St. John’s University Student Fellowship 聖約翰愛的團契送舊晚會 2016 Farewell Party!

‘So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye’ ~ to all our lovely graduating students! Last night was their farewell party in Advent Church, organised by the SJU Student Fellowship group ~ YES! We have 13 or so of our student fellowship graduating, and most of them came last night, the boys in suits, everyone very formally dressed.  One of our 4th year students, Yi-en, is currently in San Francisco on a student exchange program, so she participated via webcam, and as it was the early hours of the morning in California, she kind of laid there in bed watching us all … Continue reading St. John’s University Student Fellowship 聖約翰愛的團契送舊晚會 2016 Farewell Party!

Wow, such an amazing day! JJ 廖健均 & Anny 蔡昀臻’s Wedding @ Advent Church!

And the first ever wedding reception in our newly-finished-and-about-to-be-opened-next-weekend brand new Advent Church Centre ~YES! It was a beautiful sunny weekend for a very special wedding ~ always helps to have good weather for the tossing of the bride’s bouquet, and this time it was perfect! And the lucky girl was so happy! In fact everyone was so happy ~ and much due to the Tsai family, ah, they are so much loved by us all! Mr. 蔡秉桓 Tsai Bing-Huan is one of our most mature and active members of St. John’s University Student Fellowship ~ he’s just great, so polite, … Continue reading Wow, such an amazing day! JJ 廖健均 & Anny 蔡昀臻’s Wedding @ Advent Church!

Mother’s Day @ Advent Church ~ Taiko (豐收擂鼓 Lei-ku) Drum Performance!

We have a new group at Advent Church learning Taiko Drums 豐收擂鼓班 and after only 2 months of lessons, this is their first public performance ~ for today’s Mother’s Day Service at Advent Church! Has to be said that those at this end wished I’d been filming the others at the other end ha ha ~ but it was fun at this end!  I found it impossible to keep up with them the one time I tried ~ so a wonderful performance from them all! Continue reading Mother’s Day @ Advent Church ~ Taiko (豐收擂鼓 Lei-ku) Drum Performance!

St. John’s University, Taiwan ~ Annual Celebration!

Today is the day!  On this day 49 years ago, April 26, 1967, the Ministry of Education officially notified ‘St. John’s and St. Mary’s Institute of Technology’ SJSMIT, (the original name of St. John’s University, SJU) that they could start to recruit students for their brand new 5-year junior college courses. The school dates its foundation from that day, and many of the original first intake of students are still active in the SJU Alumni Association today. Bishop James C. L. Wong was the first Chinese Bishop of Taiwan (from 1965-70) and his vision was to establish a successor institution … Continue reading St. John’s University, Taiwan ~ Annual Celebration!

北海岸聯合詩班頌讚暨聯誼 Amazing Choir Festival @ Advent Church!

Scattered around here and further along the coast are several small churches with amazing choirs, and yesterday Advent Church was packed for our first choir festival ~ YES! The main inspiration for the choir festival came from our church members, Sheng-Feng and his lovely wife, who between them seem to be related to, or friends with, everybody in every choir in the whole area!   Choirs were invited from Sanzhi Presbyterian Church, Dan-Nung Bunun Church, Advent Church and the Teachers Choir from TamKang High School. During the choir introductions, Sanzhi Presbyterian Church said that unlike most Presbyterian Churches in Taiwan … Continue reading 北海岸聯合詩班頌讚暨聯誼 Amazing Choir Festival @ Advent Church!

St. John’s University Student Fellowship Sunday

It’s the end of April, and every year St. John’s University holds it annual university celebration day ~ held at this time around the anniversary of the accreditation of the school by the Dept of Education, and the death of the university’s founder, Bishop James C. L. Wong.  He died on April 27, 1970 and is buried under the altar in Advent Church.   Yesterday was the St. John’s University Student Fellowship Sunday, the service was mainly led by the student fellowship members, and offerings go towards that ministry. Wonderful ~ and the baby loved it so much he went to sleep! Continue reading St. John’s University Student Fellowship Sunday

Good Friday 受難日‬@ Advent Church

A few highlights of our lunchtime service at Advent Church today…. The sermon took the words of John 18: 37-38… “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 彼拉多問:「真理是甚麼?」Pilate asked, ‘What is truth?” ‘‎真理‬'(zhēnlĭ) ‘‎Truth’‬ ‪~ the Chinese characters … Continue reading Good Friday 受難日‬@ Advent Church

Reconciling the World with God: Holy Week and Easter Reflection

It’s Maundy Thursday, and there’s an air of anticipation in our chaplain’s office here at St. John’s University as our students get ready for the service tonight ~ many have volunteered to take part in the foot-washing, and they’re excited! Excitement in Holy Week?! OK, it’s also the birthday of the leader of the student fellowship, and they’re all trying to keep their plans secret, but he knows something’s afoot and, well, we’ll just wait and see what happens! While I was in the UK last year, I was given a copy of the CMS publication, ‘365 Days of Yes’, … Continue reading Reconciling the World with God: Holy Week and Easter Reflection

棕枝主日‬ Palm Sunday 2016 @ Advent Church

Palm Sunday 2016 ~ and now the start of Holy Week! Yesterday at Advent Church, a procession with palms around the church stopping for a few seconds at each Station of the Cross, and then a drama of the events of Holy Week during the Gospel reading…. At the end of of the service, our rector Rev. Lennon Chang encouraged to do less of 3 things and more of 3 others during this coming Holy Week ~ less talking, less eating and less watching TV, and more confessing of our sins, more praying, more reading the Bible….. So wishing y’all … Continue reading 棕枝主日‬ Palm Sunday 2016 @ Advent Church