, and the theology of Karl Barth.
His first book, titled Concursus and Concept Use in Karl Barth’s Doctrine of Providence, is under contract with Routledge. He is grant co-author and project editor for the $300,000 translation grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities to the Karl Barth Translator’s Seminar. He is co-leader of a $250,000 Henry Luce grant project titled “Religiously-Inspired Asian American Coalitional Justice Work.” He is principal investigator of a Louisville Institute-funded project titled “Stories of Faith, Resilience, and Politics: First-Generation East Asian American Christians.”
Chao is a graduate of Yale University (BA), Regent College (MDiv), and Princeton Theological Seminary (ThM, PhD). He is a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Association for Asian American Studies. Chao has a wide range of pastoral experience with Chinese American, Korean American, and Pan-Asian churches and ministries and is an active member of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Read his article “Evangelical or Mainline? Doctrinal Similarity and Difference in Asian American Christianity: Sketching a Social-Practical Theory of Christian Doctrine” here. You can also check out “The 1517 Project and World Christianity: Migration and the Uses of Doctrine” here. This paper was presented at the 2023 Asian American Theology Conference “Multiple Belongings in Transpacific Christianities: Christian Faith and Asian Migration to the US.”
Carissa Dwiwardani is a Professor of Psychology at Biola University and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychology and Theology. A licensed psychologist and board-certified in clinical psychology (ABPP), she earned her PhD from the Rosemead School of Psychology. Her scholarly work and interests include positive psychology, Christian integration, and multicultural psychology. She is also the co-author of The Integration Journey: A Student’s Guide to Faith, Culture, and Psychology (IVP Academic).
