Purpose

The Boston Chinese Evangelical Church is a Bible-believing, non-denominational, local body of believers whose purpose is to glorify God through worshipping God, edifying believers, and sharing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior by word and deed to the Greater Boston Chinese community and the world, as guided by the Bible and the Holy Spirit.

Vision

Because God has blessed us, we strive to be a blessing to the Chinatown community, the Chinese-Asian community, and our neighbors, by sharing the love of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are compelled by a passion for God and a compassion for people, all for the glory of God.

History

The Boston Chinese Evangelical Church (BCEC) was started in June 1961 by a group of 18 founders led by Pastor James Tan. This group shared a common vision for reaching the Cantonese-speaking Chinese in Boston with the gospel. The first worship service was held in a home and later moved to rented spaces around Chinatown. Finally, the church, with about 150 adult members, was able to build its own facility at 249 Harrison Avenue in 1979. Also that year, Pastor Jacob Fung became the senior pastor, in place of Pastor James Tan who was retiring.

The Lord continued to bless the church with growth. As the bilingual worship service was full at 250 people, an English worship service was started in 1983. As the church continued to grow, a branch church was planted in 1985 in Allston. In 1989, a third service held in Mandarin and Cantonese was added. In 1999, a separate Mandarin service was started. Pastor Steven Chin became the senior pastor after Pastor Jacob Fung’s retirement. In 2003, BCEC bought the Newton campus and started English and Cantonese congregations there. The Josiah Quincy Elementary School became available for Sunday rental that same year. The Chinatown English service moved there and then the Cantonese Contemporary service began meeting there in 2007.

BCEC continued to explore physical expansion opportunities in Chinatown. In 2008, Pastor James Tan went to be with the Lord. In March of 2009, BCEC launched the Building a Blessing Capital Stewardship Campaign. Over 600 giving units pledged with a three-year fulfillment period to the Expansion Fund. By the summer of 2012, the Lord opened the door to buy South Cove Manor, a nursing home at 120 Shawmut Avenue which is relocating to nearby Quincy in early 2014. On June 16, 2013, the congregation voted to purchase South Cove Manor. The target date for the closing is in the first quarter of 2014. We rejoiced at the Lord’s provision and continued to pray the Lord’s guidance as we proceed with the purchase and planning in the coming months.

As of today, we are one church composed of six congregations ministering in three different languages,
Cantonese, English , and Mandarin, over two campuses, Chinatown and Newton. Over 1200 adults and children attend BCEC each week. They speak Cantonese, English, and Mandarin. They include Chinese and non-Chinese, who come from Chinatown, local colleges, the surrounding suburbs of Boston, and even out of state. The congregation consists of all ages: infants, preschool, elementary, junior high, senior high, college, young adults, married couples, and the elderly. In the past 52 years, BCEC has served our community with various outreach activities such as community English class, citizenship class, Project Destiny summer camp, and afterschool program. We witness God’s love with deeds. We thank the Lord that He has used BCEC to impact the lives of many people over the years through its many ministries.