Taiwan Church News 3290 Edition March 16 -22, 2015 Ministry News Tokyo Taiwan Church Celebrates Her 90th Anniversary With Guests From PCT, UCCJ And Neighbors Reported by Hwang Yi-lek As the first oversea church of PCT, Tokyo Taiwan Church(TTC) celebrates her 90th anniversary on March 1st. This jubilant celebration has a very special significance for PCT's 150 mission in Taiwan; it means a historic transformation of PCT's role in evangelicalism, changing from passive reception of the gospel into active sharing the good news overseas, has reached an important milestone of 90 years. At 2:30 p.m on March 1st, a thanksgiving service is held at TTC. Many guests are invited to witness this historical moment, including Rev. Lyim Hong-tiong - PCT General Secretary, Rev. Nagasaki Tetsuo - General Secretary of United Church of Christ in Japan, Rev. Tsai Yi-hseen - Former Pastor of TTC, Rev. Fang Lang-ting - President of Taiwan Church Press and some pastors from the neighboring churches. Around 150 people are invited to take part in this special service. The service is divided into four parts, entitled in a chronicle drama as "In the very beginning", "Sailed through a storm of the wind on the lake", "God leads the way" and "Giving thanks". Footage of the church's history is played with the Confession of PCT interpolated in the whole service. Many church members are deeply touched and wept. Rev. Lee Meng-tse, pastor of TTC, gives his sermon entitled as "Challenges from Mission and History". Emphasizing a necessary role of correct teaching during the evangelical mission, Rev. Lee reminds the audience to think again about the crusades stories in medieval church. "If our mission does not care about the correct teaching of faith, what does it mean to bring more people coming into church?", asks Rev. Lee. He says, the great commission of Jesus is not only "Go ye therefore", but also "teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you...". In addition,Rev. Lee raises the famous historical stories of Copernicus and Galileo, persecuted by the dogmatic medieval church but finally got the Pope's apology from the Vatican in 1992 ad 2008 respectively, explicating the true Christian faith has to be reflective and humble in order to stand firm within history. Celebrating the 90th birthday of TTC, Rev. Lyim Hong-tiong brings three presents: table-size cross, program pamphlet for celebrating the 150th PCT anniversary and the Taiwanese learning material «LÂIÒH TÂI GÚ». Rev. Lyim hope TTC members could invite more friends to visit Taiwan and join the events of the 150th PCT anniversary. In the meantime, he hopes the next generation of TTC members do not forget our common mother tongue - TÂI GÚ. Translated by Peter Wolfe |