Echopedia

Pastor Pingtung Lai (賴炳烔)

5 min read

Pastor Pingtung Lai (賴炳烔)

Pastor Pingtung Lai (賴炳烔, Lai Ping-tung) was a Taiwanese Presbyterian pastor, Bible Society pioneer, and evangelist. He was a student of Dr. Barclay at Tainan Theological College and Seminary (TTCS), built Beigang Church, founded United Bible Societies work in Taiwan, and established Good Friend Mission. His son, |Dr. Albert S. Lai (賴信雄), documented this heritage in the Self-Preface material tied to |Toward A Community of Hope (1971 / 2025 reprint).

Identity Snapshot

  • Full name: 賴炳烔 (Lai Ping-tung / Pastor Pingtung Lai)
  • Era: ~1914–1990s (active ministry c. 1936–1990s)
  • Geography: Taiwan (Huwei, Chingliao, Beigang, Taichung, Tainan) → assisted US church establishment
  • Education: TTCS 1932–1936 (student council president 1935–1936); Nanking Theological Seminary
  • Core roles: Presbyterian pastor; Bible Society founder; evangelist; Good Friend Mission pioneer

Life & Ministry (three stages)

Additions from 蔡榮芳〈憶往事〉(2026-06-02, via Albert LINE 2026-10-23 — attributed, pending): 蔡 gives lifespan (1913–2015) and calls him 台灣最長壽的牧師 — conflicts with this page’s ~1914–1990s snapshot; HOLD both until the 2011 biography below is checked. Beigang pastorate dated 1944–1956. The Beigang church was built on a ¥1,000,000 (old) loan from 王吟貴 — 北港農會會長, 京都大學出身, 媽祖廟董事長, local gentry — famously repaid for ~NT$25 after the 1949 old→new currency reform (40,000:1). 北港中學校長 林新村 invited him to teach there (蔡’s two elder sisters were his students). Wife 牧師娘陳錦碧 (d. 1999): 高等女學校 + 師範學校 in the Japanese era — elite education for her generation; portrait per Albert’s own 《憶牧師娘》. Named book to acquire/check: 賴炳烔口述、黃莉雯編撰，《凡事感謝——賴炳烔牧師傳道記事》，天恩出版社，2011.

南神 friendship (Albert LINE 2026-10-24, author-attested): 「他（許贊育）和我爸爸當年是台南神學院前後期的同學，兩個人是好朋友」 — 賴炳烔 and |許贊育 were near-contemporaries at TTCS and close friends; Albert entered 萊園 on 許贊育’s recommendation. Cross-check: this page says 賴炳烔 TTCS 1932–1936, 許贊育 1931–1935 — overlapping years, consistent with 「前後期」; promote to published once TTCS alumni records confirm.

  1. Pastoral ministry — Huwei, Chingliao, Ailan (Wu-niu-lan), Beigang (built church); Centennial Doubling Campaign evangelistic officer; assisted US church planting
  2. Bible missions — founded United Bible Societies work in Taiwan from Beigang, then Taichung office/warehouse; translation/distribution; advisory network including KMT-era Christian officials (e.g. 張群, |周聯華, 馬壽華)
  3. Post-retirement evangelism — Taiwan International Missions; Good Friend Mission (勵友中心) continued by second generation

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

Education

  • Tainan Theological College and Seminary (TTCS) — 1932–1936; student council president (1935–1936)
  • Nanking Theological Seminary — pursued further studies

Timeline

  • 1932–1936 — Student at TTCS; elected student council president in final year (1935–1936)
  • 1935 — Dr. Barclay died October 5; his father and classmates carried the coffin at the funeral
  • Post-1936 — Pastored in Huwei, Chingliao, Wu-niu-lan (Ailan), and Beigang; built Beigang Church
  • Early-mid 1940s — Centennial Doubling Campaign evangelistic officer
  • 1940s–1950s — Founded United Bible Societies work in Taiwan from Beigang; moved to Taichung office/warehouse
  • 1950s–1960s — Post-retirement evangelism; Taiwan International Missions; Good Friend Mission (勵友中心)
  • 1960s–1970s — Assisted US church planting; father of Dr. Albert S. Lai

Works

albert-s-lai has 1 article where they appear in the title and 0 additional articles that mention them in the body.

Title Mentions (1 article)

  1. 2025 — |Toward A Community of Hope (2025 Self-Preface) — father of Albert Lai; TTCS; Bible Society

Publications

  • 1971 — Referenced in Dr. Albert S. Lai’s dissertation Toward A Community of Hope — A Mission to Formosan Community in Los Angeles (San Francisco Theological Seminary). Pingtung Lai is documented as Albert Lai’s father and a TTCS/Bible Society pioneer.
  • 2025 — Referenced in the 50th anniversary republication of Toward A Community of Hope with NTPC/PCT forewords.

Quotes

“Pastor Pingtung Lai (賴炳烔) is my father, and he was a student of Dr. Barclay.” — Dr. Albert S. Lai, Self-Preface

“He attended Tainan Theological College and Seminary(TTCS) from 1932 to 1936. In the academic year of 1935-1936, which was his final year at the TTCS, he was elected as the president of the student council.” — Dr. Albert S. Lai, Self-Preface

Network

Pages that link to pingtung-lai (pingtung-lai):

People (1)

  1. albert-s-lai

Organizations (1)

  1. formosan-presbyterian-church-in-los-angeles

Sources (1)

  1. toward-a-community-of-hope

Source Notes and Confidence

  • Content priority A: Name, TTCS years, three-stage structure, Beigang/UBS/Good Friend, Barclay funeral 1935 student-council role (Albert Self-Preface)
  • Needs verification: Exact birth/death dates

Name Variants / Disambiguation

  • 賴炳烔 · Lai Ping-tung · Pastor Pingtung Lai
  • Father of Dr. Albert S. Lai (賴信雄)

Graph View

Backlinks