The Taiwan Episcopal Church has a new priest and a new deacon ~ Thanks be to God! YES! ❤️

Congratulations to Rev. Shawn Yen-Hsuan Wang 王彥軒, ordained priest, and Rev. Emily Yu-Lin Cheng 鄭喻璘, ordained deacon by the Rt. Rev. Lennon Yuan-Rung Chang, Bishop of Taiwan, at St. John’s Cathedral, Taipei on Monday February 24, 2025, St. Matthias Day! Yes, thanks be to God!

Over 200 people came to the service, which started at 7:00 pm, and each received a service booklet from the ever-smiling St. John’s Cathedral Welcome Team. It was cold, 13°C all day in Taipei City with a drizzly cold front, brrrrrr, but it was an extra-warm welcome in the cathedral…

The service was also live-streamed…. 

Rev. Samuel Ying-Chiu Lin, former dean of St. John’s Cathedral, preached the sermon, and the readings were given by Ms. Setu Hsueh and Mr. Josh Lu. Both Shawn and Emily were recommended for ordination by Rev. Lily Chang (now archdeacon, so officially her title is ‘the Ven.’ though she tells me she still prefers to be titled ‘Rev.’) and St. James’ Church, Taichung, who booked a coach to bring their choir and church members to the service from Taichung.  St. James choir sang a beautiful anthem during the service, conducted by Rev. Lily Chang.  This is the group from St. James… 

The liturgical colour for St. Matthias Day is red.  So red it was.  Everyone loves red for an ordination! 

Congratulations to Shawn and Emily – and please pray for them and their lives and ministry. Here they are with their families at the ordination service…

Both Shawn and Emily did their theological training at the diocesan Trinity School for Christian Ministry (TSCM), mostly online and mostly during the pandemic. Emily studied at TSCM throughout her pregnancy, and after the birth of baby Enoch, she and her husband, San-Yuan did the childcare between them – so little Enoch is an honorary graduate of TSCM too!  He was there at the ordination service surrounded by his loving family. 

Since his TSCM graduation, Shawn has been running our new Hsinchu Mission on Taiwan’s west coast, about halfway between Taipei and Taichung. Hsinchu is home to the Hsinchu Science Park, famous for its 300+ high-tech companies, including TSMC – the world’s largest independent semiconductor foundry. It’s a booming high-rise city with lots of young professionals and huge potential for outreach and church planting. The Hsinchu Mission is a church plant under St. James’ Church, Taichung, and rector Rev. Lily Chang. Previously, Hsinchu and Taichung were part of the Taiwan Episcopal Church northern deanery, but since January 1, 2025, they have become part of a new central deanery, which stretches south to Chiayi, and Lily Chang is serving as archdeacon for the central area, appointed for the next 2 years. Many from the Hsinchu Mission were at the ordination service to witness Shawn’s ordination as priest…

Since the Hsinchu Mission officially opened on Saturday November 4, 2023 (see that report here), located on the second floor of a cake and dessert shop, the ministry has been growing steadily, and there is now a viable congregation each week of 15-20 people, plus visitors from our other churches. A group from the congregation sang at the ordination service, conducted by Shawn, it was all very moving!  

Shawn was ordained deacon by Bishop Chang at St. James’ Church, Taichung on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, St. Joseph’s Day (see that report here). In that report also, I introduced Shawn by quoting from an article he wrote a few years ago – do read it there for the longer version. A summary: “My family comes from Taitung, on Taiwan’s SE coast, and that is where I was born in 1991 and grew up, in a family of 5, with a younger brother and sister. We are a Christian family belonging to the Bunun tribe, one of 16 indigenous tribes of Taiwan. The indigenous people of Taiwan are mostly Christians, thanks to the efforts of early missionaries. Raised as a Baptist, I first encountered the Episcopal / Anglican Church when I went to university in Taipei, where I studied Social Work and Anthropology. I was drawn by the beauty of the liturgy and the inclusive spirit of Anglicanism, and, before my graduation, I received confirmation.”  As a student in Taipei many years ago, Shawn worshiped here at St. John’s Cathedral, Taipei, which also recommended him for his seminarian training, so we are all pleased that his ordination as priest could take place here. This is the St. Joseph’s Group from St. John’s Cathedral at the ordination service with Shawn; one of them, Josh Lu read the lesson, and a group of them also sang a beautiful anthem during the Holy Communion, Ave Verum Corpus by William Byrd.

Shawn’s parents came to the ordination service from Taitung, it’s quite a journey! Here they are with Shawn and Bishop Chang…. 

Also at the service were a lot of Shawn’s clergy friends from all different denominations based in the Hsinchu area.  We had a group photo with all clergy, and here they all are, almost too many for my photo! 

The funniest story of the day concerned Fr. Willy Ollevier CICM, RC priest from Belgium serving in a church in Banchiao, Taipei, who has been in Taiwan since 1971.  Earlier in the day on Monday, Shawn was in the RC bookshop, and met Fr. Willy, who, seeing an enthusiastic young man interested in theology, asked Shawn if he was interested in becoming a RC priest.  Shawn replied that he was about to be ordained that very evening – as an Episcopal priest, and invited Fr. Willy to come along to the service, so he did!  Shawn tells me he is currently living at the Hsinchu Lutheran Seminary, and the visitors attending the ordination service included Rev. Chen, dean of the seminary, and a few other Hsinchu friends too…

Emily’s home church is Advent Church, Tamsui on the campus of St. John’s University (SJU), Taipei, where her father was a professor of Electrical Engineering for many years, and later dean of general affairs. I’ve known them all since I moved to SJU Chaplaincy office in 2007, they are such a lovely family, and very lively!  Emily’s mother is one of 3 sisters at Advent Church, and when they all get together, there is never a dull moment!  This is the Advent Church group at the ordination service…

Emily’s father continues to work at SJU even in his retirement, while Emily’s mother is head of the RC Church Kindergarten in Jinshan on Taiwan’s northern coast.  Emily has 2 brothers, one older and one younger, and was baptized as a baby, and then aged 13, was prepared for confirmation by then rector, Rev. Lennon Yuan-Rung Chang, now bishop. When she was 18, Emily attended a Christian meeting and recalls how as she was filled with the Holy Spirit, God touched her deeply with his love, calling her to serve him in mission – a calling she has faithfully followed ever since.  In high school and university, her main subjects were all in the field of design, skills she uses widely in her work and ministry.  After graduation, Rev. Lennon Y. R. Chang welcomed her to join him as a member of the SJU Chaplaincy team, leading student outreach ministry, and also serving as Sunday School Supervisor at Advent Church. Her good friend and colleague in the SJU Chaplaincy office, Setu read the lesson at the ordination service, and many of the SJU students who she mentored and supported through the SJU student fellowship came to the ordination service… 

Later Emily served for two years on an international mission training program in Germany, and after her return from Germany in May 2020, she applied to the Taiwan Episcopal Church to join the diocesan internship program for a year to discern her call to ordination. She spent 6 months at Good Shepherd Church, Taipei, then 6 months at St. Peter’s Church, Chiayi, before starting her full-time training as a TSCM seminarian. Lots of us commented that she is a real natural at an ordination service, every photo of her shows her beaming with such a happy, joyful expression!

Emily met her husband, San-Yuan, a sound engineer, through her mission training in Germany, and they were married in October 2021 at Advent Church (see the report here) in the middle of the pandemic – when everyone had to wear facemasks except the couple themselves. Their first child, Enoch was born in October 2022, and she is expecting her second child in June. San-Yuan is fully committed to childcare and the family are very much loved and all involved in ministry.  They currently live at St. James’ Church, Taichung, where Emily is helping to develop the children’s ministry, and serving as curate under Rev. Lily Chang.  Do pray for her as she starts her ordained ministry in the Taiwan Episcopal Church!

More photos of the ordination, firstly before the service:

During the service…

After the St. James Choir sang, the ordination followed….

The Sharing of the Peace – and Anthem from the Hsinchu Choir…

Holy Communion – the offering was brought up by Shawn’s father and Emily’s father, then the St. Joseph’s Group Anthem and the blessing…

And finally….

Congratulations to Shawn and Emily and to all the Taiwan Episcopal Church ~ and thanks be to Almighty God! ❤️

PS The Taiwan Episcopal Church has a new Facebook page and Instagram account, please follow them for more photos from the cathedral and diocesan paparazzi – and here they are! 😂😂