宗教信仰对美国华人移民的认同与整合作用--俄勒冈州塞勒姆华人福音教会考察札记

摘要

本文是笔者在美国西俄勒冈州立大学访学期间，对当地塞勒姆华人福音教会所做的为期近一年的个案跟踪和考察实录。通过对华人教会的结构和功能的观察和思考，笔者认为，华人教会不仅是美国华人敬拜上帝的精神家园，也是美国华人移民社团，特别是大陆、香港和台湾两岸三地同胞之间，重建认同和归属感的整合桥梁和纽带。同时，海外华人教会，对于提高华人移民在白人为主体的美国社会的族群地位和社会影响，无疑也具有重要而积极的作用。%This article is a case study report on a one -year observation and inspection to the local Evangelical Chinese Church of Salem, Oregon, during the author’s study as a visiting scholar in U.S.Through observations of and reflections on the struc-tures and functions of local Chinese churches , the author holds that Chinese Church , besides the spiritual home of American Chi-nese immigrants to worship God , also serves as an important spiritual bond to reconstruct identity and belonging among Chinese immigrant communities,especially for immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mainland China.Meanwhile Chinese Church plays an important and active role in helping increase Chinese immigrants ’ community status and social influence in the White -dominated American mainstream culture .