The Lived Theology and Race Workgroup
Timothy Tseng
Associate Professor of American Religious History (American Baptist Seminary of the West). B.A. (New York University); M.Div. (Union Theological Seminary, NY); Ph.D. (Union Theological Seminary, NY).
Prior to his appointment, Professor Tseng served as Assistant Professor of American Religious History in the Sallie K. Crozer Chair at Colgate Rochester Divinity School/Crozer Theological Seminary and as Assistant Professor of Church History at Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary.
Tseng's current research interests center on Asian American religious history, Asian Christianity, race and religion in North America, the Chinese diaspora, American evangelicalism, and Baptist history and polity. His dissertation, Ministry at Arms Length: Asian Americans in the Racial Ideology of Mainline American Protestants, 1882-1952 (Union Theological Seminary, May 1994) received the Dissertation Fellowship from the Louisville Institute for the Study of Protestantism and American Culture. Professor Tseng had the good pleasure of studying under the late James M. Washington at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, who was the leading authority in Black Baptist history.
Tseng's calling is to equip and support persons who are called into service for Christ and His Church (especially within the Chinese, Asian Pacific American, and American Baptist contexts). He has served as associate minister at the American Baptist related Brooklyn Chinese Christian Church in New York City and as Associate Staff for Chinese Ministries with the American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York. He is currently the President of the Asian American Baptist Caucus and serves on the American Baptist General Board and the Board of Managers of the American Baptist Historical Society.
Professor Tseng identifies himself as a "progressive" or "post-conservative evangelical," having had formative experiences with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, evangelical Chinese churches and Christians Supporting Community Organizing. Before coming to California, he and his family worshiped at the Rochester Chinese Christian Church where he preached regularly. He is married to Betty Shek Tseng who is the Director of Development of Partners in School Innovation in San Francisco. Both grew up in New York City and now live in Castro Valley, California with their two boys: Nathaniel (9) and Benjamin (6).