The Background History of Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church (PBBC)
The Relationship between Burmese Christians and American Baptist Churches.
Christians in Burma (Myanmar as it is called now) are the fruits of the relentless and committed labor of Rev. Dr. Adoniram Judson who sowed the seed of the Gospel among the people of Burma and established the Baptist mission in Burma. Since then, the Burma Baptist Convention (presently called Myanmar Baptist Convention) has had a strong historic relationship with the American Baptist Churches. In addition, there were many other American Baptist missionaries, commissioned by the Baptist Board of Foreign Mission, who came to all the corners of Burma and sowed the seed of the gospel by sacrificing their precious lives. God blesses the seed and now, 6.5 percent of the population are Christians in Burma, the blossoms of the American Baptist Mission.
The Formation of Diasporan Burmese Churches in the United States.
The people from Burma came to the United States for a variety of reasons. The rate of migration started to pick up after the military took over Burma, from the democratic civilian government in the early sixties. The military ruled the country under a one party system called “The Burmese Way to Socialism.” The changes in the political, economic, educational and social systems and the restriction on religions made many citizens unhappy. People started to move to countries where they can live and raise their families in a free and democratic society. United States is one of them. There was a sudden increase in the rate of entry of the Burmese citizens to the United States after the military government clamped down on the pro-democratic movement of the people in August, 1988. Political opponents were put in jails and thousands of students, who took part in the movement, were forced to flee to neighboring countries to escape persecution. The people from Burma settled all over the United States. Many of them are Christian and assimilated into American Churches. In certain cities and parts of the United States there is a good size in the population of people from Burma. Eventually, they come to realize the need for Burmese speaking churches. The Burmese churches were born and there are now about fifty Burmese churches in the United States.
Conceiving Period.
The Philad
elphia Burmese Baptist Church was preceded by the Pennsylvania-New Jersey Burmese Christian Fellowship, which was conceived between 1992 to 1996. This was when Rev. Dr. Yahalaylayla was a student at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, currently called Palmer Theological Seminary. There were occasional gatherings and fellowship prayer meetings. At the time, the Fellowship was like a Karen Fellowship that organized the Karen people and they worshiped in Karen language. Karen is one of the ethnic groups in Burma. When Rev. Dr. Yahalaylayla completed his studies and returned to Burma (Myanmar), these meetings ceased.
In November 2001, with the arrival of Rev. Saw Ler Htoo, Pastor of the Calvary Burmese Church in Washington D.C., the fellowship prayer meetings were revived through his leadership. To make it more regular this time, it was decided that the prayer meetings be h
eld once a month at the homes of those who wanted to host the meetings since there was no permanent place of worship.
From then on Rev. Saw Ler Htoo came over from Washington D.C. each month to lead the service. The prayer meetings were held on Saturdays as he had his duties at his church on Sundays. The Pennsylvania Burmese Christian Fellowship, as it was called at first, has been blessed with D.Min. Students. Saw Lincoln who was attending the Virginia Theological Seminary, Rev. U Aye Min and Khin Kyu Kyu who were studying at the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Palmer Theological Seminary) took turns in leading the services. This eased the burden for Rev. Saw Ler Htoo from traveling back and forth between Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania to lead the prayer meetings.
Since members from New Jersey were also participating in the fellowship, the Working Committee decided to rename the Fellowship as Pennsylvania-New Jersey Burmese Christian Fellowship (PA-NJ BCF). Through God’s blessings the Fellowship has about twenty five regular members and it is thriving.
On October 2, 2004 before a regular monthly prayer meeting, members of the PA-NJ Burmese Christian Fellowship held a meeting, and unanimously agreed on the following:
1. To engage Saw Lincoln as the Fellowship’s Clergy Leader for the period of his stay in the USA (about two and a half years) and to support him with monthly love offerings starting from January 2005. To make this successful, it was decided to request each individual or each family of the Burmese Christian Community to make pledges on a monthly basis for this love offering.
2. To carry out the programs of the Fellowship more effectively, a Working Committee comprising of the following Office members was formed:
Chairman : Harold Cribb
Vice-Chairman : Dr. Batunkyi
Secretary : Saw Myat Oo
Joint Secretary: Ciin Khan Maan Sukte
Treasurer : Emerald Cribb
Joint-Treasurer: Swezin Than Tun (The Hsu)
On November 16, 2004, Rev. U Aye Min and Sayama Daw Khin Kyu Kyu were added to the Working Committee. San No Thaun, a PhD student at Lutheran Theological Seminary, Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA, was admitted to the Working Committee at a committee meeting on November 12, 2005. He is a former lecturer of Myanmar Institute of Theology, Insein, Myanmar.
Some of these office bearers were later re-assigned responsibilities according to their time and talent as follows. Emerald Cribb was re-assigned as Secretary, and Saw Myat Oo was given the responsibility of Treasurer. In 2005, these officers met and drew up the aims and objectives of the Fellowship and designated Isaiah 43:10 “We are witnesses of God” as our motto.
The Fellowship not only held its own meetings but also had fellowship with other Burmese Churches in the neighboring States, like New York, Washington DC, Boston etc. An annual One-day Retreat was held in August every year.
In 2006, the Fellowship started to consider having regular Sunday worship service and tried to look for a place to have it. At that time, it was learned that refugees would be arriving from Thai-Burma border to Philadelphia. That gave the Fellowship a more concrete reason to have the regular service and to build a congregation so that when the refugees arrive they would have a Church to go to. Ko Saw Oo and Ta Blu Htoo opened up their house at 409 Ritner Street, Philadelphia PA 19148 for the weekly Sunday service, and in July 2006, worship service on Sunday every week led by Thra Lincoln was started. Communion Service was held every last Sunday of the month led by Rev. Aye Min, who was doing his Doctorate in Ministry at the Lutheran Theological Seminary.
After the departure of Thra Lincoln, it seemed that the Fellowship would be without a pastor, so everyone was prepared to take turns sharing and giving testimonies each Sunday. However, God has not forsaken us. He sent Pastor San No Thuan to the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). On the request of the members, he willingly and gladly accepted to take the place of Thra Lincoln while attending the Seminary. So the Fellowship was again blessed with a pastor.
By this time, our brothers and sisters from the Burma-Thai border refugee camps started to arrive, and the place of worship became too small for the growing numbers. At this time, there was a desperate search for a place, which would accommodate our small congregation. Under the leadership of Saya San No Thuan, a Church body comprising the Board of Deacons, Youth Committee, Woman Committee, Christian Education Committee etc. was formed, and the church was named “Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church”.
Place of Worship.
At the same time, contact has been made with Rev. Florence Li, National Coordinator for Intercultural Ministries, Asian Churches Strategist (National Ministries) at American Baptist Churches Headquarters in Valley Forge. She paid a visit to the Fellowship a year before when the monthly prayer meeting was held, and since then constantly monitored our programs and tried to look for a place for the Fellowship on several occasions. As the Fellowship was not ready then, the weekly Sunday services were held at 409 Ritner Street. However, as the number of worshippers grew, search for a church was resumed. Again, Rev. Li intervened and contacted Rev. Tom Beers of the Philadelphia Baptist Association. Rev. Beers and Rev. Li visited us on August 19th (Sunday), 2007 and promised to help us find a church that could accommodate us. Rev. Beers eventually brought us in contact with Pastor David Powles and the elders of St. John’s Baptist Church at the corner of Tasker and 13th Streets, Philadelphia. It was felt that God had led us to this church, which has had a history of ministering to immigrants. The Pastor and elders of St. John’s Baptist Church warmly offered us the use of the church, for which the Fellowship would always be grateful.
On September 23, 2007, the very first worship service was held at the church. On October 14, the Office Bearers, elected a month ago, were installed with a consecration service led by Rev. Dr. Cung Lian Hup, the Director of Mission Department of Myanmar Institute of Theology, Burma, who came to Princeton Theological Seminary as a visiting scholar.
In order to meet the expenses of utilities ($ 100 per week) for the use of the Church, an initial contribution from the Philadelphia Baptist Association as well as from the National Ministries of ABC were received. Smaller contributions have also been received from individuals. Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church is still in the process of becoming official with the help of Philadelphia Baptist Association.
In November 2008, with a concerted effort of Saya San No Thuan, PBBC received the EIN (Employer Identification Number) and the Church became official nonprofit organization and a bank account was established in January 2009.
The Relationship between Burmese Christians and American Baptist Churches.
Christians in Burma (Myanmar as it is called now) are the fruits of the relentless and committed labor of Rev. Dr. Adoniram Judson who sowed the seed of the Gospel among the people of Burma and established the Baptist mission in Burma. Since then, the Burma Baptist Convention (presently called Myanmar Baptist Convention) has had a strong historic relationship with the American Baptist Churches. In addition, there were many other American Baptist missionaries, commissioned by the Baptist Board of Foreign Mission, who came to all the corners of Burma and sowed the seed of the gospel by sacrificing their precious lives. God blesses the seed and now, 6.5 percent of the population are Christians in Burma, the blossoms of the American Baptist Mission.
The Formation of Diasporan Burmese Churches in the United States.
The people from Burma came to the United States for a variety of reasons. The rate of migration started to pick up after the military took over Burma, from the democratic civilian government in the early sixties. The military ruled the country under a one party system called “The Burmese Way to Socialism.” The changes in the political, economic, educational and social systems and the restriction on religions made many citizens unhappy. People started to move to countries where they can live and raise their families in a free and democratic society. United States is one of them. There was a sudden increase in the rate of entry of the Burmese citizens to the United States after the military government clamped down on the pro-democratic movement of the people in August, 1988. Political opponents were put in jails and thousands of students, who took part in the movement, were forced to flee to neighboring countries to escape persecution. The people from Burma settled all over the United States. Many of them are Christian and assimilated into American Churches. In certain cities and parts of the United States there is a good size in the population of people from Burma. Eventually, they come to realize the need for Burmese speaking churches. The Burmese churches were born and there are now about fifty Burmese churches in the United States.
Conceiving Period.
The Philad
elphia Burmese Baptist Church was preceded by the Pennsylvania-New Jersey Burmese Christian Fellowship, which was conceived between 1992 to 1996. This was when Rev. Dr. Yahalaylayla was a student at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, currently called Palmer Theological Seminary. There were occasional gatherings and fellowship prayer meetings. At the time, the Fellowship was like a Karen Fellowship that organized the Karen people and they worshiped in Karen language. Karen is one of the ethnic groups in Burma. When Rev. Dr. Yahalaylayla completed his studies and returned to Burma (Myanmar), these meetings ceased.In November 2001, with the arrival of Rev. Saw Ler Htoo, Pastor of the Calvary Burmese Church in Washington D.C., the fellowship prayer meetings were revived through his leadership. To make it more regular this time, it was decided that the prayer meetings be h
eld once a month at the homes of those who wanted to host the meetings since there was no permanent place of worship.From then on Rev. Saw Ler Htoo came over from Washington D.C. each month to lead the service. The prayer meetings were held on Saturdays as he had his duties at his church on Sundays. The Pennsylvania Burmese Christian Fellowship, as it was called at first, has been blessed with D.Min. Students. Saw Lincoln who was attending the Virginia Theological Seminary, Rev. U Aye Min and Khin Kyu Kyu who were studying at the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Palmer Theological Seminary) took turns in leading the services. This eased the burden for Rev. Saw Ler Htoo from traveling back and forth between Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania to lead the prayer meetings.
Since members from New Jersey were also participating in the fellowship, the Working Committee decided to rename the Fellowship as Pennsylvania-New Jersey Burmese Christian Fellowship (PA-NJ BCF). Through God’s blessings the Fellowship has about twenty five regular members and it is thriving.
On October 2, 2004 before a regular monthly prayer meeting, members of the PA-NJ Burmese Christian Fellowship held a meeting, and unanimously agreed on the following:1. To engage Saw Lincoln as the Fellowship’s Clergy Leader for the period of his stay in the USA (about two and a half years) and to support him with monthly love offerings starting from January 2005. To make this successful, it was decided to request each individual or each family of the Burmese Christian Community to make pledges on a monthly basis for this love offering.
2. To carry out the programs of the Fellowship more effectively, a Working Committee comprising of the following Office members was formed:
Chairman : Harold Cribb
Vice-Chairman : Dr. Batunkyi
Secretary : Saw Myat Oo
Joint Secretary: Ciin Khan Maan Sukte
Treasurer : Emerald Cribb
Joint-Treasurer: Swezin Than Tun (The Hsu)
On November 16, 2004, Rev. U Aye Min and Sayama Daw Khin Kyu Kyu were added to the Working Committee. San No Thaun, a PhD student at Lutheran Theological Seminary, Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA, was admitted to the Working Committee at a committee meeting on November 12, 2005. He is a former lecturer of Myanmar Institute of Theology, Insein, Myanmar.
Some of these office bearers were later re-assigned responsibilities according to their time and talent as follows. Emerald Cribb was re-assigned as Secretary, and Saw Myat Oo was given the responsibility of Treasurer. In 2005, these officers met and drew up the aims and objectives of the Fellowship and designated Isaiah 43:10 “We are witnesses of God” as our motto.
The Fellowship not only held its own meetings but also had fellowship with other Burmese Churches in the neighboring States, like New York, Washington DC, Boston etc. An annual One-day Retreat was held in August every year.
In 2006, the Fellowship started to consider having regular Sunday worship service and tried to look for a place to have it. At that time, it was learned that refugees would be arriving from Thai-Burma border to Philadelphia. That gave the Fellowship a more concrete reason to have the regular service and to build a congregation so that when the refugees arrive they would have a Church to go to. Ko Saw Oo and Ta Blu Htoo opened up their house at 409 Ritner Street, Philadelphia PA 19148 for the weekly Sunday service, and in July 2006, worship service on Sunday every week led by Thra Lincoln was started. Communion Service was held every last Sunday of the month led by Rev. Aye Min, who was doing his Doctorate in Ministry at the Lutheran Theological Seminary.
After the departure of Thra Lincoln, it seemed that the Fellowship would be without a pastor, so everyone was prepared to take turns sharing and giving testimonies each Sunday. However, God has not forsaken us. He sent Pastor San No Thuan to the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). On the request of the members, he willingly and gladly accepted to take the place of Thra Lincoln while attending the Seminary. So the Fellowship was again blessed with a pastor.
By this time, our brothers and sisters from the Burma-Thai border refugee camps started to arrive, and the place of worship became too small for the growing numbers. At this time, there was a desperate search for a place, which would accommodate our small congregation. Under the leadership of Saya San No Thuan, a Church body comprising the Board of Deacons, Youth Committee, Woman Committee, Christian Education Committee etc. was formed, and the church was named “Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church”.Place of Worship.
At the same time, contact has been made with Rev. Florence Li, National Coordinator for Intercultural Ministries, Asian Churches Strategist (National Ministries) at American Baptist Churches Headquarters in Valley Forge. She paid a visit to the Fellowship a year before when the monthly prayer meeting was held, and since then constantly monitored our programs and tried to look for a place for the Fellowship on several occasions. As the Fellowship was not ready then, the weekly Sunday services were held at 409 Ritner Street. However, as the number of worshippers grew, search for a church was resumed. Again, Rev. Li intervened and contacted Rev. Tom Beers of the Philadelphia Baptist Association. Rev. Beers and Rev. Li visited us on August 19th (Sunday), 2007 and promised to help us find a church that could accommodate us. Rev. Beers eventually brought us in contact with Pastor David Powles and the elders of St. John’s Baptist Church at the corner of Tasker and 13th Streets, Philadelphia. It was felt that God had led us to this church, which has had a history of ministering to immigrants. The Pastor and elders of St. John’s Baptist Church warmly offered us the use of the church, for which the Fellowship would always be grateful.
On September 23, 2007, the very first worship service was held at the church. On October 14, the Office Bearers, elected a month ago, were installed with a consecration service led by Rev. Dr. Cung Lian Hup, the Director of Mission Department of Myanmar Institute of Theology, Burma, who came to Princeton Theological Seminary as a visiting scholar.
In order to meet the expenses of utilities ($ 100 per week) for the use of the Church, an initial contribution from the Philadelphia Baptist Association as well as from the National Ministries of ABC were received. Smaller contributions have also been received from individuals. Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church is still in the process of becoming official with the help of Philadelphia Baptist Association.
In November 2008, with a concerted effort of Saya San No Thuan, PBBC received the EIN (Employer Identification Number) and the Church became official nonprofit organization and a bank account was established in January 2009.
Meanwhile, the Falam Baptist Church in Frederick, Maryland, was in desperate need of a shepherd who could speak Falam-Chin dialect. Pastor San No who speaks the dialect got called to lead the congregation. He needed to leave PBBC for the Falam Baptist Church in February 2009.
It is believed that God would never leave worshipping congregations without shepherds. La Seng Dingrin, a PhD graduate from Princeton Theological Seminary, took the place of Pastor San No. La Seng was installed and consecrated as an interim pastor at Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church (St. John’s Baptist Church) on June 28, 2009 (Sunday). The service was led by Rev. Dr. Yahalaylayla and Rev. Saw Ler Htoo, both of whom are forerunners of PBBC. The latter gave a charge to the new Pastor and the former led the consecration prayer.
Currently Pastor La Seng is a lecturer at the School of Theology, the Union University of California. He was a member of the faculty of the Myanmar Institute of Theology (MIT), teaching theology for three years before coming to Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey, in September 2001.
Pastor La Seng who is ethnically Kachin believes that it is a blessing from God to minister the congregation composed mainly of Karen Christian diaspora. The Kachins and the Karens had a historical relationship where the latter, along with the American Baptist missionaries like William H. Roberts and Ola Hanson, evangelized the former beginning in 1877. But it is less known to the world that the American missionaries would not have been able to accomplish their mission work among the Kachins without the Karen missionaries who were then acted both as the evangelists and the interpreters. Pastor La Seng also feels honored to pastor the diasporan Church.
PBBC now has new Office Bearers including Christians having Anglican and Seventh Day Adventist background. Even some Buddhists attend Church regularly and take part in Church programs.
It is believed that God would never leave worshipping congregations without shepherds. La Seng Dingrin, a PhD graduate from Princeton Theological Seminary, took the place of Pastor San No. La Seng was installed and consecrated as an interim pastor at Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church (St. John’s Baptist Church) on June 28, 2009 (Sunday). The service was led by Rev. Dr. Yahalaylayla and Rev. Saw Ler Htoo, both of whom are forerunners of PBBC. The latter gave a charge to the new Pastor and the former led the consecration prayer.
Currently Pastor La Seng is a lecturer at the School of Theology, the Union University of California. He was a member of the faculty of the Myanmar Institute of Theology (MIT), teaching theology for three years before coming to Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey, in September 2001.
Pastor La Seng who is ethnically Kachin believes that it is a blessing from God to minister the congregation composed mainly of Karen Christian diaspora. The Kachins and the Karens had a historical relationship where the latter, along with the American Baptist missionaries like William H. Roberts and Ola Hanson, evangelized the former beginning in 1877. But it is less known to the world that the American missionaries would not have been able to accomplish their mission work among the Kachins without the Karen missionaries who were then acted both as the evangelists and the interpreters. Pastor La Seng also feels honored to pastor the diasporan Church.
PBBC now has new Office Bearers including Christians having Anglican and Seventh Day Adventist background. Even some Buddhists attend Church regularly and take part in Church programs.
