PCT conference examines critical roles and goals of Church and Society Committee in a multicultural

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

3085 Edition
April 11-17, 2011

General Assembly News



PCT conference examines critical roles and goals of Church and Society 
Committee in a multicultural society



Reported by Sam Lee

Written by Lydia Ma



PCT General Assembly Church and Society Committee held a conference in Tainan 
on April 6-7, 2011, on various issues. Some issues have dominated recent 
headline news, while others have been long-standing issues of concern for the 
PCT.

“The Church and Society Committee is the gateway between the church and the 
masses. So, it’s only right for it to take special interest in intercultural 
issues and demonstrate God’s justice and love through its involvement in such 
issues,” said Committee Chairman Rev. Chen Ching-fa.

The conference included seminars on topics such as gender equality, urban-rural 
missions, non-violent defense, inter-ethnic marriages, opposing the Kuokuang 
Petrochemical Plant proposal, opposing nuclear energy policies, etc. 

The main speaker for this conference was Dr. Albert Lin, a renowned scholar and 
member of Justice Action Church, and his presentation centered on “non-violent 
resistance” in the 21st century. Lin cited examples all around the world, 
including recent ones such as Egypt, Tunisia, etc. and attributed the cause of 
these clashes to the disparity of wealth between the rich and the poor that 
gave peasants in these countries much to be bitter about. He concluded that 
these countries needed more democracy, justice, human rights, and freedoms as 
they became more multicultural.

Asked as to why the PCT should learn “non-violent resistance”, Lin answered, 
“because we have a big goal, which is to build a peaceful, sovereign, and 
independent country. We must build a new country and we cannot fail!”

Besides learning about “non-violent resistance”, many new and young 
Presbyterian clergy also learned about important PCT programs and methods, such 
as urban-rural missions, open-space technology, and third-party neutral.

One Church and Society Committee member, Rev. Lee Hsiao-chung, commented that 
churches ought to never stop thinking about being on the same side as common 
people and that was why URM must never leave its grass-roots.



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