Our President
陳宗清 牧師
Rev. Grant Chen
1975, Graduated from Department of Mathematics, Tsinghua University in Taiwan. Took on full-time ministry in Aug. 1977 after military service.
1985, Went to Dallas Theological Seminary in USA, finished course work by the end of 1988 and earned Th.M. in 1989.
1989, Went to Fuller Theological Seminary to study Missiology, aiming at earning Ph.D. degree. Stopped after two terms because of financial consideration and accepted the invitation from Torrance Bread of Life Church to pastor the Mandarin congregation.
1977, Resigned from the church and went to Trinity International University in Chicago to take on Intercultural Studies, Ph.D. program. The doctoral thesis discussed the comparison of ontology between Christianity and NeoConfucianism. Got the Ph. D. degree in 2002 because of taking part-time pastoral job while studying in Chicago.
Grant concerned about the need of gospel in the villages in Taiwan even when he was a college student. The first organization he joined in 1977 was Village Gospel Team, later changed the name to Village Gospel Mission. Two years later he was invited to join Taipei Ling Liang Church to serve, for all other staff of VGM left at that time. He was responsible for Christian Education for the entire church and staff training.
Since 1989, while still studying in Fuller, he began to serve in Torrance Bread of Life Church. In 1990 he served as the pastor of the Mandarin congregation and the chairperson of the Ministerial Committee (no senior pastor) until resignation in 1997.
From 1998 to 1999, while studying in Trinity, Grant was invited by Northshore Christian Church as their interim pastor. He served there about one and half year. After obtaining candidacy he went back to Taiwan to accompany his father and make preparation for the thesis. During that period he taught a course for Doctor of Ministry in Chinese Evangelical Seminary in Taipei and some courses in Alliance Seminary in Taipei.
He came back to US in 2000 to finish the thesis. At the same time he served as interim pastor for the Mandarin congregation in Torrance Bread of Life Church.
in July 2001 he took the position as the President of the Blessings Foundation, Inc. At the same time he accepted the invitation by Evangelical Formosan Church in Alhambra to serve as their interim pastor.
In 2005 the Blessings Foundation adopted a fictitious name Blessings Cultural Mission Fellowship, since more full-time workers joined the ministry.
Since 1990 Grant taught in quite a number of seminaries as their adjunct professor, such as China Evangelical Seminary North America, Overseas Theological Seminary, Logos Theological Seminary, Truth Theological Seminary, etc.
In 2009 Grant served as part-time interim pastor in Orange County Christian Evangelical Church (2009-11), and later as advisory pastor (2011-15, 2017-18) until the end of 2018.
After 2019 Grant devoted his energy to the ministries in BCMF while accepting speaking engagement from various churches.
1. Foundation of My Faith
I was born in a Christian family, a 4th-generation believer from paternal line and a 5th-generation from maternal line. My mother’s great grandfather was a preacher, known as “Uncle Gao Zhang.” In 1865, upon hearing the gospel in front of a temple in Tainan he became a believer. He was the first convert among the Taiwanese and the first Christian committing his life to full time ministry.
I attended a Presbyterian church as a child. But it was not until my last year in junior high that I took the faith seriously. I attended an evangelistic meeting in the first year of my senior high and was touched by the Holy Spirit. I repented of my sins and experienced the peace and joy of being forgiven. I determined to follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly. In the following year I emulated the saints and sages in the past to live for the LORD sparing no effort, and desired to serve God full-time someday.
My years in senior high and college laid the foundation of my spiritual journey. I was very enthusiastic, always getting up in the middle of night to pray. In my last semester in high school, I went to church early in the morning every day and led a group of schoolmates in devotion. Although schoolwork was heavy, I made efforts to study the Bible to lay a solid foundation in the truth. I was inspired by John Sung, dreaming to become a revivalist and to participate in missions.
2. Training of Faith
I joined Village Gospel Mission immediately after completing military service that followed my graduation from college. I often led university students to preach the gospel in the countryside of Taiwan, for the gospel was most needed in these areas. However, VGM was poorly funded and inner conflicts occurred among coworkers due to different perspectives. I had no steady income and was often lonely. Yet I was trained to rely on God and to live by faith. It has since become a pattern of my ministry.
3. Learning to Build up a Church
Afterwards I participated in the ministry of Taipei Ling Liang Church and built up the church with other coworkers. As we tried to transform the church we sensed the importance of praying together with one heart. I served as counselor to a few fellowships and took the responsibility of Christian education for the entire church. The Adult Sunday School Planning Committee recruited some excellent coworkers and later published a book, How to Build Up Adult Sunday School, which became a reference book for other churches in Taiwan. I witnessed the blessings brought to the church through in-depth prayers. The fast growth of the church in those years inspired me and gave me great hope in the development of the church.
4. A Blessed Marriage and a Life-long Partner
My marriage was a miracle indeed. Liang-Shwu Liu and me got married on May 26, 1985. Before the marriage she served in the literature department of Campus Evangelical Fellowship as editor of the Campus Magazine.
我們彼此的事奉沒有什麼交集，所以並不相熟。但那年的二月間，神的靈分別在我們身上作感動的工作，又藉著一連串安排，讓我們明白神的美意。所以我們在第二次約會時便肯定，神要我們成為夫妻，同心協力來服事祂。
My spouse became my stable support through these years. Looking back, we always wonder and praise God's wisdom in this marriage. Though we do not have children, we enjoy the days and years working together and walking hand in hand.
5. Theological Equipment and Pastoral and Teaching Ministry
I came to America to study theology in 1985. I entered Dallas Theological Seminary in Texas and received my Th.M. degree in 1989. Then I went to Fuller Theological Seminary in California for advanced studies in missiology. I was immersed in theological learning during this period.
I became the pastor of Mandarin congregation in Torrance Bread of Life Church in 1990. I also took the position of chairperson in Ministerial Committee for more than seven years. During these years we had morning prayer everyday. Besides we had late night prayer meeting and fast and pray, etc. These intercessory prayers sustained the growth of ministries. We started new fellowships, strengthened the spirit of small groups, improved Sunday School, set up church planting manual and sent coworkers to realize it. Serving as chairperson in the Ministerial Committee in a church with three congregations of different languages, I learned in a hard way that reaching unity in a multicultural church is a very difficult task.
At this stage I taught in various seminaries as well.
I started Ph.D. program in Intercultural Studies at Trinity International University in1998. From then on up to this day I have been doing theological reflections, constructing contextual theologies, and engaging in cultural mission.
6. The Challenge from Culture
Soon after I joined full-time with VGM, I recognized the challenge of cultural barriers. I came from a Christian family with my dad as medical doctor. My background provided me with little knowledge of the peasant tradition or folk religions. As a result, I encountered much hindrance in my efforts to bring the gospel to the rural people. Although there were only a few co-workers at VGF, we all came from different places of the world, such as America, England, and various provinces of China. Cultural differences contributed significantly to the uneasy communications and the divisions in the ministry.
During the seven plus years of serving at the Torrance BOL Church, the most important lesson I learned was how to work with pastors and elders from diverse cultural backgrounds with different doctrinal positions and philosophy of ministries. The cases of complicated, controversial, and conflict- causing issues were utterly unforgettable for me.
In Trinity I concentrated in the courses of culture and mission. My dissertation explored Confucianism that has influenced China for thousands of years. After years of studies and reflections, I got more insight of how to renew the Chinese culture with the Gospel. After years of study, I felt that I should make some contribution in the cultural mission. Therefore I decided to join the Blessings Foundation and took upon myself the responsibility of the president.
7. The Ministries in BF
The spiritual warfare in the 21st century is an intense battle between different worldviews. Therefore the BF advocates "Transforming Chinese Soul with the Gospel, Rebuilding Worldview with the Truth." We understand that this task requires long-time cultivation.
We start with talent cultivation. Since 1996 we set up Blessings Seminarian Scholarship to nourish seminarians gifted in academic studies, mass media, and leadership in ministries. More than twenty graduates obtained Ph.D. from renowned universities or seminaries. Many graduates are serving in various cultural areas. Quite a number have gone back to Asia.
The academia is the frontline of thoughts-encounters. Hence we actively interact with Chinese academia. In the early years we visited Chinese universities, held all kinds of seminars, workshops, academic conferences, set up scholarship for studies in Christianity, and publish periodicals.
In the area of mass media, we publish the Blessings Magazine, discussing various issues concerning culture and faith, from tradition to postmodernity, from church to society, from science to secular thoughts, etc. We encourage churches to face the challenge of the new media, to utilize the social media. We encourage Christian scholars to establish public theology and dialogue with none Christians to influence the society.
At the same time, we participate in theological training. We establish long term partnership with Colombia International University.
Since 2014 we took a step further and became a missionary sending agency. We sent Blessings family members to Asia and Europe to do ministries in academia, theological training and church planting.
As the BF president, my major responsibilities lie in the following areas. First, uphold the original vision without wavering. Second, watch and pray for all members of BF so that they may take up their crosses and faithfully finishing the task the LORD entrusted to them. Third, work together with the Board directors to raise funds to facilitate all the projects.
2017 - Uplifting Your Spirit before God’s Throne: A Reflection on the Lord’s Prayer
2015 - Glory in the midst of Spiritual Agony: A Reflection on the Beatitude
2014 - Seeking Truth by Overriding Tradition
2014 - A Panoramic View of Cultural Mission
2011 - Blessings Foundation Devotional Series: 1 Corinthians
2006 - Blessings Foundation Devotional Series: The Gospel of Matthew
2005 - Blessings Foundation Devotional Series: Romans
2005 - Blessings Foundation Devotional Series: Revelation
2005 - The Concept of Ultimate Reality in Tu Wei-Ming and Chen Chung-Ying: A Comparative Study of New Confucian and Christian Understandings
2004 - Blessings Foundation Devotional Series: Acts
1985 - Daily Devotion: Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Micah
1984 - Daily Devotion: Judges