dc.description.abstract | This paper mainly discusses the set up and development of the The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT)’s “Hakka Mission Presbytery”. Since the 1980s, a group of pastors promoted the establishment of Hakka Presbytery. It was established mainly for missionary and the mission had autonomy. Through a lot of discussion, literature and oral interviews during the process, we understand the history and evolution of “Hakka Mission Presbytery” as well as what are the consideration and reasons for churches in Hakka area to join or not to join the Hakka Presbytery.
Presbyterian Church came to Taiwan in 1865 when Dr. James L. Maxwell started the mission in the southern while in the northern part it was started from Canadian Rev. George Leslie Mackay’s missionary in 1872 at Danshui. Ministers in the South and the North declared their missions and management in their parish. At the beginning when the missionaries came to Taiwan, they studied the Hokkien language which was the language most Taiwan population spoken at that time in order to communicate and preach the Christian message. Southern and northern missionaries also visited the Hakka area for missionary, but they rarely deliberately learned the Hakka language to preach. Most of them still used the Hokkien language for the main missionary language.
In order to increase the missionary resources of the Hakka area, since the 1950s there were priests organized Hakka missionary units as well as translated the Bible into the Hakka language. Until the 1980s, PCT set up a “Hakka Mission Committee” responsible for the entire Taiwan Hakka missionary work and for contact with each mission and handled related matters. The Presbyterian Church used “Presbytery” as efforts of the main ministry structure to manage Church property and personnel. Some Hakka priests believed that only by setting up Hakka Presbytery could start Hakka missionary work, so they started the preparation and organization of seminars, briefings etc. mainly in Hsinchu Presbytery (ranged included Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung) Hakka areas. They convinced various churches in Hakka area to join and set up a Hakka Presbytery. In 2000, there were only 13 churches joined 15 churches failed to comply with the provisions. Firstly they set up the “Hakka Presbytery”, in which 12 churches were transferred from Hsinchu Presbytery and a Mino Church was transferred from Kaohsiung Presbytery. In 2007, Church numbers increased to 15 and was upgraded to a “Hakka Mission Presbytery”. In 2004 Hakka Mission Committee’s population survey report showed there were 49 places in Taiwan where the Hakka population accounted for 50% of the population. It was a great gap compared with the numbers of Hakka churches. In this article we will explore the factors of the church to join or not to join the mission.
The findings of this paper have three contributions. First, through literature and oral history interview we understand the missionary of the PCT’s Hakka Mission and Hakka Mission Presbytery history. Secondly, we clarify the current status and problems of Hakka Mission Presbytery and the mission regardless of ethnicity. Third, under the influence social changes, Hakka culture (language) is difficult to be used and presented in churches of Hakka areas.
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