Presbyterian "Meeting Place" becomes "Mother Church" While Still a Child
Taiwan Church News 2824 10-16 April 2006
Reported by Chiou Kuo-jung. Written by David Alexander In the Presbyterian way of going about being the church, there is a classification of congregation known as a "Meeting Place". To organize one, all that is required is a group of people who meet at a fixed place and time to conduct divine worship. Ordinarily a "Meeting Place" is governed and supported by a "Mother Church", which offers financial and human resources support. For that reason, most "Meeting Places" are numbered within the general class of "weak and small churches." They are not very attractive to clergy seeking a call. Wu-jie Presbyterian Church in I-lan county, on Taiwan's northeast coast, presents a different picture. Administratively it is still a "Meeting Place" under the supervision of its "Mother", Lo-tung Presbyterian Church. But from its own resources it now supports the ministry of Gyuto Presbyterian Church, another "Meeting Place" in a Tayal Aboriginal village which, by the time it came to the attention of the members of Wu-jie Church, had dwindled to a membership of 3. With less than 6 months of support from Wu-jie, Gyuto's congregation has grown to 30. Gyuto Church is located in Fuhsing Village of Tatung Township, I-lan County. Originally it was a lively congregation with active participation in Sunday worship, mid-week prayer meetings and musical programmes of all kinds. It was known as a spiritually ardent church. But gradual economic pressure on Aboriginal village life resulted in the out-migration of village residents and families. The entire village now has only 18 homes, not enough to support a full time minister. Without a resident minister, those who remained in the village became lax at attending services, until there only remained three who would gather on Sundays for silent meditation and prayer, calling on God to do something to bring their village and town back to life. Though Wu-jie Church itself remains administratively dependent on a "Mother Church", its pastor, Chen Po-jie, says that its members saw the need of Gyuto Church. Last September they began to support the village ministry through repair and donation of musical instruments and the dispatch of a service team of 9 members to conduct the services there. Life began to return to Gyuto. Pastor Chen encourages believers to get outside of their comfort zones in service, but warns that such an act may bring a person to struggle. He counsels servants to spent time in prayer and to see themselves as soldiers with goals to reach by means of clear strategies. He says that occasions to serve are opportunities to learn and develop skills. Though his own church is still a "Meeting Place", he believes that the necessary resources to go serve are all in place because people are willing to give of themselves. He cites his congregation's finances, pointing out that the income and expenditures have doubled in the past year. With help from Wu-jie, Gyuto Church has come to the point where a minister's salary can be guaranteed, and that little congregation is in the process of finalizing a call to the Rev. Yang Tao-ming, a former moderator of the Tayal Presbytery.
One member of the service team from Wu-jie Church who now serves at Gyuto is himself a Tayal Aborigine. Mr. Dai testifies that after 20 years of wild living in Taipei his originally strong Aboriginal constitution was weakened to the point where he had to walk with crutches. He left Taipei and moved to Wu-jie where he attended a prayer meeting and experience the love and healing of God. Having thrown away his crutches, he now participates enthusiastically in the ministry of his congregation to the small and weak. For more information: Wu-jie Presbyterian Church FAX +886 3 9501390
Tayal Presbytery tayal.batu@msa.hinet.net
Gyuto Presbyterian Church (has no phone)