PCT local churches encouraged to add Mandarin worship services

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

3078 Edition

February 21-27, 2011

Church Ministry News



PCT local churches encouraged to add Mandarin worship services



Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

Written by Lydia Ma



Taiwan Theological College and Seminary’s Missions, Research and Development 
Center held a seminar on February 21, 2011, focusing on the theme “Renewing 
Mandarin worship services”, drawing about 50 attendees ranging from pastors to 
elders to laymen.

According to the speaker of the seminar, Rev. Tsai Hsin-sheng from Tachih 
Presbyterian Church, PCT churches that want to grow must embrace diversity, 
which includes, notably, being open to the possibility of adding a Mandarin 
worship service. He underscored that a Mandarin service was a great option 
churches engaged in PCT’s “One-leads-one New Doubling Movement” could seriously 
consider.

Rev. Yang Chi-jen from Ilan Presbyterian Church was invited to share his 
experience in starting Mandarin worship services at his church. He said his 
congregation grew from 152 people in 1999 to 345 people in 2010, and average 
attendance at worship services grew from 155 people in 1992 to 279 people in 
2010.

Yang maintained that a major factor for these increases was the addition of 
Mandarin services at his church and went on to explain how the idea came about 
in the first place. 

He said a few years ago, 3 Aborigine Christians began attending his church, and 
they would sit on the back row every Sunday. When he greeted them one day six 
months later, he asked them if they understood Taiwanese. When they replied 
that they didn’t, he began to refer them to a Mandarin-speaking church in the 
area. 

To his surprise, they replied, “But we are Presbyterians!” It was then that he 
realized Aborigines living in urban areas really wanted to attend PCT churches 
– because they grew up in PCT churches at home – but most PCT churches only had 
service in Taiwanese.

This encounter led Yang’s church to start an Aborigine fellowship and hire an 
Aborigine associate pastor. In October 1997, the church finally added a 
Mandarin service, and membership began to grow steadily from that time onwards.

 

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