“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

ISSUE 014

These are extraordinary times for the entire oikoumene and a special occasion to extend solidarity and pray for each other.  We know that nothing will separate us from the love of God.  If we trust in God, our paths will be set straight. Here in Taiwan, we give thanks to God for your steadfastness as we take immense solace in knowing that we are supporting each other in prayer.




A full list of the Steering Group members and the PCT Task Force is included at the end of this newsletter.

Steering Group Meeting

The meeting of the TEF Steering Group (SG) was held electronically on July 8 & 9 with a two-hour session each day. The electronic medium felicitously provides the space for members of the PCT TEF Task Force to participate. This is the first time that the entire Task Force could observe the SG proceedings for the duration of its meeting.

The SG welcomed three new members at this meeting:

*Bishop Norman Ruel Marigza, General Secretary of NCC-Philippines
*Rev. Sandy Sneddon, Asia Secretary of the Church of Scotland
*Rev. Dianna Wright, Assistant Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church, USA

Sadly, the SG had to bid farewell to Rev. John Proctor who is retiring from the United Reformed Church and Rev. Michael Jagessar, who is taking up the position of Europe Secretary of the Council for World Mission. The General Secretary of the PCT, Rev. Lyim Hong-Tiong sent a message of special appreciation for their valuable contribution to TEF.

The SG noted with great appreciation that three denominations in Taiwan have taken part in the PCT TEF Task Force meetings this year. At this SG meeting the representatives of the Episcopal Church and the Methodist Church were warmly welcomed by the Co-Convenors who expressed their delight that the participation of other denominations in the TEF had come to pass as it had been the desire of several members ever since the establishment of the TEF. The Roman Catholic representative was unavailable for the SG meeting.  The three representatives are:

*Fr. Liang Fan-Wei, Anthony, Curate of St. John’s Cathedral Episcopal Church
Born in Taichung, Fr. Anthony is a second-generation Christian. He graduated from Ming Hua Theological College of HKSKH with MTh in 2017. He was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Taiwan in May 2019 and serves as an assistant at St. John’s Cathedral, Taipei. He is charged with the Sunday English Service and is also responsible for the youth and student ministry.

*Rev. Liu Tian-Hui, Executive Secretary, Methodist Church 
A fourth-generation Methodist church member, Rev. Liu dedicated his life to God’s ministry at the age of 17 and has been in Christ’s ministry for thirty-five years. After graduating from Southeast Asia Bible Theological Seminary with B. Th., he was charged with the Youth Ministry and was a lecturer on theology in some universities. After receiving a Master’s Degree from a Lutheran Seminary in Taiwan he pioneered a church in a Taipei slum.  A decade later he served as a pastor in Taichung and Kaohsiung for 14 years. Since 2016, he has been the Executive Secretary at Taipei Headquarters and in August 2020 he also served as the senior pastor of Tainan Methodist Church. In February 2019, he was elected as the Clergy President of the Methodist Church of Taiwan。

*Fr. Willy Ollevior has been a member of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Catholic Church. He was appointed by Archbishop John Hung Shan-Chuan to be on the PCT TEF Task Force. He also participated in the first Forum meeting of the TEF in November 2018.

Situation Updates

1. The SG heard a report by Ms. Nancy Lin about the ongoing recovery of the PCT General Secretary, Rev. Lyim Hong-Tiong indicating that there had been a setback.  She asked for continued prayers for him and his family.


2. Vice-Moderator Stephen Hsu Hsin-Te presented a brief report about the PCT interim leadership arrangement. He said that the Acting General Secretary, Rev. Chhoa Lam-Sin, is leading a staff team to manage the day-to-day routine and other emergency requirements. Everything was working smoothly, he said. This management arrangement will continue till a new General Secretary takes his post on July 1, 2021.


3. WCC Central Committee Member, Prof. Yang-En Cheng, presented a paper on the Taiwan situation and the post-election government priorities. If you are interested in the entire paper, please contact Evangelist Li Upeng directly: upengli@mail.pct.org.tw


4.  The Hong Kong democratization struggle was provided by Dr. Tong Wing Sze. General Secretary and Mr. Chan Ka-Wai, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee. If you are interested in their presentations, please contact Evangelist Li Upeng at the email address given above.  

 The SG heard reports from the chairs of the following
     (a) Building Alliances sub-committee (Ms. Nancy Lin)
     (b) East Asia Convocation on Youth, Indigenous Peoples and Women (Mr. Isaac Jiang)
     (c) November 7 Seminar on Empire and the Kingdom of God, Academy for Contextual Theologies in Taiwan (Prof. Ng Pek-Ho) 

The SG recognized the limitations for planning activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. It encouraged the chair persons to continue with the planning, indicating that meeting electronically may be the sole option in the near term. The co-chairs offered their continued accompaniment of the planning for the East Asia Convocation on Youth Indigenous Peoples and Women, originally to be held in Manila at the end of June.

Business Items

「世人哪！耶和華已指示你何為善。他向你索要的是什麼呢？只要你行公義，好憐憫，存謙卑的心，與你的神同行。」
彌迦書6章8節

通訊# 14

普世（Oikoumene）現今正面臨非常時期，TEF與普世夥伴團結並一同禱告。身為有信仰的子民，沒有什麼能使我們與上帝的愛隔離。若我們相信上帝，祂將指明道路。感謝上帝豐盛的慈愛及誠實，我們正為彼此禱告，深感安慰。































執行小組成員及PCT工作小組完整名單載於本通訊末尾。


TEF執行小組會議

TEF執行小組於7月8日及9日舉行視訊會議，會議時間為每日各兩小時。PCT TEF 工作小組成員期間採用電子媒介參與視訊會議，這也是工作小組全體成員首次能參與執行小組會議。

執行小組歡迎3位新成員參與視訊會議：
*Bishop Norman Ruel Marigza−菲律賓基督教協會（NCCP）總幹事
*Rev. Sandy Sneddon−蘇格蘭教會（The Church of Scotland）亞洲區幹事
*Rev. Dianna Wright−美國長老教會（Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ）助理書記

遺憾的是，執行小組要和兩位成員道別，一位是即將從英國聯合歸正教會退休的John Proctor牧師，另一位則是即將擔任WCC普世教協歐洲部幹事的Michael Jagessar牧師。PCT總幹事林芳仲牧師特別感謝他們對TEF的寶貴貢獻。

執行小組非常感謝，台灣另外三個教派一齊參加今年的 PCT TEF 工作小組會議。此次執行小組會議上，TEF兩位召集人熱烈歡迎聖工會及衛理工會代表，也提到其他教派能共襄盛舉是一件美事。這也是 TEF 自成立以來的期望之一。美中不足是天主教未能派代表出席執行小組會議。三個教派與會代表簡介如下：

*梁凡偉神父，台灣聖公會聖約翰座堂助理神父
梁凡偉牧師生於台中，是第二代基督徒。他於 2017 年畢業於香港聖公會明華神學院，並獲頒神學碩士學位。2019年5月獲任命為台灣教區神父，並在台灣聖公會擔任聖約翰座堂助理神父。主要負責主日英語敬拜，有時也負責青少年及學生事工。

*劉天惠牧師，中華基督教衛理公會總會執行秘書
劉牧師是衛理公會第四代會友，17歲即致力於神的事工，至今已有35個年頭。劉牧師從東南亞聖經神學院畢業，獲神學學士學位後，負責青年事工，並在大學擔任神學講師。在臺灣信義神學院神獲得碩士學位後，於台北較貧困區域開創教會。十年後，復往台中與高雄擔任過14年的牧師。2016年起，他擔任臺北總部執行秘書，2020年8月兼任台南衛理堂主任牧師。2019年2月，當選為中華基督教衛理公會牧職會長。

*Willy Ollevier神父是天主教聖母聖心會成員。洪山川總主教任命Willy Ollevier神父為PCT TEF工作小組成員。他於2018年11月參加TEF的第一次論壇會議。


最新情况

1. 鄭明敏老師回報PCT總幹事林芳仲身體近況不佳，請大家繼續為他及他的家人祈禱。

2. PCT副議長徐信得回報PCT臨時管理層的安排。他表示代理總幹事蔡南信正帶領一組團隊管理總會日常的例行工作與其他緊急需求，一切工作都很順利。此管理模式將持續到2021年7月1日新任總幹事上任。

3. 普世教協中央委員鄭仰恩教授發表一篇關於臺灣局勢與選後政府工作重點的報告。如對此篇報告有興趣，請與李宇平傳道師聯繫：upengli@mail.pct.org.tw。

4. 香港民主化的過程分別由香港基督教工業委員會總幹事湯泳詩及主任陳家偉報告。如對此篇報告有興趣，請與李宇平傳道師聯繫：uupengli@mail.pct.org.tw。

執行小組所成立的三個工作小組報告：
a. 拓展TEF普世聯盟及社會團體 − 鄭明敏老師
b. TEF青年、原住民及婦女研討會 − Tjanuabk Ljaljegean（蔣記剛）傳道師
c. 「帝國與上帝國研討會」，台灣處境化神學學術研討，11月7日 − 黃伯和教授

執行小組瞭解COVID-19大流行導致規劃受限，並表示近期內的活動將以視訊進行。TEF共同主席表示將一起合作籌備原定於6月底在馬尼拉舉行的「TEF青年、原住民及婦女研討會」規劃會議。


研議事項

1.已更新SG成員名單。

2. TEF的未來走向：SG鼓勵核心小組繼續協商及找尋TEF未來的可能性。核心小組之成立以便與TEF共同主席進行協商。核心小組成員包括：Chris Ferguson牧師、Collin Cowan牧師、蔡南信牧師（PCT代理總幹事）、徐信得牧師（PCT副議長）、鄭明敏老師（PCT普世關係委員會成員）、Sudu Tada牧師（執行幹事及前PCT議長）與徐望志教授。

3.未來會議的日期。 將使用Doodle 建立視訊會議時間調查表，查詢您2020年11月能參與的時間。

如您有任何疑問，請隨時與徐望志教授聯絡，電子郵件 chivongtze@gmail.com