Church leaders suggest ways to mark Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

United Church of Christ leaders are encouraging people to mark May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. And they are suggesting a wealth of resources churches can use.

One is a recent UCC video available on YouTube. “#StopTheHate — A Call to Prayer and Action” featured leaders and voices from the UCC’s own Pacific Islander & Asian American Ministries.

Produced in April, the video includes a half-hour worship service. It features a call to worship and scriptures read in seven of the many languages spoken in UCC PAAM churches: English, Samoan, Japanese, Tagalog, Cantonese, Hawaiian and Ilocano. Recent increases in violence against people of Asian and Pacific Island heritages are addressed in the service and in presentations that follow it.

“The United Church of Christ national setting honors the Asian Pacific Heritage Month with deep gratitude for the ministry and witness of PAAM among us,” said the Rev. Traci Blackmon, associate general minister for Justice and Local Church Ministries. She also suggested using resources found at this web page, managed by the Library of Congress and other government partners, “to expand our awareness of the origin of this commemorative month.”