A statue of Amita Buddha stands in front of Chua Quan Am, a meeting place for several hundred Vietnamese   refugees and a small number of American converts.  Vietnamese refugees founded the group in 1989, and six years later members dedicated the temple, which is now a cultural bedrock of the local Vietnamese community.  There are approximately three hundred members, of whom about 90 percent are first or second generation Americans of Asian descent.  On most Sundays about fifty members attend the regular worship service.  That service is led by the recently installed monk, and it includes chanting Buddhist sutras in Vietnamese.  Adults and children pay homage to the Buddha in separate services, both of which are conducted in Vietnamese.  Following the children's service, a Vietnamese "Youth Group" gathers.  There adult members educate the children in Vietnamese Buddhist culture.  The temple features Buddhist theater productions, which are performed by the children and highlight the Buddha's life and teachings.  Children also benefit from weekly Vietnamese music and language instruction at the temple.  In these and other ways, Chua Quan Am tries to pass on Vietnamese traditions in the new cultural context.
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