Echopedia

Formosan Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles (FPCLA)

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Formosan Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles (FPCLA)

Formosan Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles (FPCLA) was the first Taiwanese Presbyterian church established in North America, founded in 1970 in Los Angeles, California. The church was established under the United Presbyterian Church in the USA (UPCUSA, now PC(USA)) system and served as a spiritual anchor for Taiwanese immigrants in Southern California.

Identity Snapshot

  • Chinese name: 洛杉磯|台美人基督教會 (literal); 福爾摩沙長老教會 (Formosan Presbyterian Church)
  • Founded: 1970
  • Location: Los Angeles, California
  • Denomination: United Presbyterian Church in the USA (UPCUSA/PC(USA))
  • Type: Taiwanese-language Presbyterian congregation
  • Status: Historical founding church; FPCLA lineage continued through subsequent Taiwanese Presbyterian churches

Founding History

Predecessor: Taiyou Church (台友教會 — author-corrected 2026-10-24)

Before FPCLA, an experimental church associated with |Rev. Jonah Chang (張瑞雄) held its first gathering 1970-08-09 at Centenary Methodist (c. 1967 Japanese Methodist facility context; content priority B). This experiment laid the groundwork for a separate Taiwanese congregation.

Erratum (Albert S. Lai, LINE 2026-10-24, author-ordered): the name should be 「台友教會」 (Taiyou Church = Church of Taiwan Friends) — 「應該是」 proposed and used by 張瑞雄 (Rev. Jonah Chang); the English back matter of the same book already reads 台友教會 / “Taiwanese Friendly Church”, co-named by Chang and Pastor Chen — reconcile the two co-naming accounts before final wording. The Chinese rendering 「太陽教練會」 (Albert’s exact error string) derived from the English is a mistranslation — 「請你把它改正過來」. Use 台友教會 in all derived text. Reprint erratum list: knowledge/operational/albert-lai-reprint-errata.md — page location in the published 2025 ZH book still to be cited (do not call it a book erratum until the printed page is confirmed). Albert preached his first 台語 sermon 「祝福之地」 there (manuscript lost; title only).

In his own oral history, Rev. Chang recalled that during the summers of 1969–1970 he traveled from his United Methodist charge in the Bay Area to Los Angeles and helped organize a Taiwanese-language (台語) congregation there — the church that became FPCLA — located on W. Olympic Blvd, where many Taiwanese lived (record 350, Rev. Chang oral history). Chang described it as belonging to the Taiwan Presbyterian Church system; his reassignment to the Alameda Japanese UMC charge in August 1971 matches the founding account’s end of his involvement.

  • HOLD: church system — Chang’s oral history frames the LA congregation as “台灣長老教會系統,” while the Albert Lai dissertation account documents its organization under UPCUSA/Presbytery of Los Angeles Southwest. Not auto-merged.

Founding Process (1970)

FPCLA was founded through the collaboration of:

  • Taiwanese believers: A group of Taiwanese immigrants including |Dr. & Mrs. Daniel Kao (高光民), |Dr. & Mrs. C. C. Chen (陳昭俊), Mr. & Mrs. Norman Hsu (許彬), Dr. & Mrs. Isiah Lee (李宗派), Dr. & Mrs. Joseph T. C. Lu (盧俊哲), Mr. & Mrs. Morris Chen (|陳茂雄), Mr. & Mrs. George Chen (陳進琛), Dr. & Mrs. Sze-Ya Yeh (葉思雅), Mr. & Mrs. Wang Chun Hsiung (王春雄), Dr. & Mrs. Jang Yan Wu (|吳政彥), Dr. Wen-Cho Yang (楊哲), Dr. & Mrs. Justin Chen (陳有義), Meiling Lai (賴美玲), Michael Chen (陳明章), and others
  • UPCUSA support: Pastors and elders from the United Presbyterian Church system, including San Francisco Theological Seminary, the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church, the Southern California/Hawaii Presbytery, and the Pacific Presbytery
  • Organizing Pastor: Chaolong Kao (高昭龍) — called by Presbytery of Los Angeles Southwest in September 1971 (former TTCS Assistant Professor; Visiting Scholar at Harvard). Distinct from co-founder |Dr. Daniel Kao (高光民).

Theological Vision

|Dr. Albert S. Lai, who participated in the founding and later wrote his doctoral dissertation on the church, articulated a vision that transcended the church being merely a haven for immigrants. FPCLA was intended to become a “mission base” in the local community — a missional community that would witness to the gospel in the larger society.

Primary source: |Toward A Community of Hope (work & sources)
Full text (GitHub): complete extract · fact sheet

Founding Process: A Detailed Account

The First Experimental Worship (August 1970)

On August 9, 1970, |Reverend Jonah Chang (張瑞雄), a former minister of the Presbyterian Church of Formosa then serving at the United Methodist Church in Fresno, California, led the first experimental Sunday worship service for Formosan Christians in Los Angeles. Twenty-two adults and eleven children attended — a turnout that exceeded expectations and confirmed the viability of a dedicated Formosan congregation. Over the following four weeks, the experimental church drew growing numbers, culminating in a strong conviction among the majority that a permanent church fellowship was essential.

From Prayer Circle to Congregation

Before the church was formally organized, a spontaneous circle of 20 to 30 Formosan Christians had been meeting every other Saturday night in rotating homes throughout early 1970. This prayer meeting circle — some members previously associated with the First Evangelical Chinese Church — chose Saturday nights specifically so that those already affiliated with Sunday churches could also participate. The group made plans, held discussions, and laid the groundwork for the church’s organization.

In August 1970, Rev. Chang’s one-month experimental church served as the catalyst. When the experiment concluded at the end of August and Rev. Chang returned to Fresno, the congregation envisioned the importance of carrying on the fellowship and decided to organize a church — despite having no pastor and no outside financial support. With the assistance of Centenary United Methodist Church and its minister, Rev. |Peter Chen, they used the Wesley Hall facilities of Centenary United Methodist Church until they moved to Wilshire Crest Presbyterian Church in July 1971.

UPCUSA Connection and Presbytery Approval

The Presbyterian Church of Formosa was the largest and only financially independent denomination on the island, and most members of the new church were proud Presbyterians. From the beginning, they seriously considered association with the United Presbyterian Church in the USA (UPCUSA). Through continuous contact with the Synod Office of Southern California and the Presbytery of Los Angeles Southwest, the Formosan Christian Church decided in February 1971 to join the UPCUSA and requested financial and moral support.

The Presbytery Committee voted on March 27, 1971, to work with the church leadership to develop a plan for a self-supporting United Presbyterian congregation within three to five years. A formal funding request submitted on April 14, 1971, stated: “The present request is for support of what the Committee feels to be already a highly significant ministry and mission that offers promise of becoming a successful model by a somewhat different form of church development with ethnic minorities within our Synod.”

The Presbytery of Los Angeles Southwest approved the proposed organization of the Formosan Presbyterian Church on September 28, 1971, at a meeting held at Brentwood Presbyterian Church. The Presbytery Committee concluded that “this group has a valid and viable mission.” Reverend Dr. Charles C.L. Kao (Chaolong Kao, 高昭龍) — a native Formosan, former Assistant Professor at Tainan Theological College, and then Visiting Scholar at Harvard University — was called as the organizing minister in September 1971. (Not the co-founder Dr. Daniel Kao / 高光民.)

The Presbytery’s Strategic Rationale

The Presbytery Committee identified two areas compelling their support: (1) a growing emphasis on investing church resources where there already existed a significant “spark of life” in the people to be served, and (2) the Presbytery’s intent to be responsive to changing urban demographics. The proposed congregation was consistent with Synod and General Assembly guidelines because it:

  • Served a clearly defined community with needs peculiar to Formosan immigrants
  • Included a strong corporate ministry encompassing both Christians and non-Christians
  • Kept open options for changing ministry styles without burdening the congregation with building concerns
  • Emphasized interdependence with other congregations and programs of the Synod and General Assembly

The Presbytery also recognized that a ministry to Formosan Presbyterians and the opportunity to reach non-Christian Formosans with the Gospel could not be realized apart from a Formosan church, and that effective unity of the church could be enhanced as new United Presbyterians actively participated in denominational life.

Proposed Budget (1971–1974)

The church’s leadership developed a four-year budget projection reflecting the expectation of gradual self-support:

YearPledgesLoose OfferingSpecial DayChurch SchoolTotal Income
1971$3,750$2,800$550$240$7,340
1972$4,000$2,900$600$250$7,750
1973$5,550$3,400$800$250$10,000
1974$7,000$4,500$1,200$300$13,000

Total projected expenses (including ministerial support, Christian education, housing, car allowance, pension, administration, utilities, activities, and general mission) matched income projections, with the Presbytery and Synod of Southern California expected to cover the gap until self-support was achieved.

Membership Profile (September 1971)

CategoryCount
Members (single / married)37 (5 / 32)
Non-members (single / married)49 (15 / 28)
Children33
Contributing families15
Potential contributing families15

The occupational profile of members and non-members reflected the highly educated nature of the community: 19 engineers, 17 students, 10 laboratory researchers, 8 in business, 6 in computer science, 5 medical doctors, 5 social workers, and 10 in other professions.

Sunday morning worship attendance averaged between 70 and 90 (including 15–20 children), with half being non-Christians searching for fellowship and the enlightenment of Christian faith. The church was attracting new attendees at a rate of 2–5 persons weekly.

Mission and Community Role

In early Taiwanese immigrant life, FPCLA functioned as:

  • Worship community in the mother tongue: Taiwanese-language worship for immigrants, with Sunday morning services in Formosan language
  • Social support network: Assistance for new arrivals navigating life in America, including immigration, employment, and health consultation
  • Space for identity negotiation: A place where Taiwanese immigrants could negotiate faith, identity, and public belonging
  • Missional community: A beacon of hope and witness to the gospel in the larger society
  • Spiritual anchor: A familiar place amid cultural transition, linguistic barriers, and identity uncertainty
  • Cultural center: Saturday afternoon open church providing facilities for table tennis, volleyball, games, music, and folk dancing

Church Activities

The church designed its activities around the fundamental needs of the community and individuals:

  • Sunday worship service in Formosan language, with 70–90 average attendance
  • Joint worship with Wilshire Crest United Presbyterian Church on the last Sunday of every month, cooperated by pastors of both congregations
  • Agape Meal potluck lunch after each Sunday service, featuring native food
  • Sunday School with 15–20 students in three classes (preschool through sixth grade)
  • Choir of about 15 members, practicing hymns, classics, and Formosan folk songs
  • Saturday afternoon open church as a social center for the entire Formosan community
  • Family prayer meetings every other Friday night at members’ homes, with Bible study, theological textbook study, and discussion of Christian living
  • Monthly lectures on topics such as “Computer and Modern Man,” “How to Find a Doctor If You Are Sick,” and “Income Tax and You,” open to the entire community
  • Retreats, including a successful Christmas retreat at Lazy-W Ranch with 70 adults and children

Theological Vision

Dr. Albert S. Lai, who participated in the founding and later wrote his doctoral dissertation on the church, articulated a vision that transcended the church being merely a haven for immigrants. FPCLA was intended to become a “mission base” in the local community — a missional community that would witness to the gospel in the larger society. The church was seen as a place where people could “touch one another’s heart and feel that they are one in Holy Spirit,” and where people could be “touched by the proclamation of the Gospel and be sent to serve the world.”

Historical Significance

First Taiwanese Church in North America

FPCLA was the first Taiwanese Presbyterian church established in North America, setting a precedent for subsequent Taiwanese Presbyterian churches across the continent. Over 40 Taiwanese Presbyterian churches would be established in North America in the decades following FPCLA’s founding.

Foundation for PC(USA) Connection

By establishing FPCLA under the UPCUSA/PC(USA) system, the founders created a connection with Presbyterian churches around the world, maximizing strength to care for the future of Taiwanese people. This connection resonated with church headquarters in New York, including the UPCUSA, National Council of Churches (NCC), and World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva.

Dissertation and Legacy

FPCLA was the central case study in |Dr. Albert S. Lai’s 1971 doctoral dissertation Toward A Community of Hope — A Mission to Formosan Community in Los Angeles, which documented the church’s struggles, aspirations, and theological vision. The dissertation was reprinted in 2025 with a 50th anniversary foreword.

Theological Framework

”Internal Integration and External Harmony”

Dr. Albert S. Lai’s dissertation articulated a theological vision centered on the concept of “internal integration and external harmony” — a framework for understanding how the church could serve Formosan immigrants while maintaining their cultural identity. This concept was drawn from both psychology and theology.

Internal Integration refers to the degree of integration as a dynamic, process-oriented concept rather than a static state. It draws on Jung’s “individuation,” Maslow’s “self-actualization,” Allport’s “functional autonomy,” and Erickson’s “ego-identity.” Erich Fromm’s positive view of self-love and Paul Tillich’s “courage to be oneself” informed this understanding. For Formosan immigrants, internal integration meant:

  • Maintaining cultural identity while adapting to American society
  • Finding spiritual meaning beyond work and family
  • Developing a sense of belonging in a foreign land
  • Achieving the “courage to be oneself” — not being completely lost in a strange culture
  • Becoming an independent, autonomous self capable of accepting new experiences, digesting them, and integrating them into a new identity

External Harmony refers to the relationship between the individual and the broader society. It is the integration and harmony between two polarities — “one-in-two” and “two-in-one.” This meant:

  • Engaging with American society while maintaining distinctiveness
  • Building bridges between Formosan culture and American culture
  • Serving as a missional community in the local context
  • Contributing to the broader society while preserving unique identity

The source of internal integration and external harmony is love — encompassing self-love, love-for-other, agape-eros, familial love, human-heartedness, compassion, and productive love. Without love, there is no sense of security; without security, no trust; without trust, no peace of heart. “God is love” is thus theologically central: with love, internal wounds are healed, conflicts resolved, and the disintegrated person becomes whole.

From “Melting Pot” to Pluralistic Society

The dissertation examined the historical context of immigrant integration in America, contrasting two models:

  • The “Melting Pot” theory: Insisted European immigrants should become amalgamated or assimilated into U.S. society as fast as humanly possible by “becoming like us.” No immigrant community was encouraged to assert its group identity or cultural integrity.
  • Segregation and exclusion: Oriental immigrants (Chinese, Japanese, and by extension Formosans) were treated differently — expected to remain “alien” under the Oriental Exclusion Act of 1924, kept segregated, and forced to remain foreigners regardless of how long they lived in the U.S.

Lai argued that neither a racially divided America nor a culturally homogenized America was truly desirable. A pluralistic America, in which “every ethnic group is accepted for what it is and encouraged to become an integral part of U.S. society while maintaining its own group identity,” was the ideal.

The distinction between “accepted by Americans” and “to become American” was crucial: the former meant being accepted as a Formosan, while the latter meant no longer being Formosan. Formosans wanted to be treated like Americans but not to live culturally in American style — they wanted acceptance without assimilation.

The Church as “Community of Hope”

The vision for FPCLA was not merely to be a haven for immigrants, but to become a community of hope — a theological concept drawn from multiple sources:

Hope as Possibility: Hope involves three basic ideas: what one hopes for, one does not yet have or see; it may be difficult, but it is possible. Hope is neither passive waiting nor unrealistic forcing. To hope means to be ready at every moment for that which is not yet born, and not to become desperate if there is no birth in one’s lifetime.

Hope as Adventure: Gabriel Marcel spoke of “hoping” (the verb) rather than “hope” (the noun) — a psychic activity, a real occurrence in a concrete setting. Hoping occurs when a person is visited by calamity, caught by the human condition. As Roy W. Fairchild remarked: “Hope allows one to live in uncertainty… the hoping person sees reality as open-ended and not fixed, assumes that reality has resources which are as yet undiscovered and untapped. This is his risk and his adventure.”

Hope as Sharing: Hope is basically a sharing experience requiring a responsive other. Isolation leads to hopelessness and disintegration. Marcel stressed that true hoping requires an interpersonal context. Theologically, hope is the Holy Spirit in the Christian Church — “Without the experience of the Spirit, there is no distinctly Christian understanding of hope; and even if Jesus had spoken much about it, it would have signified little beyond what Judaism already understood.” Christian Church is a Community of Hope. Without hope, there will never have been such a thing as ‘Christian Church.’

The God of Promise: Christian hope is grounded in the God of promise — the God of exodus in the Old Testament and the God of resurrection in the New Testament. The church is not the Kingdom of God but a community of hope. It is a “moving church” — moving toward the future, the eschatological “Kingdom of God.” As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “To be a Christian does not mean to be religious in a particular way… But to be a Christian is to be a man. It is not some religious act that makes a Christian what he is, but participation in the suffering of God in the life of the world.”

Ekklesia as “Called Out”: The term “ekklesia” indicates that the “chosen” are in no way to be called into or stay in the shelter of any organized community, but rather out of their customary attachment and security, out of the world. To follow Christ is to venture out of tradition, out of consensus of opinion, out of any comfortable settling down.

Formosan Identity and Independence: A Theological Reading

The dissertation addressed the complex political identity of Formosans through a theological lens:

National Independence — Political: The Formosan Independence Movement was fundamentally a self-preservation movement of the island’s 14 million people willing neither to be ruled by the Chinese Communists nor to be destroyed by the Chinese Nationalist regime. The vast majority of Formosans in the U.S. hoped to remain abroad until their home island became a democratic republic safe from both Nationalist and Communist rule.

Personal Independence — Psychological: Drawing on Yukichi Fukuzawa’s insight that “when a person is independent, a nation is independent,” Lai argued that spiritual and mental independence of the person and political independence of the nation are indivisible. Only when independent persons participate in nation-building can the nation itself attain independence.

Ethnos as a Vital Dimension: Every ethnic group builds up its own unique identity. Formosan study should be separated from Chinese study, since modern Formosan is very different from Chinese in terms of cultural experience and political interests. Formosan peculiarities should not be disregarded.

Colonialism and Alienation: Drawing on liberation theology (particularly Paulo Freire’s concepts), Lai described how Formosans experienced a “colonial relationship” in which the powerful dominated and controlled the lives of the weak and powerless. Formosan consciousness was “domesticated by the situation” — unable to be the subject, deprived of a sense of direction and of historical vocation. They were not simply without freedom; they were made without-freedom.

Hope as the Basis of the Independence Movement: Lai observed that “according to percentage there are more Christians than non-Christians involved in the Formosan Independence Movement.” He concluded that “the phenomenon was from a Biblical Hope Movement” — Formosan activists identified contemporary Formosan history with the Israelite Exodus, and identified themselves with biblical characters such as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and Jesus. The theology of hope was, in his analysis, the driving force behind the political movement.

The Church’s Role in Identity Negotiation

The church served as a space where Formosan immigrants could negotiate their identity on multiple levels:

  • Between Formosa and America: Formosans in the U.S. were “even more Formosan than Formosans in Formosa” — they began to appreciate their folk music, kept their home-town newspapers, and searched for identity in their cultural heritage
  • Between Christians and non-Christians: Half of church attendees were non-Christians searching for fellowship and the enlightenment of Christian faith
  • Between integration and differentiation: The church affirmed that “without differentiation, there is no integration” — cultural integrity required both maintaining identity and engaging with the broader society
  • Between the personal and the political: The church provided a space where the political tensions of the independence movement could be held alongside spiritual formation

Later History and Community Record

Acceptance as a Session (1973)

The church’s own memoir material records that on May 20, 1973 FPCLA became the first Taiwanese church in the United States accepted as a session (堂會) by the PC(USA) — TAH record 295. This is a later organizational stage than the Presbytery’s September 28, 1971 approval of the proposed organization documented above.

First-Elder Testimony (Prof. Sze-Ya Yeh)

Co-founder |Prof. Sze-Ya Yeh (葉思雅教授) recalled that after moving to Los Angeles in 1969 and organizing the Taiwanese-language congregation with fellow Formosan Christians, the group chose to join the American Presbyterian Church “because their organization is solid and their thought is open” (組織堅固，思想開通). When FPCLA was accepted as a formal member by the Pacific Presbytery (太平洋中會), Yeh was elected its first ruling elder (第一任長老) — TAH record 61, “創設 TARSA 的心路歷程”.

  • HOLD: presbytery name — the founding account above names the Presbytery of Los Angeles Southwest (1971 approval), while Yeh’s memoir names the Pacific Presbytery (formal membership). Presbytery reorganization may reconcile these; not auto-merged.

Evergreen Fellowship (長青會) and the林天民 Lectureship

From the mid-2000s, returnee members formed 長青會 (Evergreen Fellowship), a fellowship of retreat (退修會) alumni that met weekly Thursday with open, non-sectarian study themes. |Prof. Tian-Min Lin (林天民教授) lectured monthly on the world’s five religions, drawing large crowds — and, per Yeh’s memoir, a 2009 session ruling declaring his faith “heterodox” that led the fellowship’s officers to resign in protest. See record 61 and TAH record 2 (退修會); also presbyterian-church-la.

Music and Anniversary Record

  • January 21, 1995 — the Joint Formosan Presbyterian Church Choir (福爾摩沙長老教會聯合合唱團) performed Mendelssohn’s Saint Paul (孟德爾頌 神劇-聖保羅) in Los Angeles, evidence of the church-music network FPCLA seeded across Southern California — TAH record 71.
  • 2020 — the 50th-anniversary history The Path of Grace was published for FPCLA’s golden jubilee — TAH record 231 / English edition.
  • 2000 — a 30th-anniversary commemorative special edition, 洛杉磯台灣基督長老教會三十週年紀念特刊, is held in the TAH corpus — TAH record 182. Its title (matching 30 years from the 1970 founding) records the FPCLA lineage under the later name 洛杉磯台灣基督長老教會 (Los Angeles Taiwanese Presbyterian Church); bibliographic record only, full text in vault.
  • 2016 — a community retrospective recalls that during the campaign around the 1990 U.S. Census, the church hosted the organizing meeting for the Taiwanese American Committee on the Census (TACL) effort and reported the outcome to 40+ SoCal associations — evidence of the church’s continuing role as a community convening venue — TAH record 253.
  • The church’s building stood near the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and La Brea Avenue in west Los Angeles, described in the 50th-anniversary retrospective as a towering church “standing here for 50 years” — record 231.

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