Chinese Chinese congregations in the United States have the following general characteristics. They are mostly evangelical-ecumenical. This feature is probably related to the fact that no major denomination, mainline or evangelical, has predominated in the evangelizing and congregationalizing of Chinese. In addition, the Communist persecution has forced the Chinese in mainland China to agglutinate into a united church body. Denominational lines, therefore, are not that important to Chinese.
Pastoral leaders circulate from denomination to denomination depending on convenience.
A significant consequence of this feature is the potential lack of denominational loyalty by some Chinese congregations. Another characteristic of Chinese congregations in the United States is that they are lay-governed, managed. In the U. S. there is always a scarcity of Chinese pastoral leaders. As a consequence they must be imported from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia. A further characteristic of Chinese enclaves is that their leaders seek the highest theological education level attainable.