2008 Annual Report
Making the Most of Time
Don Ng, Senior Pastor
The popular saying, “How time flies…” when we are in the midst of a full life applies for 2008. When we are given many items of the same thing, we wonder how on earth will be we able to use them all—a good example might be buying bulk at Costco! So when we start off the year with 365 days, we might say, “How on earth can we fill 365 days of things to do?” In God’s mercies, the 365 days in 2008 were filled with opportunities to participate in God’s world and in the end; we give praise that time did fly by but all in the name of the Lord! We made the most of the time that God gave us!
Sabbatical Time
After serving as your Senior Pastor for the past ten years, you approved a three-month sabbatical program for me to learn, rest, and be with my family. Ever since I completed seminary in the mid-70s, I have wanted to visit Israel, the birthplace of our faith. For four weeks in June, I became a student once again by studying at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem. Along with 28 other students from all over the world, I learned about the geography and context from which our biblical heritage emerged. This was exciting and revelatory. Every day I had my eyes opened. At one point, I was able to recite all of the major historical periods of ancient Israel to the present. Being in the Middle East for an extended time also allowed me to better understand the tragic continuing unrest that exists in Israel and her Arab neighbors. When breaking news happen now such as in Gaza, I am interested and have a commitment to work for peace.
Following my Tantur study, I served as the chaplain for a Holy Land Pilgrimage for 23 people for 12 days in Israel and Egypt. Having spent four weeks as a student, I was happy to be able to share my new discoveries with church friends immediately as we embarked on our tour beginning in Tel Aviv. This again was a wonderful experience visiting many of the sacred and commemorative sites of our Christian faith. One of the highlights was to worship with sisters and brothers at the East Jerusalem Arab Baptist Church where I was asked to share in celebrating the Lord’s Supper and to pray for peace. As one way to share my sabbatical with you, I have developed a presentation on the “10 Things I Learned on My Sabbatical.” Plans are underway to sponsor another Holy Land Pilgrimage in May 2010 and a tour of Paul’s Churches (Turkey and Greece) in 2011.
The other two components of my sabbatical were to understand more about the missionary years of our church from reading missionary letters and to have a family reunion. I was able to organize the copies of letters in our possession for each missionary and began reading them and taking notes of interesting facts and developments. My hope is that I will be able to share some of this rich history with you in the days to come. We were able to spend a week in San Diego with our entire family for a reunion. Having all 5 grandkids in the same room was a delight. Calling up my early years working as a short-order cook, my daily job was to prepare a full breakfast for all 11 of us.
Time of Searching
The Search Committee entrusted with the task of identifying and recommending a candidate to serve as our Pastor of Chinese-speaking Ministries began its work earnestly in the beginning of the year. By spring and early summer, candidates were reviewed and interviewed. And on Oct. 26th using video-conferencing technology, the church membership officially met and unanimously approved the calling of Rev. Peter Wai-Ming Lee to become our new Pastor of Chinese-speaking Ministries. Pastor Lee was on the pastoral staff team at the Kowloon City Baptist Church in Hong Kong specializing in cell group ministry, family ministry, men’s ministry and community outreach. We faithfully believe that God has guided Pastor Lee with his strong gifts and vast experience to serve at our church by bearing bold witness of Jesus Christ as Lord. Pastor Lee begins his new ministry with us on January 1, 2009. Join me in welcoming Pastor Peter Lee, his wife, Lydia and their daughters, Andia and Tiffany to FCBC and San Francisco!
New Worship Times
After careful study and opportunities for questions and answers, the Deacons and the church membership approved new Sunday worship times beginning on Nov. 2nd. The 9:30 English Worship that was meeting at Cameron House became the 9:10 Service combining with the 9:00 English Youth Service. The 10:05 English Worship became the 10:20 Service. And the 11:15 Cantonese Worship became the 11:30 Service. The time changes allow at least one hour of worship time for each service along with a 10-minute transition time. Sunday church school times were also adjusted to fit with the new worship times. For the past 3 months, we have seen continued strong attendance at all three services. English-speaking worshipers now also have the option of worshiping with a praise band at the 9:10 Service or with organ/piano at the 10:20 Service.
Church Family Times
Being a good size church with 3 Sunday services and almost everyone belonging to one of our 20 fellowship groups means that we strive to get to know one another by name and to deepen our unity as the Body of Christ. New in 2008 was the “Live in Harmony,” an all-church music festival on April 12th that featured musical gifts and talents from all facets of our church family. The Fellowship Hall was converted into a venue of warm fellowship and great snacks! The 2009 “Live in Harmony” event is April 25; plan now to come!
The Social Committee with the assistance of the Sojourners Fellowship once again sponsored the All-Church Picnic on Aug. 24th in Sunnyvale and the Thanksgiving Luncheon on Nov. 23rd that attracted record numbers! It’s true that when we spend time breaking bread together (or eating rice), we become one in Christ!
Another development that brings us together is the publication of Chinatown—More Stories of Life and Faith, the second volume of 60 life stories of people whose lives have been influenced by the ministry of our church. Stories collected by James Chuck, pictures developed by Bill Chin and the book designed and copyedited by Joy Shih Ng make a significant contribution to the field of Asian American studies as well as giving testimony to how God is always present with us in the world.
Time and Time Again
The 365 days in 2008 were filled with the weekly or monthly or annual activities and events that make up a good year for the Lord. Our classrooms were filled with City College students learning English and cared for by our Night School Coordinator Nancy Guan. Our summer ministries highlighted with Day Camp, Youth Camp, sport teams, and summer series provided many ways to spend our summer days. Our church home was cleaned up and effectively maintained by the Trustees. Seniors met twice a month for lunch and hearing a good speaker. Sunday Breakfast at Church accompanied by Lanna Coffee was always ready by Joe Chan and his dedicated kitchen helpers. Financial record keeping was of the highest standard monitored by Marian Hom and the Finance Committee. The 2008 Canvass led by Nelson Wong enabled us to faithfully adopt the new budget to serve Christ in 2009. The Deacons clarified many church policies and completed annual staff appraisals. Friday Night School with its emphasis on reaching everyone to know Jesus Christ as Savior was directed by Jane Lam. Moms of young children met on Wednesdays with Pastor Lauren Ng to share about the joys and sometimes trials of parenting. Moa Imchen and Akumla Longchar filled the 9:30 Service pulpit while Pastor Lauren Ng was on maternity leave. While I was on sabbatical, Pastor Chris Otani ably filled the pulpit at the 10:05 Service. The day to day operations of the church of scheduling rooms, ordering supplies, printing up bulletins, publishing monthly newsletters and maintaining church communications have been professionally cared for by Wendy Lin.
We are thankful for the host of dedicated and faithful servants at our church who generously gave their gifts, talents, abilities, and especially their time to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in the world. Without everyone’s help, we would not have accomplished as much as we have in 2008. Personally, I thank you again, the FCBC family for granting me my sabbatical time so that I may continue to serve you with energy, new ideas, and faithful insights in the years to come.
In your hands are the annual reports of the church staff, all church boards, committees and fellowship groups that comprise the ministry of First Chinese Baptist Church. In addition to thanking God for guiding us through 2008 while you read these wonderful reports, we ask you to also pray for our church and its mission in 2009. As we look forward to our 129th year of courageous witness in Jesus Christ, we pray for God to bless us with a strong evangelistic spirit to reach those to know Christ and to deepen our Christian fellowship as one church family.
Thanks be to God that we faithfully have made the most of the time in which God has blessed us!