Hongtiong Lyim, new General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (Photo: WCRC/Greenaway)

On a warm evening in early April, Hong-tiong Lyim sat on a terrace in the shadow of the sacred mountain of the Paiwanese people in Taiwan’s Ping-Tung county and spoke of his plans for the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) when he takes on the role of General Secretary in July. In a wide-ranging interview in his home region, Lyim outlined his key priorities.

Training for mission will be a central feature of Lyim’s tenure as General Secretary. He is keenly aware that Christians form a minority in Taiwan and says his role will be to help the church create programmes that show that “Jesus loves all Taiwanese as he loves all the world’s peoples.” The question, he notes, is how to be “a creative minority in the Reformed church tradition and transform the expression of our faith”.

As the 7th General Secretary, Lyim will assume leadership for a church whose prophetic stance on human and ecological justice issues has earned it the wrath of successive Taiwanese governments and the respect of the World Communion of Reformed Churches to which PCT belongs. He takes over from Te-Chien (Andrew) Chang with whom he served as Associate General Secretary from 2005.

Lyim plans to continue his support for training programmes that began during his term as Associate General Secretary and focus on how to be disciples in a country where Buddhists and Taoists form the largest faith groups. The ordained pastor has received extensive training in identifying and organizing response to social needs. He has certification in urban-rural mission, creative programme design, and conflict resolution from ecumenical leadership formation courses in Germany, Canada and the United States.

As General Secretary, Lyim’s first priority is the church’s plan to increase membership through the “One-leads-One, New Doubling Movement”. The church growth programme is based on a four-step process aimed at attracting new members who are not Christian. A comprehensive curriculum has been published to help reach the country’s Chinese-culture population. It is unique in Asia and already Chinese-speaking churches in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong are asking for it. Next Lyim wants to develop material appropriate for reaching Taiwan’s 14 Indigenous tribal peoples. Lyim hopes that programme will continue until the year 2020. Along the way PCT will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2015.

The General Secretary-elect’s second priority is to resolve internal tensions in the church. Ironically, much of the tension is based in PCT’s success in establishing profitable hospitals, schools and other social services. As these traditional church missions become more and more like businesses, power issues lead to conflict. Lyim plans to resolve these tensions by drawing on programmes he initiated when serving as an associate general secretary. Programmes like “Open Space Technology” and “Third Party Neutral” are designed to encourage creative thinking and facilitate conflict resolution.

Lyim’s third priority will come as no surprise to those who know his commitment to his country and to human rights: he is determined to keep speaking out for the right of Taiwan to self-determination. Lyim wants his country’s people to recognize, respect and claim their identity. It is only in that way he says that they can be assured of their human rights. The ardent justice campaigner knows his country’s history of being colonized by the Dutch, Chinese and Japanese, and believes strongly that it is time for Taiwan to have the right to decide its own future.

Lyim was formally installed as GS during PCT’s General Assembly Annual Convention held 9-12 April in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei. At the time, Lyim told Presbyterian Church News that becoming the General Secretary of the PCT is a calling and a new chapter in his life and that he is aware there will be plenty of challenges in the future. He urged parishioners to work together so that they may accomplish the work God has entrusted them: “doing what is right, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.”