As long as anyone can remember, it was \u201cJames Chuck\u2019s Church.\u201d Why wouldn\u2019t it be when James grew up as a child living in a building across the street from the church? He attended youth group here. When he was in seminary, he served here as the youth pastor. And when the church sought a full-time English-speaking pastor to minister to the growing population of second-generation Chinese-Americans, James Chuck answered the call. In 1955, James became Senior Pastor and retired from this position in 1991 to begin another ministry in theological education at ABSW for the next 15 years. All in all, Dr. James Chuck served the First Chinese Baptist Church as a pastor for 40 years! Upon his retirement, our church honored James with the title \u201cPastor Emeritus,\u201d the first and only one granted in our 127 years of history. There\u2019s no mistake that this is \u201cJames Chuck\u2019s Church!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a brief tenure of another pastor who followed James, the church extended a call to me as the Senior Pastor in 1998. When I announced my departure from my 20-plus years with American Baptist Educational Ministries, most people expressed best wishes to serve at \u201cJames Chuck\u2019s Church.\u201d Church studies suggest that successors of persons with long pastorates and especially legendary ones usually are met with great challenges. While I am grateful for the pastor who was my immediate predecessor and borne much of the congregational effects of grieving the retirement of a long-pastorate, I was aware of the type of situation I was about to enter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although I would never pretend to be in the same category of being a famous prophet, the relationship that Elijah and Elisha had has mirrored the relationship James Chuck and I have today. After Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven, some of the people wanted to look for Elijah thinking that he may just have been thrown on some mountain or into some valley (2 Kings 2:16). The followers of Elijah wouldn\u2019t believe he was gone. I am sure when James Chuck retired, the congregation found it was hard to believe that to be so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a pastor who succeeds a long pastorate and a legendary one at that, it\u2019s important to recognize and share in the congregation\u2019s appreciation and celebration of that pastor\u2019s ministry. Bestowing on a pastor the title, \u201cPastor Emeritus,\u201d is a significant event in the life of a church. It means that after a long and successful ministry, our church honored James Chuck with a title that corresponds with the position he had when he was serving actively. No wonder this is \u201cJames Chuck\u2019s Church!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our historic church located right in the heart of San Francisco Chinatown continues to grow in membership as well as in program ministries. My responsibilities as the senior pastor consume substantial amount of time working with a multiple staff, supporting church administration, and providing worship and pastoral care. When there\u2019s so much work to oversee, every pastor should have a pastor emeritus. Endowed with credibility, James Chuck is able to assist me and our church in a variety of ways. He fills the pulpit when I am away on a retreat. He performs funerals for those whom he has known over the course of many years. Like a past president, he is often an appointed emissary to carry out special projects. When my own history doesn\u2019t go back that far, I can remember with the help of James back to 1955. We list \u201cDr. James Chuck, Pastor Emeritus\u201d in our Sunday bulletins as well as in all of our church publications. By valuing and welcoming our pastor emeritus in the life of the church, we continue to be blessed with the gifts and talents of a faithful servant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the moment, it\u2019s appropriate to think that this is \u201cJames Chuck\u2019s Church.\u201d It\u2019s truly a blessing and a privilege for me to serve a church that has witnessed the faithful servant of a long pastorate and a legendary one at that. I have learned from James\u2019 ministry and no doubt will continue to do so. And today, I am thankful to have such a humble and gifted colleague on our church staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We may know that this is \u201cJames Chuck\u2019s Church\u201d for this present period in the history of our church, but we all know that our church and all churches who proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord that First Chinese Baptist Church is ultimately Christ\u2019s Church. In the long history of Christendom and in the 127 year history of our church, we are all merely a small part in the long revealing of God\u2019s reign in the world. While we may be tempted to believe that we are in the right place at the right time and the right person here for the job, we are still only a small part of God\u2019s wondrous work that we have been granted the privilege of participating in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Elisha enabled the healing of Naaman, the army commander who was inflicted with leprosy, Naaman wanted to show his gratitude by giving Elisha an appreciation gift. Elisha refuses the present and says, \u201cAs the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing!\u201d (2 Kings 5:16) As pastors, we are apt to see our successes as of our doing. To a certain degree, our efforts have led to good results and perhaps even long tenures. But in the end, our ministries are for the Lord who lives and to whom we serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, I am thankful and privileged to serve at First Chinese Baptist Church that is also fondly known as \u201cJames Chuck\u2019s Church.\u201d Every pastor should have a pastor emeritus and a legendary one at that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rev. Donald Ng is the Senior Pastor of First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco, California since 1998. He served on the national staff of American Baptist Educational Ministries (Valley Forge, PA) in areas of youth ministry, conferencing, curriculum development and Asian American Christian education. He grew up at the First Baptist Church of Boston and is a 1975 graduate of Andover Newton Theological School, Newton Centre, MA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As long as anyone can remember, it was \u201cJames Chuck\u2019s Church.\u201d Why wouldn\u2019t it be when James grew up as a child living in a building across the street from