The California Southern Baptist Convention (CSBC) provides many resources that are helpful to a Cantonese-speaking Chinese church. The resources can be categorized according to stages of a church:
Starting, Growing, Keeping, & Sending.
Starting:
Whether a Cantonese church begins as a branch of an existing church (known as a “mission”) or as an outgrowth of an evangelistic ministry (such as a home or college bible study group), CSBC provides crucial launching services in partnership with the North American Mission Board, the Chinese Baptist Fellowship of USA and Canada, and different regional Baptist associations. Such services include demographic research for the area’s Cantonese population, dissemination among Cantonese church planters, and initial church start funding.
Growing:
Evangelism and networking are both keys to growing a church. CSBC works through regional associations to provide training events for church-based evangelism. CSBC also provides regional worship training camps to help Cantonese churches contemporize their worship style, which is often vital in attracting younger Cantonese people. The evangelism grant program provides financial support for outreach events, including cultural festivities such as New Year’s celebrations. Networking is vital, too. Cantonese Christians with a Baptist background moving to California often make use of church directories published by CSBC and CBF to find a Cantonese-speaking Chinese church.
Running:
Pastors and other church leaders need continuous training and support that are not necessarily unique to Chinese churches. The CSBC Church Matters Initiative Team provides business, legal, and coaching services for churches, whether a church is dealing with everyday church operations such as regulatory compliance, legal assistance, insurance, and security or dealing with unique case problems that require expert advice.
Sending:
To fulfill the Great Commission, a Chinese church must cultivate from its inception a vision of spreading The Gospel beyond the local region and the Chinese people. Many mission opportunities are available through different entities in the larger Baptist family through regional associations and national bodies such as NAMB and the International Mission Board (IMB). CSBC provides the entry point for Cantonese churches to develop a Great Commission vision for the church and to help identify mission opportunities and missionaries that match such a vision. As the sending capacity of the church grows, CSBC provides regional mission conferences with IMB missionaries to help educate church members about the mission needs. CSBC also works with Gateway Seminary to provide short-term and long-term mission trainings.
In summary, if you are a Cantonese Christian, know that CSBC can help you start, grow, and run a Cantonese church, as well as send your people out to missions. You might be wondering if you could feasibly cooperate with the Southern Baptists. Find out today by contacting CSBC. Some help links:
Starting: Church Planting Initiative – California Southern Baptist Convention (csbc.com)
Growing: Evangelism – California Southern Baptist Convention (csbc.com)
Running: Church Matters – California Southern Baptist Convention (csbc.com)
Sending: Missions – California Southern Baptist Convention (csbc.com)
