Expanding the Disciple Community of “Faith, Hope, and Love” and Campus Extension

When I first took office as President nine years ago, a Christian who cared a lot about the seminary approached me and offered a large donation to the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary (HKBTS) for the construction of a new building. Considering that I had just taken up the position to lead the seminary, I preferred to focus on seeking God’s guidance on how I should lead the seminary out of the darkest valley. While I did not want to disappoint the generous Christian, everything must be done in God’s time. The top priority at that time was getting the seminary back on course. So I decided before God to work on the seminary, a field given by God, waiting for His time.

The Gradual Realization of the “Faith, Hope, and Love Project”

I had been in office for two years when HKBTS celebrated its diamond jubilee. In the Thanksgiving Service held on February 20, 2011, I shared the mission of the “Faith, Hope, and Love Project” of HKBTS with our directors, alumni, teachers, students and companions according to the vision given by God. I stressed that we shall build a disciple community characterized by “faith, hope, and love” on the basis of “having the same mindset as Jesus Christ.” To put this into practice, there are four areas in our ministry focus:

Expansion of Faculty Team: Teachers are the engine that drives the seminary forward. We need more teachers who are both virtuous and competent to form a solid teaching staff base. They devote themselves to the teaching, research and training of disciple-leaders, achieving synergies as they engage in more interdisciplinary research and discussion. In this way, the seminary will cultivate and nurture the next generation of virtuous and competent disciple-leaders. While we already have a sound teaching staff for biblical studies and theology, we still have to build up our teacher team in practical theology: we are still looking for virtuous and competent teachers for subjects like missions, religious education, life coaching and church music.

About half of our current teaching staff are new teachers recruited in the last ten years. Most of them are teaching practical theology. We look forward to having more talents to join our faculty, experience the power of Jesus Christ’s resurrection and commit themselves to discipleship-theological education in God’s grace.

Development of Graduate Studies Program: HKBTS thought of launching a doctoral program because we observed the need for a doctoral program from the perspective of God’s Kingdom. Firstly, the seminary intends to nurture scholars and preachers who are serious thinkers that can identify problems. In this way, they may help the church reflect on its own shortcomings and respond to the needs of society and the world by articulating the Christian truth. It is a part of an integral mission. Secondly, we may further make good use of our outstanding faculty and learning resources for equipping theological talents in Hong Kong and the rest of Asia. Our Doctor of Theology graduates may teach theology in seminaries and universities in the Mainland, teach in a Chinese theological seminary in North America, or strengthen local talents and pastors in Chinese or non-Chinese communities in South East Asia. This is an alternative form of practice of Christian mission, which will yield multiple harvests. Thirdly, by offering a doctoral program, the seminary is equipping the next generation of teaching talent for our Main Program, Lay Theological Education Program and Distance Education Program, and providing human resources for seminaries in the Mainland and in South East Asia.

After more than three years of preparation, HKBTS has launched its Doctor of Theology program in early 2013. Of the five students currently enrolled in our doctoral program, two are from Hong Kong and three are from the Mainland. As more and more students having graduated from our Master of Theology program, another graduate program of the seminary, we expect more graduates with academic excellence and a heart for theological teaching and research to enroll in our Doctor of Theology program. Apart from that, in recent years China Christian Council and the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China have been sending seminary teachers and church ministers from the Mainland to HKBTS to further their studies. I hope our doctoral program will nurture more virtuous and competent teaching talents and experts for China.

The launch of our doctoral program is not the only piece of good news. The Master of Theology program at HKBTS has been showing encouraging development in recent years. In 2000, the seminary founded its graduate school, which offered a Master of Theology program. With improvement in the teaching staff and curriculum arrangement, and enhancement in the teaching quality of foundational programs (including Bachelor of Theology and Master of Divinity programs), what began as a program with six students now boasts nearly 50. Some of them are HKBTS alumni with outstanding academic results who wish to further their studies at their alma mater, and some are graduates of other seminaries who choose to pursue their studies here for our academic atmosphere, scholarly approaches, and seminar classes. The drastic increase in the number of graduate students is evidence of our success in theological teaching and research.

Reforming and Developing Lay Believers Equipping Programs: The Lay Theological Education Program has two education centres in Mong Kok for believers to take classes, while the Distance Education Program enables believers to receive theological training regardless of geographical barriers. The two programs are regularly reviewed and reformed to ensure that they are relevant to the needs of believers who wish to equip themselves in their spare time. We aim at the standardization of curricula offered by the different programs at HKBTS, which will see the graduates of the Lay Believers Equipping Programs joining degrees offered by the Main Program. In other words, the Lay Theological Education Program and the Distance Education Program could be a platform for believers to confirm their call and to understand more about their learning aptitude before they respond to the call to ministry.

Nowadays a lot of Christians are degree-holders who have an ever increasing desire for master-degree-level evening courses. Our master-degree-level evening program currently offers only majors in Christian Communication with a specific range of courses to choose from, a package that may not cater to the needs and interests of many Christians. In view of this, more than two years ago the seminary had a full review of the content and future development of our master-degree-level evening program. After more than two years of preparation, we decided to start a new program──Master of Arts in Christian Studies program (M.A.C.S.)──in October of this year. The new program will keep the option of a major in “Christian Communications” while offering “Bible Studies” as a new major option. Students may also choose not to have any major. We hope this arrangement will offer more flexibility. If graduates of M.A.C.S. are later called to full-time ministry and enroll in the Master of Divinity program offered by the Main Program, they may apply for credit unit exemptions for core subjects. This would be another step towards the ideal of standardization across all of HKBTS programs.

Setting up Theological Research Centres: The church today is facing many real challenges such as the rise of pluralism, gender ethics controversy, intensified wealth inequality, an aging global population, divided societies and ecological resource exhaustion. How should the church position itself and respond to such a fast-changing world and a society that embraces pluralism and economic growth? The above-mentioned elements have a huge impact on the development of theological education. HKBTS must equip excellent disciple-leaders to enable the church to respond to these kinds of challenges in accordance with God’s will. HKBTS also strives to bring together experts and scholars in various fields who are Christians and invite them to seek truth and discern the mind of Jesus Christ with our faculty team, helping the church respond appropriately to problems it is facing with solid theological reflection. To achieve this, we are exploring the possibility of setting up a Baptist Theological Research Centre, a Family Education Research Centre, a Social Research Centre and an Ethics Research Centre. We pray that God will lead us to virtuous and well-learnt Christian experts and scholars on our way to Truth so we may seek the will of God together and respond to the needs of the church and react to social changes.

A Supporting Project for the “Faith, Hope, and Love Project”: Campus Extension Project

It has been almost 20 years since HKBTS moved to Sai O from Ho Man Tin Hill Road. With the gradual realization of the “Faith, Hope, and Love Project,” the Sai O Campus is running out of space: offices for teachers are in constant shortage; in a few years the library will run out of space for new books which arrive every month; students (especially graduate students) do not have enough space for study and discussion. All these problems compel us to search for usable space.

In mid-2014, the Board of Directors formed a “Working Group on Property Purchase” to deal with matters relating to buying a village house near the campus in Sai O on behalf of the seminary. At that time, a few directors and ministers and I visited village houses for sale under the scorching sun, yet we could not find any house that suited our needs. Additionally, the new property cooling measures drastically increased the cost of buying residential properties, and so the Board of Directors decided to shelve the plan to buy a village house.

After thorough consideration, all of us agreed that constructing a new building on the Sai O Campus would be the best solution as space usage planning would be easier and it would facilitate future administration and security management. With faith in God, the Board of Directors passed a resolution on the Extension Project of the Sai O Campus (Phase 3) to fulfil the seminary’s future needs. The main part of the construction project will be building a three-story complex on the Sai O Campus to strengthen the seminary’s education and research capacity.

The new complex will include an “Integrated Theological Research Centre,” housing a more comprehensive collection of documents and materials for teaching and research. There will also be an “Integrated Student Study Centre,” providing students with space for both individual and group research and discussion. Apart from building a new complex, the construction project also includes items that improve the design of the existing campus. For example, there will be an addition of at least ten offices for professors at HKBTS, visiting professors and research fellows.

Endless Grace

Little by little, the extension project has materialized thanks to the grace of God. At first, the Lands Department assessed the land premium payable as HK$37.97 million for the land value and administrative costs resulting from the additional 8,000 square feet of floor area on the Sai O Campus. As the seminary provided strong justifications in the appeal, the Lands Department offered a revised amount and then a third offer, which was HK$16.57 million and HK$15.91 million respectively. As the Board of Directors accepted the last offer, the construction project has been kicked off.

At this preliminary stage, the cost is estimated at HK$60 million, which covers the land premium for the additional 8,000 square feet of floor area and the construction costs of the new complex. We would need another estimated HK$10 million for furniture and facilities in the new complex, additional professors’ offices, campus maintenance and an overhaul of the central air conditioning system, etc.

In this historic moment for the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary, we would like to urge you to participate in the “Faith, Hope, and Love” Extension Project of HKBTS with your prayers and donations, shouldering the mission together with us. I pray that God will inspire you to donate generously according to the faith and power He has given you. May God throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out blessings to us.

Let’s soar high through the faith, hope, and love given by God!

Aug 2018