About

When I was called to full-time ministry at Urbana 1981, I never imagined that God would take me on a journey into graduate studies, theological education, academia, and ministry. It has been a tremendous privilege to equip seminary students, rub shoulders with religious, theological, and historical studies faculty, and co-labor with Asian American pastors and church leaders!

I am now the Co-Executive Director for New College Berkeley (since January 2022) and continue to serve as Pacific Area Director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Graduate and Faculty Ministries (GFM) (since 2018).

New College has served Christians in the Bay Area and beyond by offering programs, classes, conferences, retreats and seminars that integrate faith with everyday life since 1977. Going forward, my Co-Executive director, Craig Wong, and I envision New College as a “third space” for the next generation of Jesus followers to reflect and rebuild their faith for the sake of God’s shalom in a Post-Christendom America.

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GFM is strategically placed to cultivate a Christian worldview among tomorrow’s leaders and innovators. Indeed, the 3,025,000 graduate students and 1,500,000 faculty on U.S. campuses that we are reaching will make a tremendous impact on industry, politics, the university, and the church. In short, we are called to catalyze student and faculty movements to become salt, light, and leaven for God’s Kingdom.

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As Pacific Area Director, I have been tasked to strengthen existing chapters and plant new grad and faculty ministries on college campuses across Northern California, Northern Nevada, Southern Oregon, and Hawaii. Together with GFM campus staff, we equip graduate students and faculty in friendship evangelism, spiritual formation, community building, and service rooted in biblical social justice/responsibility. Also, we support the integration of faith, learning, and practice. We are committed to reaching out to international students and empowering Black, Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and women students and faculty in their endeavors.

We live in a time of great uncertainty in our world and deep division within the American church. But I still believe that Christianity, when lived out by disciples who are well-rounded and deeply-grounded in their faith, can be a positive force for our common life and a source of healing for our broken world. If you share this conviction with me, please consider being my partner at InterVarsity and New College Berkeley! Join my team of prayer intercessors, volunteers, and financial supporters! Email me at timothy.tseng@intervarsity.org or timtseng@newcollegeberkeley.org.

If you are ready to make a contribution to this ministry, go to:
bit.ly/givetoiv-timtseng

Wishing you God’s peace, justice, and joy!
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Tim Tseng 曾 祥 雨 Ph.D.
Pacific Area Ministry Director, Graduate and Faculty Ministries (InterVarsity)
Co-Executive Director, New College Berkeley

When people ask about me, I say that I am a….

I was most recently Pastor of English Ministries at Canaan Taiwanese Christian Church in San Jose, CA (2010-2017) and Executive Director and Founder of the Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity [now Innovative Space for Asian American Christianity](2006-2011)

At Denver Seminary (1994-1996), I started my ministry as a theological educator as Assistant Professor of Church History. I then served as Assistant Professor of American Religious History at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School  (1997-2000). My last full-time faculty position was as Associate Professor of American Religious History and Director of the Asian American Center at the American Baptist Seminary of the West [now Berkeley School of Theology] (a member school of the Graduate Theological Union) between 2000-2006.

I  received my Ph.D. in American religious history and Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York (1994 and 1987).  During this time I was a Youth and Associate Pastor at the Brooklyn Chinese Christian Church [now Brooklyn Chinese Community Church] (1986-1992) [ordained American Baptist Churches – June 11, 1988]

My academic interests center on Asian and Asian American religious history, Asian Christianity, race and religion in United States, the Chinese Diaspora, American religion, and theology of cultural engagement. I’ve written for several journals and books, including

  • The Future of Evangelicalism in America
  • Columbia Guide to Religion in American History
  • Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology
  • Honoring the Generations: Learning with Asian North American Congregations
  • Realizing the America of our Hearts: Theological Voices of Asian Americans
  • Revealing the Sacred in Asian and Pacific America
  • Women and Twentieth-Century Protestantism
  • The Social Gospel Today
  • New Spiritual Homes: Religion and Asian Americans.

At the core of my calling is a desire to equip leaders (in particular, Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders) for congregations, community, and society. Since supporting local church ministry leadership has been at the heart of my life work, I have designed resources for those who serve in these ministry settings, such as the Asian American Christianity Reader and the “Five Cries of Asian American Young Adults Today.” In 2005, I facilitated the publication of “Asian American Religious Leadership Today” on behalf of the Pulpit and Pew Project.

I also volunteer for the Healthy Church Leaders Initiative of the Asian American Leadership Center (healthychurchleaders.wordpress.com), a ministry that supports professional church leaders who serve in Asian American contexts through Peer Coaching, continuing education, and mentoring emerging Asian American church leaders. I’ve been an Affiliate for the Asian American Center at Fuller Theological Seminary since 2016.

For a complete list of my publications, look at My Publications page. Some of my leadership resources can be found on the ISAAC blog site.