Our work is, in many respects, continuation of the ministry of previous generations of churches that engaged with diverse populations and developing leaders to help form new generations of disciples of Jesus Christ. Around the same time that the first Presbyterian churches were developed in California, People like George Leslie MacKay dedicated his life to serve the people of what was then known as Formosa. It is my pleasure to share with you a recent reflection from Cyclical LA starter Eric Chen.
Statue of MacKay in the
Tamsui District of Taiwan
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Rev. Dr. George Leslie MacKay’s Presbyterian mission and ministry in Taiwan. Although his work as an innovator, pioneer, educator, minister, church planter, missionary, and botanist took place more than a century ago, it still offers us valuable lessons and insights for the Presbyterian Church today. Interestingly, the alignment between Rev. MacKay’s missiology, ecclesiology, values, and vision and Cyclical LA’s are uncanny. Because it was important to MacKay that the work of spreading the Gospel would extend beyond his life on earth, he emphasized generativity in the form of multiplicative church planting, leadership development through discipleship, and indigenous empowerment via self-sustaining churches, all of which are also Cyclical LA’s core values and strategies.
The Presbyterian Church is the largest Christian denomination in Taiwan today because the early missionaries effectively contextualized Christianity and intentionally encouraged an indigenous movement. The democratic values embedded in the structure of the Presbyterian Church polity would play a pivotal role in Taiwan’s mostly peaceful transition from a dictatorship to a democracy.
On a personal level, my civic engagement in areas such as advocacy of a universal basic income and other policies consistent with the Christian values of equality, equity, and ending of enmity, which are all rooted in God’s unconditional love and ongoing salvific work, resulted in the creation of two Christian digital communities in partnership with other Christian activists: Forward Christians and Deconstruction Journeys. It is my hope and prayer that the spirit of Rev. MacKay’s work, a work inspired by the Holy Spirit that changed the course of history for an entire people, lives on through the ministries and missions of the San Fernando Presbytery and Cyclical Inc.
