Chinese Community Church Dedicates Its New Look And Location

April 12, 2009

Author: Jacqueline L. Salmon

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/11/AR2009041101004.html?sub=AR

With its stately tower topped with a gold-hued cross, the elegant brick Chinese Community Church anchors the northeast corner of Chinatown as if it had been there for its entire 74-year existence.

Actually, the church has bounced from location to location across downtown Washington since it was founded by Chinese immigrants in 1935.

Not anymore. Today, when Christians worldwide celebrate the death and resurrection of their savior, Jesus Christ, the evangelical church will dedicate its new location in Chinatown and its dramatic new look.

For its pastor, the Rev. Charles Koo, the dedication bears special significance. It is a way to thank God for the gifts of a bustling congregation and for bringing them home to Chinatown.

"God is not only blessing us in terms of the building, but God also blesses us in terms of people," he said. "As God blesses us, we ask God to make sure that we will bless others."

The church, the only Chinese house of worship in the District, out of more than a dozen in the region, is a gathering place for the area's disparate Chinese community and reflects the patterns of Chinese immigration in the Washington area. Even though most members have long scattered from the city as the suburbs have grown, about 350 of them return each Sunday to the Chinese Community Church.