January/February 2013 Newsletter
New Times for a New Year
2013 is a brand new year for us to begin doing some very new things! When we hang up a new wall calendar or begin using our new desk planner or discover how challenging a simple task like writing the new year on our checks is, we are reminded that God has blessed us with another 365 days to live faithfully or another 52 Sundays to give praise to the Lord in worship.
Making New Year resolutions is a fun way to tell others and ourselves that we will strive to do better when God has given us a brand new year to try. Sometimes we fail and other times, we are excited that we succeeded. Beginning in 2013, you will have an opportunity to resolve that the new Sunday morning schedule at FCBC is going to be welcomed by you to participate fully in the life and mission of your church.
After a thorough discussion by many groups in the church and by a significant majority of the membership voting to change our Sunday morning hours on November 4, 2012, the new hours will begin on January 6, 2013. The worship services are:
10:00 English Worship led by Pastor Visal Sok, YMCA
10:00 Cantonese Worship led by Pastor Peter Lee, Sanctuary
11:20 English Worship led by Pastor Don Ng, Sanctuary
The new schedule allows each service to be 1 hour and 10 minutes long so that more worship would be more creative.
The Sunday school classes for children, youth and adults will meet both prior to and after the services. Full details of assignments will be posted in the newsletter, bulletins and on the church website.
While the Old Testament speaks about keeping the Sabbath holy which in the Jewish practice is Saturday and while in the New Testament, we see that the church celebrates the bread and cup of the Lord’s Supper, there is actually little biblical commandments that requires us to have worship only on Sunday mornings. In 1 Corinthians 16:1-3, Paul reminds the church to put aside offerings on the “first day of every week,” but this is not a requirement as much as a teaching. The point is that what we do as far as our Sunday morning schedule is concern, is not sacred but rather finding the best way we may come to worship and study the Word of God.
The new Sunday morning schedule will allow us to have more creative worship experiences, more manageable Sunday school hours led by our dedicated and talented teachers, and maximizing the available space we have at both the church building and the YMCA. We hope that you will agree!
It’s a brand New Year! All of us will be making changes in our Sunday morning activities and I pray that you will make a New Year resolution that we will remain united and committed to the transformative ministries of FCBC because God is continuing to make everyone new once again including you and me!
Pastor Don Ng
SF New Parking Meter Rates
Christian churches located in major cities have often benefited from the fact that parking meters are not enforced on Sundays. In yesteryears, businesses would be closed on Sundays which we know has not been the case for some time. In response to business interests and the need for San Francisco to generate additional revenue, the SF Municipal Transportation Authority will activate parking meters on Sundays beginning at 12:00 noon and ending at 6:00 PM beginning on Jan. 6, 2013. We have learned that with the conveniences of debit/credit cards and the use of change, one can arrive at a meter on Sunday morning, pay the meter for up to 4 hours of parking without having to go back and feed the meter. Let’s say, you arrive at 9:00 AM to attend worship at 10:00 AM. You plan to be at church and Chinatown until 3:00 PM. At 9:00 AM, you can pay the meter in advance for those 3 hours once the meter is activated at 12:00 noon. In same cases, paying the meter may even be less expensive than parking at St. Mary’s Garage.
As a church we have survived 2 catastrophic earthquakes in our history and we are still faithful and growing in our ministries. We believe that facing activated parking meters on Sundays will not discourage or prevent us from carrying out God’s mission in Chinatown and in the larger Bay Area. It will take a lot more to stop the Good News of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed at FCBC!
New Sunday School Classes
Add a Sunday school class to your Sunday worship time. Beginning in January, you have many choices of classes to expand your Bible knowledge, deepen your spiritual life, and to live out your faith in daily living. For the English congregations, choose from:
- Bible Study on Christian Disciplines—Don Lam, Robert Mah, et al
- Parenting for Young Couples: Everything You Want to Know to Becoming Successful Parents—Pastor Don Ng
- Book Study: How to Talk to God When You Aren’t Feeling Religious, by Charles Merrill Smith—Butch Chan
- Bible Study on the Book of Genesis—Pastor Emeritus James Chuck
- Current Events from a Christian Perspective—Wes Chan, et al
- Treasures from the Blue Hymnal: A Tour of Sacred Music Through the Ages—Joy Shih Ng
Check times and locations for these new classes when you come on January 6, 2013 or the church website. The Cantonese congregation worshiping at 10:00 also has relevant Sunday classes for you to attend.
New Year Launch
After electing new officers, board and committee members on Dec. 9, 2012, the new church leaders will gather to launch the 2013 new year on Saturday, Jan. 5, 8:30-12:00. We begin with coffee and tea and hearing about the 2013 annual theme: “E-F-G”—Evangelism, Fellowship, and Go! In 1 John 1:3, we read, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” We invite persons to believe in Christ and we engage in fellowship in Christ and with one another. Together, we go into the world valuing our past and eagerly open to God’s plan for us in the future. Boards and committees will meet to organize their work, set meeting dates and pray for opportunity to serve Christ at FCBC. If you are a 2013 church leader, plan to attend.
Mission Opportunities
When God calls you into mission, the only response is to follow Christ. Ivy and Emerson Wu are a well-settled couple doing their jobs, having raised up their young adult children, and actively serving their local church in Ohio, when God came knocking at their door to leave everything behind and to go to Macau. The Wus have sold their house already and are now identifying supporters and prayer partners in order for them to reach out to the young people in Macau with the message of hope that working in the gambling industry is not the only way to be serving God.
On Sunday, Jan 13th, Ivy and Emerson will be peaching at all three services to give a testimony of their call into foreign missions. Come and witness God’s powerful influence on the Wus’ lives and who knows, you may be the next person God is calling to serve him faithfully in the world!
2012 Annual Meeting
Every year on the first Sunday of February is the church’s Annual Meeting when we reflect on how God has been working in our lives and through FCBC to prayerfully help make the reality of God’s Kingdom on earth as it is already in heaven. You will hear exciting developments that occurred in 2012, celebrate our financial stability, hear the State of the Church report, remember loved ones who have returned to the Lord, and to receive the new church directory. The 2012 Annual Meeting is on Sunday, Feb. 3, 1:30.
MMBB Offering
Many Baptist pastors and missionaries who have served a lifetime in ministry discover that they have not earned enough during their years of service to retire with grace and decency. The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board (MMBB) assists these faithful servants by providing necessary subsidies and care. In January, we receive the MMBB “Thank You” offering which is used to give a “Thank You” check to retired Baptist servants at Christmas time. Special envelopes are in the Sunday bulletins but you can also make a gift by sending a check written to “FCBC” but noted in the memo: “MMBB.” Your gift will be acknowledged in your next quarterly giving statement. Thank you!
Family News
Our deepest sympathy to Tommy Lim and Jimmy Lim in the passing of their mother, Jean H. Lim on Nov. 3, 2012 and to Barbara Lym Wong in the passing of her father, Raymond S. Lym on November 6, 2012. We celebrate the long and productive lives of these friends and pray for comfort and encouragement for these families.
Rev. Ben Chin celebrated a lifetime of faithful ministry from the 21st Avenue Baptist Church in San Francisco on Nov. 24th. May God continue to use his gifts and talents for ministry in the years to come!
Pastor Don Ng served on the panel at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco on Dec. 12 to share how FCBC is leading others to become better stewards of our natural world by reducing global warming. When we installed energy-saving lighting and linoleum floors in our seismic retrofit project in 1999 and more recently installing 81 solar panels on the roof of our church, we have become a leading congregation in modeling for others what “congregation power” is all about. This meeting of the Commonwealth Club is available online and on radio broadcast.
On Dec. 16th, we welcome 6 new members into our church: Believers Baptism—Lindsey Sok, Monica Tsin, Jennifer Young, and Carlton Zhou; Transfer of Letter—Jenny Hu and Betty Yang. On Nov. 4th, we also welcome Pastor Visal Sok from the Transfer of Letter into our church membership. Welcome into the Christian family and we look forward to serving with you in the many years to come!
Congratulations to Karina Wong and Roberto Moggia on their marriage on Nov. 10th in Italy and celebrated with their San Francisco friends on Dec. 29th. May God continue to bless them with joy and happiness!
January
1 New Year’s Day (H)
5 All-Church Leaders, 8:30
6 Beginning of new Sunday hours
10–Visal
10—Peter
11:20—Don
Land of Luther, 1:30
8 OYYAs
12 Men’s Fellowship
13 10—Ivy & Emerson Wu
10—Ivy & Emerson Wu
11—Ivy & Emerson Wu
16 Staff Meeting, 10:00
19 Sojourners
19 Women’s Fellowship
20 10—Visal
10—Peter
11—Don
CCU Dinner, 5:00
21 MLK, Jr. (H)
27 10—Visal
10—Peter
11—Visal
February
2 OYYAs
3 10—Visal
10—Peter
11—Don
Annual Meeting, 1:30
6 Staff Meeting, 10:00
10 Chinese New Year
10—Visal
10—Peter
11—Don
12-13 Staff Retreat
17 1st Sunday in Lent
10—Peter
11:20 Joint English—Don
Music Committee, 2:30
23 Sojourners
24 10—Visal
10—Peter
11—Don