Donald Ng
February 7, 1999
Beginnings
It is a great honor to stand here with you on this special day in the life of our church. With deep humility in my heart, I continue to be amazed over the trust that you have in me to serve as your senior pastor. In high school, I learned a little song that goes like this: “no one is an island, no one stands alone, but each one is a brother or sister to each other.” We do stand together. And the testament of faithfulness that you have demonstrated to me since I have been here reveals that you are a people of God. I believe God is very pleased in what we are doing together in ministry in San Francisco.
Vital Signs
In the five months that I have been with you, there are signs of vitality everywhere!
*When you decided to plant a new church in the Sunset district, this was stressful
and painful. Life-long members of Waverly Place felt that they were abandoning their friends and missing the warmth of the CBC family when they chose to venture out to start a new ministry. Many families realized that they would no longer be able to worship and study together on Sunday morning like before. After one year, the Sunset Ministry is thriving and growing! We have come to realize that friendships and family relationships have not ceased, but perhaps revised and enriched. God has so plentifully blessed us with gifts and talents that they have overflowed our offering plates. We have so much blessings that we needed to share them with new neighbors in the Sunset District where there was no American Baptist witness before.
*The second vital sign is our church now has a membership of 518 members! Thirty-four people joined us in 1998 through baptism, transfer of membership, or Christian experience. God is touching the lives of people and inviting them to join our Christian fellowship. It is great to see that we are growing in numbers because it testifies to the fact that our Christian witness in both words and deeds are more contagious than this year’s flu! Through our lives we are ambassadors who represent Jesus Christ our Lord in the Bay Area. May we also partner with these new sisters and brothers in Christ to make Him known in the world.
*The third vital sign is your generous and sacrificial giving. What you gave in 1998 to United Missions ranks fourth in the entire region of 221 churches. We achieved the goals of 3 out of the 4 annual offerings. And on top of this, we successfully raised over $1,304,000 million dollars of pledges to continue the legacy! Although none of us like to talk about money all the time, it is nevertheless, necessary for creative and vibrant ministries. Your faith and confidence in our church to continue to remain a dynamic ministry into the next millennium are evidence in your gift-giving. Truly, you reflect the teaching of “where your treasures are is where your heart is.” Your heart is with the Lord.
Challenges Ahead
Building on this firm and strong foundation, our church is able to face the challenges
ahead. In the coming years, we see three major challenges:
1. The Self-Governing Status of the Sunset Ministry.
As a church we are very happy to see how our church plant in the Sunset district has developed, matured, and grown in only a year. Under the enthusiastic pastoral leadership of Pastor Larry Jay and the skilled administrative leadership of the Shepherding Staff Team, what was first a church plant is now a viable and strongly rooted church. On December 3 of last year, key leaders from both the Sunset Ministry and FCBC and joined by the pastoral staff met to discuss the timetable when Sunset would become self-governing. Next, we shared this plan with the members of both the Deacons and CE board on January 9 at the annual all-board meeting for their feedback and information. On January 19, we shared this plan with the Sunset Shepherding Staff Team. Today, we are ready to present the timetable plan to you, the whole congregation.
The timetable is printed in your 1999 Church Directory on page Roman numeral xvi. Let me highlight a few steps. First of all, we are planning to have the article of incorporation adopted by this spring. This will officially recognize Sunset as an independent institution from FCBC. As a part of this process, we are drafting a “Sister Churches Covenant” that will lift up the historic and collaborative relationship that we believe reflects the rich and deep appreciation that we have for each other. We know that when a new church is organized, it needs members to carry out the mission. Remember the finger-play. Here’s the church, here’s the steeple, look inside and see all the people! Beginning this summer and onward, Sunset Ministry would invite those who have originally stepped out in faith to plant this church and those who have joined since to consider transferring their membership from FCBC. There will be no hurry to do this if anyone is not yet ready. In fact, it is possible that some may continue to serve their discipleship at Sunset and retain their membership at FCBC. These are all good and possible options. What is more important is that you have a place to minister and serve the Lord.
Although Sunset will be self-governing by this spring, their finances will continue to be managed through FCBC until the end of 1999. These are giant steps that we are taking this year for all those at Sunset and all those in Chinatown. But as a people of God, we know that all is well. The success of Sunset Ministry is largely due to the excellent guidance and faithful nurture of teachers, leaders, and pastors who raised up a whole generation of dedicated church planters. Praise be to God! I hope and pray that in a few years, we may once again prayerfully say to ourselves, “Is God calling us again to spread the Gospel beyond San Francisco to the south bay, the north bay, to the east bay, to the ends of the earth?” And it is going to be challenging once again because we are about God’s business on earth. And as we journey together in doing God’s work, let’s continue to have some fun along the way too.
2. Reclaiming Chinatown for Christ
When you voted to plant a new church in June, 1997, you also voted to continue your mission of being Christ’s light on the corner of Waverly Place and Sacramento Street.
Every day of the week, hundreds and thousands of God’s people come by our little corner to meet friends, learn English, go shopping, visit grandparents, play in our playground, eat at Uncles, or simply hang out. Our facility is constantly being used to teach new friends English and citizenship and how to survive in America. Every time, I see the older women come to study in the mornings, I think about how my mother would have benefited in such an excellent program that we have with City College. At night time, our church home continues to beckon people to come with our lighted signs and displays. Some even make their beds on our stoop. Since God is not finished with his mission in Chinatown, so it is with us.
You will notice that the Deacons and the staff are proposing as the 1999 all-church theme, “Claiming Chinatown for Christ.” Realistically, we all know that Chinatown is a big place and that it will take all the churches in the Chinese Christian Union and every kind of mission-minded organization to work together and then some, to begin to make even a slight difference in Chinatown. And when our Sunset brothers and sisters are on their own, I hope that they will find time and energy to sacrifice their talents and time to partner with FCBC in reaching new neighbors in Chinatown. We also need the help of the Mighty God to lift us up on eagle’s wings to have the power and courage to preach Jesus. We must begin to reach out to our neighbors in Chinatown.
The Waverly Strategic Plan is an excellent affirmation of the importance in revitalizing the zeal of outreach into our Chinatown community. We envision in 1999 to be a time of becoming oriented to the unique and special needs of people and families in Chinatown. We will need to be equipped with information and tools to build connections between our call to serve and both the spiritual and basic human needs of our neighbors. With God’s help and our dedication, we will slowly become acquainted with a new generation Chinese Americans who will become new brothers and sisters in Christ. After a year of orientation, training, and preparing, we are proposing that we begin active programs to our Chinatown community in the year 2000. Just imagine the excitement and the signs of hope as we welcome the new millennium of reaching people in the name of Jesus Christ.
We see that more of our Chinese youth will feel better integrated and involved in the mainstream programs of youth ministry and Christian education. Our children in the Sunday school will become literate in saying common Christian affirmations, such as The Lord’s Prayer in both English and Cantonese. And while more of our English adults are committed to teaching conversational English and citizenship to newcomers, the newcomers’ deep appreciation of what the church has done for them would be a blessing and a recognition to our church members that they are Jesus’ disciples. Jesus taught us that when we are ministering to others, we are ministering to him.
3. Retrofit & Renovations
For us to remain in ministry in Chinatown, we will begin retrofitting and renovating
1 Waverly Place beginning this August. Many of us have seen the model prepared by the architectural firm that shows where the construction will impact our current building. The very helpful ideas and suggestions that many of you made are being considered by the members of the Retrofit Task Force. And where these ideas are possible, we will make every attempt to use them. At the end of the projected five months of construction, we will have a safe building in which to worship, study, and fellowship, a facility fully accessible to everyone, more flexible classrooms, and more efficient office spaces. The challenge here is obvious. We will be busy monitoring the construction work. Our familiar spaces will be off limits for us until after the beginning of 2000.
During this time, we will be worshipping and our children Sunday school and some adult classes will be meeting at the Gordon J. Lau Elementary School, formerly known as the Commodore Stockton School. As you know this is only a short 3 ½ street blocks away. We anticipate this relocation period to be generally smooth; with the exception of initially getting use to a new place. Since our foremothers and fathers were sojourners whose relocation was much more challenging than this one, I am sure that we will face it together very well.
When we are all finish, we will have a renovated, modernized church home that all of us can be proud of. We envision that prospective new members will want to come and join our fellowship because our facilities will also reflect the high quality programs that we are known for. When we clean the outside brickwork, we are planning to install anchors for colorful banners that can be hung outside our church on Sacramento Street. This will constantly serve as an invitation to all who pass by that FCBC is here in the name of Christ. If resources are available after the necessary construction is completed, we are hoping to be able to replace the sanctuary carpet and purchase new pews or chairs.
These are the three major challenges that are facing us in the coming year. But there’s more in what we envision for our future. Some of these may appear to be “small projects,” but together they represent an optimistic and strong vision of God’s plan for our lives. Let me quickly share them with you.
1. As one church and sister churches in 1999, we will be sponsoring a leadership festival on April 30-May 1 that will encourage and train people who are considering serving the church. If you have an interest in teaching or leading, this is an opportunity to explore these skills. You might be interested in singing and joining one of the choirs. You can learn the duties of an usher and what’s involved in day camp. We invite you to attend. There will be an old-fashioned all-church picnic on Saturday, August 21. Following on the huge success of the All-Church Banquet that we had last November, we will have another banquet on October 3rd.
2. At FCBC, the Deacons will be launching a new lay pastoral care program called, “The Care Ministry.” We are seeking 35-40 people who would become “Care Partners” to pray for each person, to connect and relate with members on a year-round basis, and to build up the body of Christ in love and support. We envision this to be implemented this spring.
3. One of the many strengths of FCBC is the enduring Fellowship Groups that serve as places for church members to be known and to know others. These groups can also become effective entry points for new members and visitors to become better acquainted and integrated into our congregation. However, as these groups have solidified their traditions, they can also communicate messages that make newcomers feel un-welcomed. A challenge that we will face together this year is to reorient our wonderful Fellowship groups to become more inviting and permeable to new friends. By doing this, I believe that we will continue to see numerical growth in our memberships.
4. Since the beginning of the year, boards and committees are busily meeting to prepare for this important year ahead. The Deacons have been reorganized for more effectiveness. The Trustees will be posting “work projects” that you and your fellowship group might consider completing. The CE Board is exploring new directions in young adult ministry and older adult ministry. The Finance Committee is developing new procedures to monitor our accounting tasks. The Worship and Performing Arts Committee has met to organize its tasks and to focus specifically on the 10:05 service at this time. And the Social Committee has made assignments to make this the most hospitable church in all of San Francisco!
5. For us to be more friendly and inviting, we will be producing an attractive brochure that would describe who we are, the ministries that we offer, and the excitement that we have as a church. We plan to have these available before the Easter holidays so that you might use them to invite your coworkers and friends to church.
6. It has been my hope that here at FCBC, we will have easily accessible parking for anyone who would like to come to church. When we tell ourselves how difficult it is to find parking in Chinatown, we also communicate to potential church members that we are not accessible or friendly to their needs. When we used to have young children at home, we would be very lucky to make it to church on time. Accessible parking is necessary for young families to consider FCBC as their church. The “no parking” mentality has created a bad image for our church. We must change this. Remember the Tylenol tampering scare that nose-dived sales of a good product? The way they changed this was to change people’s perception of a good product. We have a good product here at FCBC. What better product than the Good News of Jesus Christ! We just need to change the perception that we are hard to get to. I want to float this idea with you. What if we say to everybody that parking is available at St. Mary’s Garage and the church will pay for it? My guess is that most people will still find street parking, and others who do park at St. Mary’s will pay for the parking on their own. But in the end, we begin to change people’s perceptions that we have a good product but it’s hard to get to it. Give us your feedback about this idea. The Deacons will be exploring this idea at their March meeting.
Final Note
As you can see, there is so much to be excited about at Sunset Ministry and FCBC. Many of these ideas and possibilities are the results of your pastoral staff team along with dedicated church leaders’ prayerful discussions on their merits for our church. It has been and continues to be a privilege to work with Pastors Mak, Richard and Larry in the past five months of ministry. They have taught me a lot and of course, there is still much to learn. But with God’s mighty hand guiding our journey together, I believe we can do it
For the past few days, I was in Chicago for an ecumenical church educators event. I met up with many former ABC and ecumenical colleagues who have known me for a number of years. One of them described my appearance as the “Don Ng Look.” They saw me beaming about my new ministry with you. Some started to tell others to go and see how I looked. I told them that there really is life after denominational ministry. I’m beaming and happy because you are a great church. I praise God because I believe that God has called us together to do his work in San Francisco so that Jesus Christ is known. It is in his name that we dedicate all the wonderful and powerful ministries that we had in 1998. Now, let us face the future with courage and faithfulness that “all things, all things in Chinatown, all things in Sunset that are not possible with only our own efforts are all possible with God.”