State of the UNION
WE HAVE A WEBSITE! YES!!! Before I give the address, gotta give it up for three guys: Rich Kong, the architect who built this site out of thin air through a ridiculous amount of hard work and innovative thinking; Dan So, who poured his heart into taking our logo concept and making it a reality; and Ray “Swayy” Oh, who is our webmaster. Because of you three, UNIONRESTORATION.ORG LIVES!!! Please read the article below this one to learn about navigating the site… Now to the State of the Union:
If there was a URC history book for my time here, there would be three chapters: Chapter 1 was “ER” (2006-2007), when we were like a church in the Emergency Room, struggling to survive on a week-to-week basis. We had about six consistent people, and since two were leading praise and one was running PowerPoint, it was usually me and two other people in worship service. I always had a Plan B for church activities because if a couple of people didn’t show up, it would just be Grace, me, and one or two people. We’d go to Plan B, which was always going out to eat. For our first two retreats, we were small enough that our worship services were literally in a… garage. We were spiritual infants just trying to survive.
Chapter 2 (2008) was “Zero Out,” when we made it out of critical condition and could really just go with Plan A. A couple of Youth Group students joined us, a few returned to church after years away, and others came for the first time and gave their lives to Jesus. People started taking ownership and stepped up in their own way to serve the Lord. Finally, we committed to discipleship as the foundation of our church, and in our discipleship relationships, the combination of vulnerability and non-judgmental acceptance led to a realness that I’ve never seen in a church.
Chapter 3 (2009…) is “Rise Up!” This was the theme of our winter retreat, and it’s time to go from defense to offense. This is a new era for our church: new year, new website, new name. This is a chapter where we believe God is raising up leaders, blessing our outreach efforts, and expanding our family like never before. Our name has changed from Union English Ministry to Union Restoration Chapel, our identity as a church body. The picture above is the first draft of a logo that Tae developed, and it’s of a stained glass cross, symbolizing all of us as broken pieces restored to wholeness in Christ. Our ministry is about the Good News that all can find restoration spiritually, physically, emotionally, and relationally in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Throughout our time, God has given us a strong sense of family and the clear mission of “loving our God, loving our neighbors.” Let’s love one another and bring people into our family, and watch as they’re restored by the grace of God.
It’s clear that the author of these three chapters is none other than the Lord. He carried us out of the ER, He helped us stand on our own two feet again, and He’s calling us to rise up now! Let’s answer His call and make this a chapter that people will want to read over and over again.
