Demonstrating the significant impact of Asian and Asian American feminist theologians on reshaping theological education and ministerial practice, this single, essential volume brings together four decades of theological leadership, wisdom, and imagination .
Crossing Shores and Horizons examines the development and influence of Asian and Asian American transnational feminist theologies over the past four decades through the work of Pacific, Asian, and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry (PANAAWTM), founded in 1984. Bringing together voices spanning generations, disciplines, and practices, this book provides a comprehensive look at the contributions of Asian and Asian American feminist theologians, faith leaders, and activists.
By combining historical reflection, critical analysis, and imaginative theological insight, this volume demonstrates how Asian and Asian American feminist theologians have reshaped theological education, knowledge production, and pastoral practice. As readers move through each of the book’s four sections, they will find contributions that challenge colonial, patriarchal, and racialized paradigms while offering pathways toward healing, solidarity, and community renewal.
The book begins with a section titled “Trailblazers of Transformation,” which presents oral histories with PANAAWTM’s founding members, including Gale Yee, Kwok Pui-lan, and Rita Nakashima Brock, among others, highlighting the formation of frameworks and mentorship for future scholars. The next section, “Collective Healing and Communal Wisdom,” features chapters that apply transnational feminist theologies to community and global concerns, including intergenerational trauma and ecological devastation. The “Reimagining Theological Discourses” section then explores creative, interdisciplinary approaches to transnational feminist theologies through art, literature, and Christian theological reflection. The final section, “Weaving New Worlds,” focuses on emerging directions, including engagement with public life, peacemaking, and interreligious dialogue.
This intergenerational, multidisciplinary, and multimodal collection serves as a resource for professors, pastors, chaplains, activists, and faith leaders, providing insight into both the origins and future trajectories of Asian and Asian American transnational feminist theologies. Crossing Shores and Horizons offers a rich encounter with voices that have transformed the theological landscape and continue to inspire collective imagination for scholarship and ministry.
Nami Kim is Professor of Religious Studies at Spelman College. She is the author of The Gendered Politics of the Korean Protestant Right: Hegemonic Masculinity and the coeditor of Feminist Praxis against U.S. Militarism and Critical Theology against US Militarism in Asia: Decolonization and Deimperialization. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. She also served as vice president of PANAAWTM and as cochair of both the Women and Religion Unit and the Asian North American Religion, Culture, and Society Unit of the American Academy of Religion.
kristine hyunkyong chong is a spiritual care practitioner (jeong.care), network weaver, and moral injury specialist (cofounder of CAMIR: Collective Approaches to Moral Injury Recovery). They are a board member of PANAAWTM, co-convener of Woori Network, and care-taking council member for Earthlodge QTBIPOC Sangha. Kristine’s formation is in community organizing, coalition building, and accompaniment care (movement chaplaincy and spiritual direction) among BIPOC, queer, immigrant, refugee, formerly incarcerated, maritime worker, survivor, and activist communities. They practice in the Plum Village tradition of engaged Buddhism, Korean ancestral spiritualities, decolonial Christianity, and healing justice care.
Boyung Lee is Professor of Practical Theology at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, where she served as Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty. An ordained United Methodist clergy, she has served as board chair of PANAAWTM ,president of the Religious Education Association, and cochair of the Women and Religion Unit of the American Academy of Religion. Her publications include Transforming Congregations through Community and Embodying Antiracist Christianity.
