We-Are-CEMC

We Strive

Our Statement of Faith 

God
The Person of God is triune. He is one absolute and eternal God, existing in three Persons eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each of whom is equal in power and glory.

Christ
Christ was born of the Virgin Mary through the work of the Holy Spirit, and therefore has complete divine and complete human nature. Although tempted while in the flesh, He was without sin in both nature and conduct. He died on the cross, was buried, rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven where He is enthroned and is making intercession for the believer.

Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a divine Person in the Trinity. His work is to convict the world of sin, to reveal the truths of Christ to man, and to guide, sanctify and comfort the believer.

Man
Man was created by God according to His own image. God’s purpose was to have a harmonious and peaceful fellowship with man. But because man’s first ancestor yielded to the temptation of Satan and committed sin, all men became depraved in nature. There is no sufficient salvation, therefore, apart from the divine salvation of Christ.

Salvation
Salvation is by the grace of God through faith in Christ. Such grace is fully revealed and freely offered in the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, such faith is voluntarily expressed by the direct approach of the individual soul to Christ in repentance and trust.

Church
The Church is the body of Christ and organized by His believers for worship, observance of the ordinances, and the spread of the Gospel throughout the world. Its officers, consisting of pastors, board, and other church members are all equal in rank and privilege under the headship and authority of Christ. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the two ordinances of the church, both of which are symbolic expressions of the message of salvation.

Bible
The Bible, consisting of sixty six books, is the inspired and unerring Word of God. It is man’s authoritative and sufficient guide in all matters of faith and practice.

Future Things
Christ will come again in glory and power to judge and to reign. There will be resurrection and judgment for both the righteous and the wicked. The righteous will enter into eternal joy and the wicked will be condemned to eternal punishment.

Our History

1944 – March
The church was founded as The Chinese Evangelistic Center (CEC). It began as an outreach ministry to New York City’s Chinese immigrant population.
There was a great need among the immigrants for
– Help with personal and legal problems
– Translation when dealing with governmental agencies
– Learning basic English to communicate in the business world
The CEC offered help in these areas, along with encouragement, Bible lessons, and short Gospel messages interwoven into the service to the community.

1949 – Spring
There were over 100 people in English classes which ended with a Gospel message. Soon the name CEC was changed to Chinese Evangel Mission (CEM).

1955 – January
The original Certificate of Incorporation for Chinese Evangel Mission was filed in the county of NY on January 17th, 1955.

1956 – October
Chinese Evangel Mission purchased the building at 29 East Broadway.
Until the mid-1960s there was no English worship service, although there had been Sunday School classes and Junior Church in English for a number of years.

1965 – June
The “Junior Church” group eventually expanded into an English-speaking congregation of Chinese Evangel Mission, with approximately 30 youth (mostly high school and early college) attending.
English service is established.

1980 – Summer
First year for Vacation Bible School (VBS).

1981 – June
Chinese Evangel Mission remained at 29 East Broadway until June 27, 1981 when the Chinese-speaking and English-speaking congregations moved into a newly-constructed building at 97 Madison Street.

1983 – Summer
First year for Summer Junior High Program (JHP).

1985-1991
The church (Chinese-speaking and English-speaking) had grown until there were approximately 350 in attendance at the various services on Sunday mornings. The church had outgrown the new building. To expand the ministry, the Queens Branch Church, meeting at the Bayside YMCA, was established in June 1990 and the New Jersey Branch Church, meeting at the Crescent Avenue Church in Plainfield, New Jersey, was established in November 1991.

1992 – January
Since Chinese Evangel Mission was no longer just a mission to the Chinese, an amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation was filed to change the name to Chinese Evangel Mission Church on January 6, 1992.

2015 – September
We dedicated our new building at 31 Monroe Street to being a light to our neighborhood and bringing our neighbors to know the love of Christ.

Pastoral
Pastor Yen Shin Chen retired in 1991;
Pastor Lee Hearn retired in 2001;
John Eng retired in 2015; all three after many years of faithful service.
Pastor Vernon Cheung is the pastor of the English Congregation.
Pastor Sam Leung is the pastor of the Cantonese Congregation, and Pastor Moses Zhang is the pastor of the Mandarin Congregation.

Our Heart For Missions

Chinese Evangel Mission Church has a long history of supporting Missions. We currently support more than 25 missionaries and mission agencies. Below are some of the Missions organizations that we support:

Campus Crusade For Christ
Chinese Gospel Broadcasting Center (CGBC)
Chinese Christian Herald Crusades
JGospel
Pastoral And Laity Ministry (PALM)
Ripe For Harvest
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship USA
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF)
World Venture
Pioneers
Serving In Mission (SIM)
Ten 40 Connect
Thailand Missions.org
Chinese Christian Mission
New York Christian Short-Term Mission Training Center
New York Theological Education Center (NYTEC)

Our Current Board Members

English Congregation

  • Ben Wong
  • John Lee (Co-Chairperson)
  • Michael Wong
  • Randall Li
  • Ray Li
  • Robert Hom

Chinese Congregation

  • Carolyn Hsia
  • Cody Li
  • Kenny Yip (Co-Chairperson)
  • Kwok Fai Ng
  • William Ma

Our Branch Churches

CEMC – New Jersey
11 Lexington Avenue
East Brunswick, NJ 08816
626-676-9700
www.cemcnj.org

CEMC – Queens
203-10 Rocky Hill Rd
Bayside, NY 11361
718-352-9570
www.cemcq.org

Connect With Us

Let us know if you want more information, some coffee with a pastor, or just somebody to pray for you.