It really was a great day at Trinity Church, Keelung, as we gathered there yesterday, Trinity Sunday, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Trinity Church and the 10th anniversary of being a parish. Congratulations and thanks be to God!

And guess what, the sun shone! Well for a few minutes, long enough for me to take a photo of the outside of the church, yippee! Keelung, on Taiwan’s NE coast, about 40 minutes drive from Taipei, is famous for its rain, and yes, the rain came back – and by the time we all left about 5:00 pm, it was pouring down. That’s Keelung, rain and more rain! But inside Trinity Church, the sun was shining in terms of laughter, joy and warm welcomes and hospitality. The Thanksgiving Service was wonderful ~ uplifting, joyous and full of smiling people, the Sunday School, the seniors, the choir, the welcome team, those making announcements, everyone was truly happy to be there. The music was lovely, everyone sang so heartily and the choice of hymns and music was great. Thanks be to God!

The rector, Rev. Justin Jun-Ming Lin and his team had gone to great lengths to make sure everything went smoothly, everyone was welcome and everyone was there who could be. And some had come a long way – some of the former youth members had come specially from overseas – from Australia and the USA, while former vicar Rev. David Chee and his wife had come especially from Singapore. Others came from Pingtung, Tainan, Yilan, Hualien, all over the country, all had come back to celebrate and give thanks to God for his many blessings.

There was an exhibition of old Trinity Church photos arranged chronologically, running all the way up the stairs to the floor above, where the actual worship space is located. Many visitors recognised themselves in the old photos. In the afternoon, we gathered in the church to learn about the history of the church, see the old photos on a screen, and there was much delight as they pointed out those in the photos who were there in the church in person; there were lots of oohs and aahs as we recognised some of the names! Some of the clergy gave short speeches about their memories of their time in charge at Trinity Church. Ah, it was great fun!

During the Thanksgiving Service, Bishop Lennon Yuan-Rung Chang shared in his sermon that despite these last 60 years at Trinity Church, Keelung, not all running as smoothly as we might have hoped, there was still much to be thankful for – and to look forward to. Since becoming a parish ten years ago, challenges continue, particularly with the need to be financially self-supporting rather than relying on the diocese. But nothing daunted, Trinity Church has just started a new cooperative project with the local government, serving local elderly people by providing daycare services and classes. Some of the seniors sang during both the service and in the afternoon, the leading lady is 95 and just so lovely!

Bishop Chang encouraged everyone to look back in thanksgiving and to look forward in hope. He said that when he looked around the congregation, at those visiting clergy and clergy spouses, he could see just how much their time at Trinity Church had influenced their lives – the clergy who gave their time and energy to serve there in ministry, and also, he could see how many clergy count Trinity Church as their home church, where they themselves grew up and were nurtured in the faith. The Old Testament reading set for Trinity Sunday was Isaiah 6:1-8, ‘Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”’ This was also the theme of the worship song sung by the Sunday School, ‘Send me, Lord’. As Bishop Chang said, this church has sent out so many people to serve God, sharing the Gospel, spreading the good news. Some have come here for training and been recommended for ordination by Trinity Church, others have had their lives changed through serving here, including many of the visitors below!

And it’s not just clergy, but also clergy spouses ~ at least 4 of our clergy spouses grew up in Trinity Church, of which Bishop Chang’s wife, Hannah is one, Mrs. Pang is another (see photo below). In the early days of St. John’s University, Tamsui (then known as St. John’s and St. Mary’s Institute of Technology SJSMIT), Rev. David Chee served at Trinity Church on Sundays, and during the week, he lectured at SJSMIT. As most of the SJSMIT students were young men, so he would invite the men from the student fellowship there to come to Trinity Church on Sundays for worship, and the Trinity Church youth would go to SJSMIT for outings and summer camps. As a result, the SJSMIT young men got to know the young ladies of Trinity very well, and as Bishop Chang told everyone, he too came to Trinity Church as a young man to court his wife. So he too counts himself blessed to be regarded as a son-in-law of Trinity Church!

Like any great celebration, one of the delights is always the food. In this case, lunch was incredible, everyone had contributed a dish or two, with the rector’s own mother in the kitchen before the service making up a rice dish. The spread was amazing (see the top photo above), and so delicious – and followed later in the afternoon by tea-time.

And finally, as we left, we were presented with a lovely gift and homemade card of Trinity Church – the logo in red 六十 is 60 in Chinese, but the cross (the symbol for 10) has been extended to make it more like a Christian cross. Love it! And as we left, we met up with Rev. Justin Lin and Rev. Joseph Ho ~ Joseph moves to Keelung in August to become vicar of St. Stephen’s Church, Keelung, just a few miles away on the other side of the city. We got photobombed as we took the photo and in the middle is Ms. Shi, Trinity Church senior warden who also featured in many of the early photos, having grown up in the church. Ah, such are the lovely people of Trinity Church, Keelung!

Thanks be to God for his many blessings over the last 60 years at Trinity Church, Keelung ~ and we pray for the next 60 years. YES!