The PCT mission mandate is both holistic and contextual. From its very foundation PCT has understood proclamation of the Gospel includes both evangelism and social concern and action; the practice of which is very evident from the efforts of early missionaries, who not only planted churches but also established hospitals and schools, to the current ministries of the PCT. In sharing the good news the vision of the Church embraces two elements, increased number of Christians and the spiritual formation of individuals in their relationship with God, others, self, and creation or environment. Simply put church growth in quantity and quality.

In its Confession of Faith (1985) the PCT clearly states “the Church is the fellowship of God’s people, called to proclaim the salvation of Jesus Christ and to be ambassadors of reconciliation. It is both universal and rooted in this land, identifying with all its inhabitants, and through love and suffering becoming the sign of hope.”

Evangelism – past and present

The PCT’s time of most rapid growth was from 1955 to 1965 when a Ten-Year Double the Church Movement, culminating in the church’s Centenary, succeeded in doubling both the number of churches and the membership. The indigenous churches especially increased at this time.

From 1978 the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan was engaged in an extensive evangelism effort known as the Ten Plus One Movement, which aimed at a 10% increase in communicant membership each year. Although not reaching its numerical goal, noteworthy advances were made: the addition of some 80 churches, 40,000 members; increase in lay-training, literature and fellowship, including a Bible Reading Movement designed to cover the whole Bible in two years.

In 1990 the PCT joined an inter-church Year 2000 Gospel Movement. The PCT individual goal was to reach a membership of 300,000. Through mass media, prison ministry, and traditional methods of evangelism, the Gospel Movement coordinated all participating Churches using identical campaign themes, posters and handouts.

Following on from that effort the PCT introduced the 21st Century New Taiwan Mission Movement with its underlining theme “to actualize the Kingdom of God through building Koinonia.” The focus of this movement is spiritual growth and formation centered on church community projects that enable members to be involved in the life and concerns of their communities in such ways Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation can be attained in Taiwan and throughout the whole world.

Looking to the future as the PCT prepares to mark its 150th Anniversary, and born from a desire to combine the celebrations with a missionary goal and strategy, the One-leads-One New Doubling Movement was launched in 2010. The basic guiding principles of this mission movement are “Identity, Commitment and Growth”.

During the next five years, individuals, congregations, presbyteries and PCT programme committees are all encouraged to engage in proclaiming the gospel and challenged to develop and implement six dimensions of Holistic Mission through their existing networks:

• Proclaim the Gospel
• Nurture God's Children
• Serve with Love
• Transform Society
• Care for God's Creation
• Gospel and Culture

We pray the “One-leads-One” movement will yield a harvest in terms of spiritual growth and numerical growth by the year 2015 when the church family will gather to celebrate.