New Episcopal Church Opens in New York City's Chinatown
Episcopal News Service. May 13, 1992 [92113]
Thomas Chu
More than 400 people gathered on April 26 to celebrate the opening of the Episcopal Church of Our Savior and Community Center in the heart of Manhattan's Chinatown -- the first new Episcopal Church building in the City of New York in over 30 years.
The evensong celebration included a mixture of Chinese music and African-American spirituals, a ribbon-cutting ceremony by founding members of the church, and a traditional Chinese Lion Dance -- an ancient ceremony intended to chase away evil spirits, that is common in Chinese culture for opening new businesses or raising a new house.
In his sermon at the evensong, retired Bishop Paul Moore, Jr., of New York asserted that the new congregation must remember its dual call to ministry. "You are to be a hospital into which people come, sick in body or soul, to find a place where there is no pain, sorrow, or dying -- a community of love. But you are also a command post in the struggle for justice, decency, and compassion, the lack of which causes people to suffer in the first place."
"This has been and will continue to be a gateway for newcomers, both to the Christian life and to this country," said the Rev. Albany To, rector of the parish. "The huge number of unchurched among Chinese makes our evangelistic imperative especially clear."
From the beginning, the Church of Our Savior was a mission of outreach and advocacy with a population that had experienced massive growth due to the liberalization of immigration laws in 1965.
A variety of programs to assist the immigrants -- including vocational training, legal counseling, child care, neighborhood youth programs, and a music and performing arts school -- were located in three tenement houses owned by the Diocese of New York. The tiny congregation, known as Chapel of Our Savior, met in a parlor room in one of the tenements. The congregation was received by the diocese as a mission in 1984, and became an independent parish in 1987. It is the only independent Chinese Episcopal parish east of San Francisco.
The new parish facility is part of an innovative $7.25 million redevelopment of the former tenements. A local developer acquired the deed to the property on the condition that, in addition to 32 market-rate residential units, the church would receive 14,000 square feet for a 174-seat sanctuary, a large reception area, offices, workshops, and classrooms for the church's community center.
The community center will offer training in computer skills, heating and air conditioner repair, as well as English as a second language to yet another wave of newcomers. "We intend to complement the range of programs already available in the community, but also be very clear in expressing the message of the Gospel," said Peter Ng, director of the community center and senior warden.
Tommy Lee, who came to Chinatown as an auto mechanic from Burma in 1969 and is one of the developers of the recent building project, said that he is involved because he wanted to show appreciation for the assistance the parish gave him when he arrived in the United States. "I am trying to give back some of my talent," Lee said. "I'm doing it because Father To was so good to me, and because our community very much needs this facility."
"Our Savior expresses the missionary efforts of the church, where the total person is reached, teaching skills as well as values, and offering a community of support to people in transition," said the Rev. Winston Ching, Asiamerica Ministry officer at the Episcopal Church Center in New York.
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