Letter from Pastor Steven Chin

Before our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven, He commissioned His followers to make disciples of all nations. In 1961, eighteen brothers and sisters led by Pastor James Tan obeyed this command by focusing on making disciples among the Cantonese immigrants living in Boston. Meeting in a home they started a tiny church, called the Boston Chinese Evangelical Church. Now almost 50 years later, that tiny church has grown to over 1000 people with six worship services in three languages meeting in three different places.

Yet even though BCEC has grown to be one of the largest Chinese churches in the United States, the number of disciples or followers of Jesus Christ among the Chinese in the Boston area is still very small - only about 5%. Though we are grateful for the past growth we have seen, the Great Commission remains very much unfulfilled. There is so much more work to be done. The 95% of the Chinese that are unreached number over 100,000 people in the Boston area. They include new immigrants who speak only Chinese, students from all over the world, teens growing up in a bicultural environment, and senior citizens sometimes living in loneliness. Surely BCEC is in a unique position to witness to the Chinese population of Boston. God has also blessed us in reaching not only Chinese, but non-Chinese family, friends, and neighbors as well. We praise God for this.

BCEC desires to continue to be a healthy growing church for the glory of God. We aim to have worship that is reverent and relevant. We aim to train and develop followers of Jesus Christ in the way they think, feel, and act. We aim to share Christ's love by word and deed to the people around us. It is also important for BCEC to have adequate ministry space to help the church to fulfill these three purposes. The present facility in Chinatown was built 30 years ago for a church of no more than 250 people and is totally inadequate to serve our present needs. We have rented or borrowed facilities for years but there are growth limitations especially with so many people, use restrictions, and short term space commitments.

Chinatown is the center of the Boston Chinese community. Though many Chinese have moved to the suburbs, it is still an ethnic enclave where many Chinese still live and visit. Most Chinese in the Boston area know where Chinatown is and can get there very easily by car or public transportation. Many non- Chinese have also moved into the area.

God has provided an unusual opportunity with the city government where we could stay in our existing building, construct a new building in a great location on the same block, and thereafter swap our land. A new facility would provide the church with enough space to accommodate existing worshippers as well as new ones. It would provide classrooms and meeting rooms for Sunday School, fellowships, and small groups to teach God's word and build one another up. It would provide an opportunity to reach out to the community during the week with recreational, educational, musical, and social ministries to share Christ's love.

Although the city has not given us a precise date when their property will be available, and although our current economy is struggling, we believe that we need to conduct a capital campaign now, in order to respond quickly when the city is ready to exchange properties, and not risk missing the opportunity. If the opportunity to build comes soon, we will be able to show significant funds raised or committed to start the building project. If the opportunity to build comes later, we'll have more time to save for the construction before it begins, thus reducing our mortgage. Either way, BCEC will benefit by conducting a capital campaign now.

In 2011, BCEC will celebrate its 50th anniversary as a church. Our long term goal is to see the percentage of Christians increase from 5% to 50% in the Boston area Chinese. While we believe reaching the Chinese in the Boston area is central to our calling as a church, we desire that all peoples would come to know Christ. We are grateful that even as we strive to reach the Chinese, we can also share with those of a non-Chinese heritage. Let us strive to have a church that is prepared both spiritually and physically to carry out the Great Commission for the next 50 years or until the Lord returns.