This coming Sunday we will be remembering the Lutheran Church - Hong Kong Synod in our prayers at Lamb of God. In preparing the prayer, I found the following about this partner church which I wanted to share. You can find the actual web page by following this link: LUTHERAN CHURCH - HONG KONG SYNOD
The Lutheran Church-Hong Kong Synod Visit
From May 22-24, I had the
opportunity to visit with Dr. Alan Yung, President of the The Lutheran
Church-Hong Kong Synod. The Hong Kong Synod has roots back to the Missouri
Synod’s mission work in China
which began in 1915. A brief history of work in Hong Kong from the Hong Kong Synod’s
website:
In 1915, the Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod sent missionaries to China. They preached the gospel
along Changjiang in Hubei and Sichuan. The Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod, HK & Macau
Mission was established at that time. In 1949, the missionaries planned to
return to the United States,
but when they saw so many refugees in Hong Kong,
they decided to stay. They started evangelical work in Hong
Kong, and later established the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Hong Kong Mission.
In the beginning, the missionaries
set up shelters for worship in Tiu Keng Leng. They also started a Bible School
in order to train people for God’s service. Then they rented a place in Kowloon and established
the first synodical congregation. At that time, services were conducted in
Mandarin and Cantonese. Through evangelizing on the street, visiting patients
in hospitals and organizing Bible classes, the church grew rapidly and more
congregations were set up.
In 1953, the first synodical school
was founded. The Synod started many secondary schools, primary schools and
kindergartens from the 1960s onwards. The schools also became bases of
evangelical activities. Many churches and mission stations held their meetings
in schools.
The Synod has been serving the
public ever since giving assistance to the refugees in the 1950’s. In 1977,
Lutheran Social Service was set up. The church gradually changed from a mission
station to an independent local church and registered as Lutheran Church–Hong
Kong Synod. It then became a“partner church”of the Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod of the United States.
From then on, the Synod continued
to develop in the areas of evangelism, education and social service. To date,
there are congregations totalling over 8000; 34 churches, 8 mission stations;
40 schools with over 1000 staff and more than 22,000 students; 43 social
service units.
Pictured left to right: Deaconess Carol Halter, Dr. Steven Oliver, Dr. Alan Yung, and
Dr. Albert Collver.
President Alan Yung presents the Christian
Divine Agenda for the Hong Kong Synod. Much of the liturgy is based
upon Missouri Synod resources, however, some portions have been contextualized
for Hong Kong. For instance, the Christian
Divine Agenda has a rite for the removal of idols from a
family’s home or from a place.
A special thanks to Dr. Steven
Oliver, who translated and summarized the Idol Removal Ceremony as
follows:
The Idol Removal
Ceremony begins with instructions about making sure that approval for removing
them is obtained from the legal owners, that nothing illegal be done, and that
Christian symbols may be put in place of the idols as long as they are not
regarded as idols or as divine objects with magical powers.
Invocation
Confession of Sins
(esp. against the First Commandment in regard to idol worship)
Absolution
Luke 19:1-10
(emphasizing “Salvation has come to this his home”)
Hymn: “God Builds
Up The City Walls of Protection for His People”
Responsive Reading of Psalm 117
(about the differences between idols of the Gentile and Yahweh)
Scripture Reading
(many from which to choose, all of which mention idols)
Sermonette (from
Scripture reading and directed to the particular situation)
Prayer – any and
all evil spirits or power connected with the idol(s) are rebuked and cast out
along with Satan in this prayer, and invocation to the Triune God to dwell in,
save and protect the home is made.
Response to this
Prayer: “Almighty God, protect us and use us. Amen.”
Removal: at this
point, the Christians confidently remove all idols and accompanying objects,
knowing that these are all powerless against you.
Prayers &
Hymns of praise, salvation and thanks are offered
Responsive Reading
Benediction
The next rite after the Idol
Removal Ceremony is for an exorcism.
Until recently, those of us living
in the United States
have not had the consider the possibility that people joining our churches
might literally have idols in their home that they worship. Yet in many Asian
countries and even in Africa, it is not
uncommon for a family home to have a family altar with idols. When a person
becomes a Christian and is baptized, what to do with the idols in the home? So
in these contexts, the church has a rite to remove the idols from the home. As
the population of the United
States continues to change, situations
formerly encountered only on the mission field may become more common for our
pastors.
A photo of Victoria
Harbor in Hong
Kong.
— Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver,
Director of Church Relations
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