The Reunion
“It’s so good to see you again!” Martin gives me a smothering hug, and I smother back. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I was here. And God has been so good to each of us. “Well, get in!” he shouts, walking to the driver’s seat. I get in.
As he drives, we sip our coffee and catch up—what has he been up to? How has serving in the church been? How are our friends? Did you hear about Jessica’s kids? Or Shirley’s parents? Or Vince’s job?
New Location
After a few minutes, he gets off the freeway. “I’m so glad that you’re coming back to CGBC. I’m curious about what you’ll think.”
“I can’t wait,” I say.
“A few things have changed around here,” he comments.
And where is here? When I moved away from Sacramento 10 years ago, the church was in the Greenhaven/Pocket area. But I don’t recognize this neighborhood.
“This might be a stupid question, but…did we move?”
He laughs. “Yeah, a few years after you left, the elders recommended moving and getting a bigger place, since we were outgrowing our old space. Actually, we’d outgrown our old space for years and years, but we could never bring ourselves to move. But then we realized that we could reach more people and fight less about space if we moved. Some of us were really attached to the old location, since so many of our founders had worked and prayed so much for that old location. But after a while, people caught the vision and began to work and pray to serve the future, not just enshrine the past.”
“Wow. That’s pretty cool.”
“Yeah, people have really come to appreciate it. Now our visitors can find parking. And we can have services at the same time, instead of rushing services and getting upset with each other if one service goes long.”
We park. And he’s right—there are plenty of parking spaces.
New Name, New Mindset
We walk in and find seats just as the service starts. “Welcome to Community Bible Church, a ministry of and to Chinese Grace Bible Church,” the pastor is saying.
As the pastor reads from Psalm 27, I tug at Martin. “Wait, what did he say?”
He smiles and whispers back, “Let’s talk after service.”
After service, Martin explains, “A few years ago, they rebranded the English ministry as ‘Community Bible Church.’ That’s because they realized that the name ‘Chinese Grace Bible Church’ made it more difficult to reach their non-Chinese friends and co-workers. They were also afraid that the word ‘Chinese’ could subconsciously encourage people to come for the Chinese culture, not for Jesus. And they’ve tried to reshape the culture. For example, we don’t make ‘Asian’ jokes that would make non-Asians feel left out.”
“Woah. That’s huge. And I think I notice some more non-Asian faces than I saw last time I was here.”
“Yeah, there are a few,” he nods. “It’s great to see people inviting their friends. And it’s great that they feel welcome here.”
“That’s great! But why did the pastor say, ‘a ministry of and to Chinese Grace Bible Church’?”
“It’s because a huge reason why the English congregation is here is to serve the Cantonese and Mandarin congregations. The English congregation wants to serve and reach people of all ethnicities—and that includes the children of the Cantonese and Mandarin congregations. And so the pastors emphasize that the English are here to serve the Cantonese and Mandarin congregations.
“The Cantonese and Mandarin congregations realized that the English congregation doesn’t need to stay here, but it stays to serve them. And the Cantonese and Mandarin congregations saw that they should allow the English freedom to minister independently. So they’re okay with the English congregation using a different name, and having a greater emphasis on reaching our neighbors. Some of them took it hard at first, but over time, they saw the need, and their hearts changed.”
“When I left, some people were asking why the three congregations were even together,” I say. “We were slowing each other down and getting in each other’s way.”
“That’s true,” Martin admits. “But if we had separated, we would have just kicked the problems down the road another 20 years. The Cantonese and Mandarin congregations would have the same problems 20 years from now, when another English congregation would arise. So we thought it would serve people better to fix it now, instead of just delaying the problem.”
“That sounds great.”
“Yeah, for a while we said we existed as a church to make disciples, but we didn’t see how each congregation contributed to that. It made a big difference when people realized that. It didn’t change what we did as much as why we did it. I felt like it changed the feel of the place, somehow. We began to see each other not as burdens to be tolerated but as people to sacrifice for.”
New Leaders
“Wow, you weren’t kidding. Things really have changed around here,” I say.
“Yeah, you’ve seen some of the big changes—the building, the name, the mindset,” Martin comments. “But one of the biggest blessings has been the new leaders.”
“Like the pastors? You know, I really enjoyed today’s message. It’s so good to hear such a clear, gospel-centered message, straight from the Bible. This might sound cheesy, but I could actually feel my heart burning with love for Jesus.”
“Yeah, our pastors really have been a blessing. We’re really thankful for the way they’ve been expositing the text and feeding us, and that’s one of the main reasons we’ve been growing lately.”
“That’s wonderful to hear.”
“Yeah, and that’s not all that I was talking about,” Martin continues. “I was also talking about our elders. We trained them for a few years, and then we installed them and transitioned to elder governance. It took them a while to get used to it, and it took us a while to get used to them. But I think they’ve grown in their wisdom and their shepherding skills over the years. And now we’re really thankful for these men who shepherd us and teach the Bible and lead us. The pastors seem pretty thankful for them, too.”
And as we walk out of the church, I think, I could belong to a place like this. I could sacrifice for a place like this. And I could invite others to love and sacrifice with me, too.
The End
Our church has a full history of gospel proclamation; we want to see a future of continuing, increased gospel health.
We want to see a church culture driven by the Word. We want to see a people who know and love the gospel deeply. We want to see a church that makes disciples, not just administrators.
We want to see a people who are held together by the mission of the Word, not by tradition or potlucks. We want to see a people who love each other deeply, across a dizzying manner of demographic divides. We want to see rich, Word-driven relationships and conversations.
We want to see Biblical elders who shepherd the flock by the Word, not shrinking from declaring the whole counsel of God. We want to see a norm of vigorous expositional preaching.
We fear capitulation to the culture. We fear apathy and inwardness.
We want to see a church that is never “relevant” enough to compromise—a church that feels in its bones that Christ’s Church is a pillar and buttress of the truth. We want to see a church that is willing to be labelled “intolerant” for the sake of truth and love.
We want to see a people who carry the Word eagerly, winsomely, and wisely to the outside world, even if that world crucifies them, like it did their Lord.
We would love to be a part of that future.
And we would love you to be a part of that future, too.
Next page: Phase 3 Report