Alliance Church Receives Award

October 22, 2014

Seattle (Washington) Chinese Alliance Church (SCAC) received the Extraordinary Church Award on October 19, 2014, for its active involvement in community affairs. Presented by Urban Impact, a Seattle organization whose mission is to break the cycle of social, material, and spiritual poverty in urban neighborhoods, the award is given annually to churches that best represent the group’s values.

“With the gospel propelling us,” says Rev. Roy Chang, pastor of SCAC’s English-language church, “we find our place and voice in the community through outreach.”

The neighborhood—about 50 percent Asian, made up of immigrants and second-generation children—reflects SCAC’s membership. “We are actively engaging [various ethnic groups] that live in our community and attend our afterschool program,” says Chang. “I hope to see our church become multiethnic—not because it was strategy but because we love others as Jesus loves us.”

Criteria by which Urban Impact chooses its award recipients are based on a church’s visible presence within the community. “We felt that Seattle Chinese Alliance Church is living out our values by doing what we believe Christ intended for His Church,” says Herman Tam, communications director for Urban Impact. “The principal of a local school told us that the work the church does is the ‘lifeblood of the school,’ providing various services for the students and their families.”

The true spirit of Urban Impact’s Extraordinary Church Award was captured when “Rev. Chang said the relationship with [the school] is mutually transformative,” says Tam. “The church is not just the resource for the school, but SCAC’s members are growing in their understanding of their ‘neighbor’ and the gospel’s voice in the community.”

“We are passionate about making authentic disciples,” says Chang. “We want people to know that the gospel speaks directly into their everyday life and the things that they are most concerned about—especially issues of justice and equity—and that transformation is possible.”

Video and photo provided by Seattle Chinese Alliance Church

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