wfn.org | Churches celebrate anniversaries with evangelism in mind

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3044 Edition

>June 28~July 4, 2010

Churches celebrate anniversaries with evangelism in mind

>Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan, Chen Wei-chien

>Written by Lydia Ma

Besides holding a thanksgiving service to celebrate a  church’s anniversary, 
church leaders

can now consider adding training seminars and revival meetings to  the list and 
make this

milestone even more meaningful by equipping their members.

That’s what one church in Hsinchu is doing. On June 28, Neili  Presbyterian 
Church held a

revival meeting in the morning followed by a training seminar in  the afternoon 
to celebrate its

40th anniversary. It hopes to promote PCT General Assembly’s  “One-leads-One, 
New Doubling Movement”.

About 200 people participated in these two events combined, or  nearly every 
member of the

church. Neili church also held a thanksgiving service on July 4  and is 
planning another revival meeting on August 22.

According to Neili Church’s pastor, Rev. Peng Chih-hung,  it’s not enough for 
Christians to

celebrate their church’s 40th anniversary behind closed doors  inside a church. 
Christians

should be reaching out instead and bringing people who aren’t  Christians into 
their churches

>during such a special occasion.

Peng added that crusades or evangelical rallies are no longer as  fashionable 
nowadays

because most people prefer intimate, one-on-one interaction, and  genuine 
relationships with

Christians as a means of getting to know Christ.

He underscored the importance of Christians being prepared to  witness in their 
everyday lives

because the seminar only lasts one day and mainly teaches a few  techniques but 
witnessing

must be continuous. For Neili Church members, such witnessing  often takes 
place during

>house visitations on Tuesday mornings.

In related news, Taroko Presbytery celebrated its 50th anniversary  on June 
26th with a

basketball match. During a match, Taroko Presbytery General  Secretary Rev. 
Nangan Tadaw

said his presbytery faces similar crises and challenges as other  Taiwanese 
churches.

Nangan Tadaw underscored that even though the number of families  attending 
church

services remains unchanged, the number of people attending weekly  church 
meetings is steadily declining.

The presbytery hopes that activities planned for its 50th  anniversary will 
reignite passion in the

hearts of many Christians. It will hold a thanksgiving service,  baptismal 
service, and

communion service on July 11 and about 1300 people are expected to  attend. 
There will also

be dance performances, choir performances, a short play, and a few  exhibitions.

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