A Seminary That Engages with Society and the Church
As a second-generation Christian, Deacon Vincent Kwan has been going to church since childhood. He grew up and has been serving at the Tokwawan Baptist Church. He served as the chairman of the Church Council in the past and is currently the chairman of the Board of Deacons. Vincent has been working in the financial industry since his graduation from university and is currently an executive of a company running stock market indexes. He is married with two sons.
Meaningful Service
In 2015, President Cho invited Vincent to join the President’s Council. After understanding his role in the Council and its requirements, Vincent agreed to join because he identifies with HKBTS’s goal to create a seminary that meets the needs of society and the church; he is also interested in theological education and is enrolled in theological courses.
Vincent believes that today’s Hong Kong is a complex and ever-changing society filled with challenges. Churches and pastors are confronted with problems with increasing complexity. What should the seminary undertake to support churches and nurture pastoral leaders that are suitable for this generation? This is precisely what the Council wants to discuss and explore, and why this ministry is particularly meaningful.
Vincent finds his role in the President’s Council not a burden but beneficial. On the one hand, it provides him with more opportunities to contact and communicate with President Cho on a personal level, so that he can consult with the president and learn from him; on the other hand, his own horizons have been broadened as members from churches big and small come together once a year to exchange views. From the discussion, he discovers that different churches have very different expectations of their pastors. Some may pay more attention to pastoral skills, while others may focus on theological thinking.
Dual Identities and a Balance of Perspectives
Vincent is mindful of the fact that he has only participated in the Council for a relatively short period of time. At each meeting, the president would share what he is recently considering, and council members would express their opinions in response. Vincent is himself a seminary student, who thus knows well the learning experience and the difficulties of seminary students, and he is also a leader of the church, who thereby understands the challenges pastors must confront when shepherding the congregations. Such dual identities allow him to have a balanced perspective in the discussion of what sort of theology courses can better equip students to become future pastors.
Connect the Seminary with the Church
Vincent believes that, for congregations to know more about the seminary, more effort should be made to strengthen the link between HKBTS and the local Baptist churches. HKBTS nurtures pastors, and in turn these pastors care for congregations of churches; therefore, an indirect connection between the seminary and the church already exists. However, if there is a direct connection between the two, and HKBTS can help the church cope with challenges at hand, that will obviously be better. For example, apart from participating in “Theological Education Sunday” in churches, the seminary could also bring forth its own views from a theological or biblical perspective on major political and social issues that are being discussed within church circles. As another example, if the workload is affordable, the seminary faculty could teach Sunday schools, hold lectures, or provide materials for Bible studies and group sessions, etc.
Vincent believes that one of the major contributions of the seminary is to train workers for God in this generation and enable the church to face the challenges in today’s society. He expects HKBTS to be both “not of the world” and “in the world.” HKBTS serves not only the church but also society. It not only engages in theological studies and trains pastors, but also applies the fruits of its research to the church so as to help the church face various social challenges.