Jeremy Lin’s sudden emergence as an N.B.A. star has thrilled fans at Madison Square Garden and on the road, generated a torrent of comments on social media around the world and made Knicks fans out of a lot of people who did not follow basketball a week ago. By Sunday, the story of Lin, a committed Christian, had worked its way into church services — notably those in New York with large numbers of Asian-American congregants.

The children of Asian immigrants, like Lin, account for a sizable part of the explosion of theologically conservative churches — catering largely to young, college-educated professionals — in New York City. Many attend what might be labeled second-generation Asian-American churches that have spun off from...