Taiwan Church News 3869 Edition 20 ~ 26 April, 2026 Weekly Topical Stand United to Love Jesus and Team Taiwan Reported by Lin Yi-ying from Changhua The 71st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) was held at Changhua Christian Hospital from April 21 to 23. Invited by the PCT General Assembly, President Lai Ching-te gave his thanksgiving to PCT for its commitment to social service and Taiwan security. He stressed “the theme of PCT General Assembly in 2026 – ‘Stand United to Love Jesus and Team Taiwan’- is not only a goal, but a solemn pledge to serve and engage in daily lives, and it call us to stand united and work for a better tomorrow.” In his speech, President Lai paid tributes to the PCT’s vibrant and holistic ministries, like speaking out for justice, making our society more resilient and many more. He hoped that PCT could carry on its key to support the government with its outstanding experiences in serving the public in the fields: like civilian defense training, basic infrastructure safeguarding, natural disaster prevention and first-aid response. “In a highly connected world, facing more and more complex geopolitical changes, all countries are on the same boat and no one can claim safe unless peace could be shared by all. To protect Taiwan’s national security and regional peace, Taiwan government will continue to promote the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience, i.e. from civil defense system and infrastructure safeguard projects to the improvement of emergency evacuation and etc, in order to improve Taiwan’s first-aid response to disastrous events,” he said. To forge a resilient spirit of “self-help, mutual support and communal aid,” President Lai requested PCT help local government train community citizens and church members with disaster prevention know-how and first-aid techniques to facilitate local communities learning procedures to help each other under emergency. As current disaster prevention officers across Taiwan has exceeded 110,000 persons, President Lai also thanked PCT for its commitment and action to protect Taiwan society through faith, spiritual care and social services to build a more resilient Taiwan and make the country a promised land of security and peace. After his speech, President Lai received blessings and prayers of more than 600 pastors at the assembly and accepted a glass beads art paintings named as “All Peoples and Tribes Stand United to Team Taiwan” presented by the PCT General Assembly. Attended by 568 representatives and 51 senators, a total of 619 members attended the annual meeting of the PCT General Assembly. In addition, 33 honored guests from 13 ecumenical churches and institutes from the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, New Zealand, the Marshall Islands, Wales and Tualu were invited to witness the annual event of the PCT General Assembly. As 2026 is named by PCT as “Annum of Institutional Mission”, Rev Philip Peacock, general secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), was specially invited to deliver a special speech in PCT general Assembly. Meanwhile, to facilitate the evangelical ministry, the PCT signed a contract with the Tuvalu Church. In the opening service, Rev Pan En-sheng, moderator of the 70th PCT General Assembly, preached with the title of “Become Completely One”, encouraging the audience “no matter where we go, we must serve and act for the glory of God as it is the PCT confession to glorify God and facilitate the people with goodness. He specially gave his appreciation to all members of the PCT standing united in kinds of events celebrating the 160th anniversary of the PCT’s mission in Taiwan. “‘Becoming completely one’ is a task to learn from Jesus, just like Christian unity is a witness to the Christ as the corner stone of our faith. We shall humbly learn the truth in daily lives, love each other and seek to live in Christ as first priority. Not only we shall cooperate with each other for good, but also to remove the barriers lying between the enemies and us. Let us work hard to find out the solution, stand firm on justice, and strive hard for the vision.” “The pastors and elders shall not to be self-righteous or self-isolated in church ministries, but to put the mission above individuals and forge solidarity above personal-interests,” he encouraged the assembly, “we shall endeavor to transform our church members into an intimate team with cohesion and dream, which can cultivate fellowship, share ideas, educate each other, engage holistically in service, in order to fulfill the mission.” In the opening service, 42 PCT pastors and missionaries, who had passed away since last May to February 2026, were commemorated. These honorable and respected brothers and sisters included: Rowland Dean Van Es, Wendell Paul Karsen, Elizabeth Jean Brown, Virginia Hermann Thelin and etc. After the liturgical sessions of the Eucharist and offering, pastors interceded for the PCT affiliated institutes, hospitals and schools. The opening service of the 71st PCT General Assembly was designed by Rev Lin Yi-chuan, director of the Church Music Committee under PCT General Assembly. She arranged many hymns related to PCT’s affiliated institutes, hospitals and schools from the Holy Hymnal(edition of 2009), to showcase these institutes’ missionary significance of “Team Taiwan”. Many Taiwanese hymns were also sung in opening service to remember the missionary history and remind the participants that the Great Commission would carry on in the church, the affiliated institutes and each one of us! Translated by Peter Wolfe |