The diversity of Southern Baptists was exemplified May 5 when Tacoma First Baptist Church hosted the commissioning service for 46 North American Mission Board missionaries.
The Tacoma church had the honor of being the first ethnic church to host a NAMB commissioning service.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” Robert E. Reccord, NAMB president, said as he dipped his head slightly to the Korean congregation, the pastor and choir. “This is the first time in history a commissioning service has been held in an ethnic congregation.”
Pastor Chang Sun Moon and music director, Heung Yoo, humbly acknowledged the accolades given to them and the congregation, who hosted the special worship and celebration service.
“We were honored to sing for the service,” Yoo said. “Our congregation is a mixture of many people — Koreans, Anglos, blacks — we are all Americans.”
The American state flags, along with the flags of Canada and U.S. territories, waved as the youth from Puget Sound carried them briskly to the front of the worship center and past the 47 missionaries being commissioned.
The commissioning service capped a five-day training and orientation session for the missionaries that featured both formal classroom training as well as an opportunity for the missionaries to participate in ministry on the streets of Seattle.
The group joined members of The Sanctuary in a regular Friday evening walk along the streets of Seattle’s Capitol Hill area, distributing hot soup, sandwiches and blankets to the homeless — many of whom are teens from across the country.
The Sanctuary is an outgrowth of The Fisherman’s Club, which for 15 years has ministered to the young people on the streets of Seattle. The Sanctuary began meeting as a new congregation on Easter this year as part of the Embracing Seattle/Strategic Focus Cities church planting and evangelism initiative.
(BP)
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