Ascribe to the Lord
The Year of our Lord 2006 was amazing! Just when we thought that the fanfare and excitement of celebrating our church’s 125th Anniversary in 2005 would be hard to top, 2006 was tremendously memorable. New ministries were started and significant events in the history of the church took place.
World Mission
In January, eight members (Carolyn Hee, Fred Hee, Bonnie Lim, Tommy Lim, Victor Low, Shirlene Leong Nakano, Steven Ng, and Pastor Don Ng) went on a 15-day Thailand Mission Discovery trip to visit American Baptist missions in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Chiang Rai. We visited the oldest Chinese Baptist church in all of Asia, Bible schools that taught students to become pastors in their villages, residential communities for HIV/AIDS infected children and women, economic development programs, and hill tribe villages. As you can imagine, we came back transformed on the importance of supporting and doing missions in the world! Direct results from this mission discovery adventure were: A Day of Prayer for Burma, a July special offering for the House of Love and the New Life Center in Chiang Mai, a visit by Rev. Kit Ripley on the staff at the New Life Center, many reports to church fellowship groups, and the beginning of the Lanna Coffee Project.
While in Thailand, we discovered that if a stable economy is developed in the hill tribe villages in Northern Thailand by the sale of coffee grown as a cash crop, there would not be a need to send girls and young women to work as domestics in cities such as Bangkok where they are at risk for human trafficking. We felt that if we can offer fair-trade Arabica coffee to coffee drinkers here, we can directly stop the tragedies of human trafficking and HIV/AIDS infections. With the approval of the Deacons in the Fall, seed money launched our “Lanna Coffee Project” on the slogan, “Every Sip Saves Lives.” Bags of coffee were available for sale as Christmas gifts and annual subscriptions. This mission project has been very successful; thanks to: Carolyn Hee, Fred Hee, Wallace Choy, Daniel Kushner, Bonnie Lim, Tommy Lim, Shirlene Leong Nakano, Steven Ng, John Tom, Genevieve Yow, and Pastor Don. New members are Laura Pang and Paley Pang.
A first for many years is sending people to the Green Lake Conference Center in Wisconsin. Steven and Anna Ng attended the World Missions Conference sponsored by American Baptist International Ministries where they learned about the overall scope of missions overseas.
Building a Staff Team
At the beginning of the year, we were without a Pastor of Chinese-speaking Ministries. A Transition Team comprised of Derek Chan, Edward Cheng, Wallace Chu, Fernando Kwan, Shirley Ngai, and Che Chiu Yee was formed to carry out a variety of important tasks including 11:15 Cantonese worship and pastoral care. A Pastoral Search Committee comprised of Che Chiu Yee (Chair), Olivia Chan, Charlene Fong, Paul Fong, Luke Kwan, Shirlene Leong Nakano, Kit Wong, and Pastor Don Ng developed and distributed the position description, interviewed candidates, and recommended Rev. Joseph Tsang from Farmington Hills, Michigan to be our new Pastor of Chinese-speaking Ministries. On April 30th, the Church Membership unanimously approved of his calling and he began his new ministry with us on September 1st. We are very blessed to have such an experienced pastor and a dedicated servant of Christ to serve with us. As a church committed to a bilingual, bicultural, and multigenerational ministry in the heart of Chinatown and in the larger Bay Area, Pastor Joseph’s service with us will continue to advance God’s kingdom through our church. After Pledge Sunday on October 22, we held a Service of Installation for Pastor Tsang.
After approval by the Growing Healthy Churches region (ABC) for ordination on May 3rd, another memorable event is the Ordination to Christian Ministry of Pastor Lauren Ng on Sunday, October 1st. The service was attended by many of Pastor Lauren’s seminary classmates and family members from out of town coming to witness her public commitments to the ordained ministry. Pastor Lauren primarily preaches at the 9:30 English Worship that meets at Cameron House and serves as staff to young adult ministries.
2006 Highlights
When we look back at 2006, we would remember highlights that contributed to the mission of the church and enhanced Christian fellowship in our church family when we gathered together as sisters and brothers in the name of our Lord.
*On April 1st, the Say Amen! Gospel Ensemble presented a concert of favorite tunes in memory of Don Jin and to raise funds to attend a music conference at Green Lake, Wisconsin in 2007. This fine production was so successful that an encore performance was held the next day!
*The Gifts Planning Program is providing opportunities for church members and friends to support the ongoing ministry and mission of our church by giving from one’s estate and resources.
*The Social Action Network helped many to become more informed and active in our civic responsibilities by introducing the importance of “clean campaign money reform” in the Fall elections.
*A new fellowship group, Ashira L’Adonai, comprising of English-speaking post-college young adults started with Lawrence Pang and Evan Lessler as their first chairpersons.
*During the year and particularly during one period of the Spring and Summer weeks, we were blessed with the births of a number of babies! What good news for so many families in our church! On any Sunday morning, our Church Nursery is bursting at its seams!
Thanks and Appreciations
Effective ministries in any year don’t just happen without the dedication and sacrificial service of many in the life of a church like FCBC. Our 2006 church theme was “Ascribe to the Lord!” (Psalm 96:7-9) with emphases on worship and discipleship. When we remain faithful in worship to the Lord, we are then able to serve God in our discipleship. From the reports contained in this set of Annual Reports, you will have the opportunity to see how God continues to bless us when we worship God both in word and in deeds.
There are many thanks and appreciations to those who have served God faithfully in 2006. Thanks to Wendy Quan and the Deacons for guiding our church to call our new pastor and to maintain church unity; to Bill Chin and the Trustees for maintaining the church home as it is used for mission to our community; to Wes Chan and the CE Board for providing solid Christian instruction to all ages; to John Tom and the Finance Committee for keeping good accounting of all of our resources; to Jimmy Yee and the Social Committee for always being ready to celebrate and party; to Brenda Choy and the Music Committee for coordinating our fine music ministry; to Laura Pang and the Nominating Committee for identifying the gifts and abilities in our members to serve Christ through our church; to Andrew Yue and Diana Lee of the Canvass Committee for encouraging us to support the annual church budget; and for the many other committees and projects that I have mentioned above. All of these endeavors plus many others help to make 2006 an amazing year of service to the Lord!
I want to express my deepest appreciation to the Pastoral Staff of Pastor Chris Otani, Pastor Lauren Ng, Jane Lam and now to Pastor Joseph Tsang for their devotion and love for God’s people. Thanksgiving to our Church Administrator Wendy Lin for maintaining the daily operations of the church and to our Bookkeeper Marian Hom for making sure our bills are paid. And finally to our Pastor Emeritus, Dr. James Chuck who is always willing to serve whenever he is asked to assist in ministry.
Although the year 2006 is officially over, most of the ministries that were started in 2006 will continue to bear much fruit in the coming years. We ascribed to the Lord in 2006 and we will continue to ascribe to the Lord with glory and strength in 2007! May God bless you and watch over you year after year!