Taiwan Church News
3322 Edition
October 26 – November 1, 2015
Editorial
Taiwan Next, Are We Ready?
The celebration of PCT 150, though, has a good ending in the sending forth service of Tainan Church Day on October 25, our evangelical mission has to carry on for sure. No doubt there will be lots of challenges lying ahead, yet we believe God will lead us through! In the meantime, regarding the impending Taiwan Next, are we ready? It is very likely that the third party alternation is going to happen. Are we ready to face it? When the first party alternation occurred in 2000, we PCT was not ready to address it.
In 2000, when the presidential office was won by the Democratic Progressive Party(DPP), a native party insisting on the values of freedom and democracy since her establishment, PCT did not have a thought about the position where she should stand between her and DPP. So, at some critical issues, we were lost to make a correct decision on the moment of “to be or not to be”. Especially in the Legislative Yuan, where DPP was actually the minority, we were hesitated in our relation with DPP: should we support and stand by her policy? Or, should we keep criticizing the newly-elected government as severely as used to be.
Such PCT hesitation toward DPP suddenly evaporated overnight, when the second party alternation occurred – Kuomingtan(KMT) won a land-slide victory in 2008. Facing this successful revenge of the familiar old enemy, it became easy for PCT choosing to go back to her conventional rhetoric and keep criticize KMT. But, now, the problem is how should PCT address to the political party who has a long term good relationship with her? This is the problem we have to deal with after the celebration of PCT 150. Are PCT ready? Or, are we still lost in the power game and being not able to care for the suffering of the people.
Next, in order to search the identity of PCT, we still have to face the old problem about the structural composition of our church as the small churches with population under 100 account 80% of PCT. For these small churches, the questions, what their characteristics are and whether a unique missionary method could be located to suit them, are critical to forge their own identity, rather than running after the fashion or copying the missionary methods of mega church. Certainly, PCT has own features, advantages and disadvantages. And the problem is whether we clearly understand PCT’s tradition, faith and the social environment of Taiwan? If we could try to locate our own identity in the so-called “small church”? Whether we would commit ourselves to establish the church?
And then, current conflict between official administrative codes and the church laws of PCT needs to be solved. Jointly we have to face many serious challenges, erupted just before Tainan Church Day, that Mackay Memorial Hospital(MMH) may be taken over or her daily outpatient service may be suspended, due to a legal disagreement about MMH’s constitution modification between Ministry of Health and Welfare and MMH. The ideal solution resides in how to make our mission not bounded by the administrative codes, and let our affiliated institutes can comply both the church law and the administrative codes. Never follow the wishful thinking, that once a third party alternation emerges, current stand-off on MMH between the government and the church would be easily gone. Through law-making, we have to find a solution for the legal conflicts between the administrative codes and the church laws.
After our plural expressions of thanks-giving and jubilation for PCT 150, we still have to face kinds of challenges lying ahead. Let us not forget our forebear missionaries’ pioneering spirits, such as “Obedience to Lord” and “Loyal to the commitment”. And Let us take up our cross, speak for the poor and proclaim the peace, joy, justice and hope for the arrival of the Kingdom of God. So, are we ready for Taiwan Next?
