From the Pastor's Desk

by Pastor Peter Kim

Friendship Presbyterian Church Developments

In recent weeks, Friendship held a members meeting to discuss the latest happenings at our church. It was an exciting time as each member of the Session stood up to share different aspects of the direction of our church. The two main ideas shared were a restatement of our vision and the further expansion of that vision.

Restatement of Vision for FPC

First of all, the Session announced a restatement of the vision of the church. The previous vision statement was succinct and simple to remember. Many people for many years were inspired by the vision. However, the Session wanted to restate the vision to keep the essence of the previous vision but also to be more specific about our target and what exactly we hope to do. The new vision statement is as follows:

"FPC exists to see the international community of Taiwan experience gospel-renewal for the glory of God in Taipei and beyond."

Our values are that we strive to be "Gospel-Centered", "Kingdom-Minded", "Love-Demonstrating", and "Community-Oriented."

Allow me to briefly explain the vision.

1. The "International community" describes our target. It includes all foreigners and locals who identify themselves as a part of the international community of Taiwan and who seek to know the Lord using the English language. It also includes the word "community" to emphasize the importance of communities experiencing gospel-renewal, which is another way of speaking about the need for church plants.

2. "See [people] experience gospel-renewal" is the work we are involved in. We are not just seeking a growth in knowledge about the gospel but a deep understanding and trust in the Lord Jesus displayed in the gospel where a person experiences being born again. It makes the gospel the central focus and motivation of all that we say and do.

3. "For the glory of God" explains the ultimate purpose of anything and everything that we do. We do not seek that Friendship Presbyterian Church become famous, but that the Lord Jesus Christ become famous.

4. "In Taipei and beyond" gives the locale of our vision. We hope to see our vision carried out in the greater Taipei City area and eventually beyond Taipei.

Further Expansion of Vision

In seeking the gospel-renewal of the international community of Taiwan, we realize that Taipei is much more than just the international community. Therefore, there is a need to plant churches that will reach out to the different local communities within Taipei so that each community would experience gospel-renewal. This led to the development of Friendship Church Network International (FCNI).

FCNI is a non-profit organization which is in the process of being established to see communities around the world experience gospel-renewal for the glory of God.

Practically speaking, we hope to see more church plants and parachurch ministries developed to help in this effort starting in Taiwan and with the possibility of expanding beyond Taiwan.

Since the meeting, it has been exciting to see that we have over 50 people signed up to be initiators of this new non-profit organization. Currently, we are in the process of submitting the application to the government.

Please partner with us in prayer as we seek to take communities deeper in the gospel and as we seek to reach out to new communities that are transformed through gospel-renewal.

Here are a few resources regarding a vision for the church.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/surprising-benefits-of-theological-vision-for-ministry/

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/must-church-have-vision/