The following is a Christian Work Project sponsored in part by a grant from the Boston Baptist Social Union.
This is the third year we have requested a grant in support if a Chinese ministry under the auspices of the Lincoln Park Baptist Church in West Newton, Massachusetts.
In both of the previous years we have offered background information on the origination of this project, which began with an offer to support an emerging ministry to a growing Asian population in the vicinity of Newton, MA. In these two years, much has been done, in great measure thanks to your generous support, not only to meet our earlier ambitions for the project but also to accelerate the movement to integrate the two congregations into one.
As a consequence, we no longer see overselves as two distinct entities, but rather as all of us as a part of Lincoln Park Baptist Church. In the past two years we have baptized 14 and received a total of 20 Chinese and other Asians into full membership into our church.
One of our objectives for last year was to begin to integrate Chinese congregants into our standing committees. To this end, at our last Annual Meeting, held in May of 2009, we elected several of our Asian brothers and sisters to all three of our standing committees who lead the congregation.
Given our growing attendance and increasing opportunities for fellowship, I estimate twe have reached about 300 different people through this Chinese mission. Most of our Asian congregants live in Newton or Wayland, but some come form Boston, Gloucester, and othe places as well. Visitors come from other states and even other countries. As far as expectations are concerned, we would like to see an average attendance at Sunday Services or 75 - 100 exclusive of children and teens. For those programs. continued growth to the extent our facilities can handle it.