During the week, St. Peter's Vere Street in London's West End is home to Christian Impact, but on Sundays it is fully used by Emmanuel Evangelical Church. This is a young, vibrant and growing international congregation. To find out more about it, John Marsh visited their pastoral leader, the Rev. Chua Wee-Hian.
EN: How did the church begin?
CW-H: Towards the end of 1988, a group of primarily Chinese Christians believed that the time had come to launch a new church that would reach out to students and professionals from ethnic minority backgrounds. This would also be in line with the Lord's mandate to 'make disciples of all nations'. So on January 1 1989, Emmanuel Evangelical Church (EEC) was born. Our dream and vision is to grow into an international church.
International students
EN: Some of our readers know you better as the General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). In what ways has your international background influenced the direction and ministry of EEC?
CW-H: Before I became General Secretary of IFES (1972-1991), I was myself an international student in London. This was way back in the late '50s. My own faith was strengthened through involvement with the Christian Union. I also participated in campaigns that reached out to international students. Later, when I was studying Theology, I discovered that the most effective base of reaching international students was through the local church. In 1959, I was actively serving in the Chinese Church in London. This church started in 1950 but it attracted between 25-30 people each Sunday. Together with other student members, we were studying the Acts of the Apostles and we were wondering why the unusual and powerful work of the Spirit was not evident in our church. In a strange way, God's Word was making a tremendous impact on our lives. So we began to pray together for our non-Christian friends. To our amazement, in 1960 we had the joy of witnessing around 100 students coming to Christ. That made a lasting impression on me as to the grace and power of God and also the importance of student work.
From 1963 to 1991, I was wholeheartedly involved in student ministry. I became the first travelling secretary for the movements in Singapore and Malaysia. Later, in 1967 I was invited by IFES to serve as Regional Secretary in East Asia. My parish became the world when I assumed responsibilities as General Secretary of IFES in 1972.
Some principles that are now in operation at EEC are gleaned from student work; for example, training of lay readers, developing financial support and giving to cross-cultural missions and forging a distinctive identity in serving the will of God for this generation.
EN: What is the strength of your current congregation?
CW-H: We attract around 200 people to our services on Sunday. But we also stress the need for in-depth fellowship where members could study God's Word, pray and care and minister to one another. They do so through eight District Caring Groups (DCGs)and these home fellowships are spread throughout London.
High turnover
EN: Does your church face any peculiar problems?
CW-H: Yes. Like all Central London churches we have a high turnover rate. We lose about 25% of our congregation every year. Since our church attracts professionals and students, a number leave us to return to home countries. This means that we need to have 25% growth per annum just to maintain numbers. This is a challenge. We've also turned this problem into an opportunity. Instead of lamenting our losses, we assume the role of a resource church - training Christians to serve in God's kingdom. The other problem lies in our international image. At present, the majority of members are Chinese from Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. We are working hard at recruiting non-Chinese members.
EN: What are your services like?
CW-H: When we first began, we were fairly traditional and our worship-style was very much akin to that of the free churches. Three years ago, we switched to a more contemporary style of worship and this has really freed us to praise God and sense his presence. We still maintain a 40-minute slot for Bible expositions.
Evangelism
EN: How does your church promote evangelism?
CW-H: We have experimented with various forms of corporate evangelism. For four years, we adopted and adapted the seeker-friendly services pioneered by the Willow Creek Community Church. We find these rather resource-intensive, although they enabled some of our members to be creative in their communication and music. This form of evangelism has also helped us to become more sensitive to the felt needs of seekers.
For the past year, we have been running Alpha Courses and these have been a tremendous 'plus' for young Christians to know more about their faith. At the same time, a number of seekers have joined these courses and they have felt very free to ask questions. A few have become Christians. As part of our strategy for growth, we are now seeking to recruit an evangelist-trainer to join our staff team.
EN: I notice in your welcome folder that you encourage the release and exercise of all spiritual gifts. Does that mean you welcome the use of tongues and prophecies?
CW-H: Our Council members had spent considerable time praying and studying God's Word regarding the use of spiritual gifts. We realised that God had generously poured lots of gifts on his people. In the past two years, we have experienced a deep work of the Holy Spirit and we have come to appreciate the gift of tongues as a prayer language. We may have someone praying in a public tongue, but this has to be interpreted, and both these gifts are occasionally exercised at prayer meetings. We are aware of the misuse of prophecies and the leadership insist on weighing prophecies preferably before they are given. We exhort our members to listen to God and to share words that will edify, encourage and comfort God's people. That's inspirational prophecy. But if there is directional prophecy, i.e. giving specific directives or change of directions, this has to be shared with the elders.
In stressing that gifts should edify and build up God's people, we've certainly benefited from them when they are properly exercised. Some of us have discovered how beneficial the words of knowledge and wisdom are, in many counselling situations. We have also found God's compassion and love have been expressed through gifts of healing.
Word and Spirit
EN: How would you describe the ethos of your church?
CW-H: We continually try to maintain the biblical combination of Word and Spirit. I think it was David Watson who once said: 'When you have the Word without the Spirit, you dry up. When you have the spirit without the Word, you blow up. But when you have both the Word and the Spirit, you grow up.' It has been refreshing for our church with its biblical and evangelical roots to experience the Spirit's anointing on the worship and preaching. It's awesome to see him publicly convicting his people of sin and leading them to repentance and producing a passion for Jesus. This has often led to a compassion for the lost and needy. We co-operate with All Soul's, Langham Place, in a tea-run for the homeless. A former member is working with a Christian relief agency in Malaysia.
EN: Tell us a little about your organisation?
CW-H: We have four to five important congregational meetings a year, when the leaders tell people what is happening. They have the opportunity to say if they have doubts about this or that and we can openly talk about it.
We have two tiers of leadership. First, we have elders and deacons, then we have what is known as the 'church working committee' which is made up of the head of the Sunday school, the ushers and the stewards and other departments - worship, catering (we provide lunch most Sundays). This is a strong committee and the members act as a sounding board when we meet with them every month. They can be quite bold and say we should be doing this, or that this is not very good. We have taken about five years to reach this stage.
Then the deacons and elders meet every Sunday for prayer - this has been the turning-point. When people pray together they find they are accountable to God and accountable to each other, and so we come to decisions. This is before every morning service. For me this is very important. It is very easy for them to look up to me. Whatever I do they back me and it could be just rubber-stamping. But we pray together and people do have the courage to say: 'I don't think that would work for the following reasons . . .' Or they could say: 'Don't go so fast please. You are going much further than the church can follow you.'
Privilege of welcome
EN: Can you share a few things that have encouraged you?
CW-H: As a pastor, my heart leaps for joy when a church member introduces someone whom he or she has just led to Christ. What a privilege to welcome that new believer into God's family. I think of C.G. Four years ago, he was under the bondage of sin and oppressed by evil powers. In October 1991 he committed his life to Christ in our home, and a few weeks later, the Lord evicted demonic intruders. Now he is such a bold evangelist and folks can see the beauty of Jesus in him. To me, C.G. is a wonderful demonstration of God's grace and power.
The other encouragement has been the unity of our leaders - the elders and deacons. This has not always been the case, but two years ago we covenanted to pray together every Sunday morning, and the Lord has just knitted our hearts together. It's great to have a team that pulls together and is accountable to one another.
We are excited over the launching of new Bible Study groups in different languages. This will extend our outreach and is very much in line with our international vision.
