On the early morning of March 17, Mr. Sun Jinbiao, the conductor of Zhangzhou Beimen Church, passed away at the age of 69. I can't help recalling the past when we met and got to know each other.
On the Tomb-Sweeping Day in 2005, I accompanied my second brother, Rev. Lin Muzhong (who had returned from being abroad), to visit the Zhangzhou Dongbanhou Church where my deceased uncle Rev. Lin Qinmin served and then Beimen Church which was under construction in Zhangzhou city.
During the meeting, Mr. Sun introduced himself, "I'm Wen Lin's friend Sun Jinbiao, and my mother often went to Dongbanhou Church for worship before the Cultural Revolution. She often mentioned your uncle pastor Lin Qinmin..." This was the first time I met Sun. Later I learned that during the "Cultural Revolution" in 1966, Peking Opera was the only opera that could be passed down in the country. When the Zhangzhou Peking Opera Troupe was also established, the young Sun Jinbiao (born in 1953), particularly good at playing the flute, was recruited into the Peking Opera Troupe together with Wen Lin, who played the cello. As the Peking Opera Troupe was disbanded after the Cultural Revolution, Sun attended the Music Department of the Fuzhou Normal University. After his graduation, he returned to the Zhangzhou Normal University Music Department as a teacher and head of the department. In 2003, he retired to serve at Beimen Church as the conductor of the choir.
The year 2014 marked the 140th anniversary of the founding of the Banzai Church in Pinghe County, Fujian Province, the hometown of world literature master Lin Yutang. The church invited the Beimen Church Choir to participate in the celebration. At 6:00 am, setting off from Beimen Church, they drove 70 kilometers to Banzai. At the ceremony, Rev. Lin Muzhong preached a sermon with the title "The Axe Is Borrowed".
The Beimen Church Choir directed by Mr. Sun and choirs of Dongbanhou Church, Xiaoxi Church, and Banzai Church in Zhangzhou sang at the ceremony, which won waves of applause from thousands of believers at home and abroad!
When Mr. Sun learned that our relatives at home and abroad who were the descendants of Lin Wenfeng (a preacher) 's family were going to hold a memorial service at the ancestral tomb of the Lin family in Xiaoxihulu Mountain after the ceremony, he took the initiative to attend the memorial service with the choir. At the memorial service, praise echoed throughout the mountain.
On Sunday, November 11, 2018, Rev. Huang Lihong of Beimen Church was invited by Fuzhou Guanxiang Church to preach, accompanied by the Beimen Church choir. When we met again after more than four years, Sun was obviously a little emaciated. He told me, "Due to illness, it's been two months since the surgery, and I'm still undergoing chemotherapy. Thank the Lord who always watches over me. I'm recovering well as the surgery went well..." My colleague told me Sun went back to the church to train the choir after he was discharged from hospital and that he insisted on taking the choir to Fuzhou by himself. Sun said that it was the grace of God for him to perform in Fuzhou, so he did not want to glorify the name of the choir, but to glorify the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ and to spread the gospel.
Early on the morning of March 17, Wen Lin sent me a message on WeChat, "Sun (the choir conductor of Beimen Church) returned to heaven in the morning..."
On March 18, Sun's memorial service was held in Beimen Church.
- Translated by Leo Liu
3月17日清早，漳州基督教北门堂圣歌团指挥孙锦标老师于当天早上离世归主。禁不住回想起我们之间相识、相知的往事。
2005年清明节，我陪二哥林慕忠牧师（从国外回来））又一次参访伯父曾侍奉过的漳州东坂后礼拜堂，参观建设中的的漳州北门堂，席间，孙老师自我介绍：“我是文霖兄的朋友孙锦标，文革前我妈经常到东坂后礼拜，她经常提起你大伯林钦敏牧师……”这是我第一次认识孙老师。后来我才知道，1966年“文化大革命”时期，京剧是全国唯一得以传承的剧种，漳州地区也成立了漳州京剧团，年少的孙锦标（1953年出生）吹笛子特别好，和拉大提琴的文霖弟一起被招进京剧团当演奏员。文革结束，京剧团解散，孙锦标考进福师院音系系，毕业后回漳州师范音系系任教师、系主任，2003年退休到漳州北门侍奉，任圣歌团指挥。
2014年是世界文学大师林语堂故乡福建省平和坂仔基督教堂建堂140周年，教堂邀请漳州北门堂圣歌团参加庆典。4月17日早上六点，他们从漳州北门堂出发，自驾行驶70公里到达坂仔。庆典会上，林慕忠牧师以《斧子是借来的》为题讲道。
孙老师指挥的北门堂圣歌团和漳州东坂后圣歌困、小溪堂会、坂仔堂等诗班在庆典会上献唱，搏得与会的海内外的千余名兄弟姐妹的一阵阵掌声！
孙老师得知我们林文枫家族后代的海内外亲人将在庆典后的下午，在小溪葫芦山林家祖坟举行追思礼拜，便主动告诉我，他和北门堂诗班全体团员也要参加，追思会上赞美声回响整个山头。
2018年11月11日（主日）漳州基督教北门堂黄立红牧师应福州基督教观巷堂的邀请讲道，孙锦辉指挥的北门堂圣歌团也随同访问。时隔四年多我们又见面，孙老师明显有些消瘦，他告诉我：“因病，刚做完手术还没二个月，仍在化疗中，感谢主！主时刻在看顾我，手术很顺利，恢复很好………”同行的弟兄告诉我，孙老师手术出院后就到堂抓紧圣歌团训练，他坚持一定要亲自带圣歌团到福州，他说这次能到福州上台演出是神的恩典，不是要借机显扬圣歌团的名声，而是要荣耀主耶稣基督的圣名，传扬救恩！
3月17日大清早，文霖弟的发来徽信：“孙老师（北门教会圣歌团指挥）早上回天家了……”。
3月18日漳州北门堂举行孙锦标追思会！
缅怀漳州基督教北门堂圣歌团指挥孙锦标老师
On the early morning of March 17, Mr. Sun Jinbiao, the conductor of Zhangzhou Beimen Church, passed away at the age of 69. I can't help recalling the past when we met and got to know each other.
On the Tomb-Sweeping Day in 2005, I accompanied my second brother, Rev. Lin Muzhong (who had returned from being abroad), to visit the Zhangzhou Dongbanhou Church where my deceased uncle Rev. Lin Qinmin served and then Beimen Church which was under construction in Zhangzhou city.
During the meeting, Mr. Sun introduced himself, "I'm Wen Lin's friend Sun Jinbiao, and my mother often went to Dongbanhou Church for worship before the Cultural Revolution. She often mentioned your uncle pastor Lin Qinmin..." This was the first time I met Sun. Later I learned that during the "Cultural Revolution" in 1966, Peking Opera was the only opera that could be passed down in the country. When the Zhangzhou Peking Opera Troupe was also established, the young Sun Jinbiao (born in 1953), particularly good at playing the flute, was recruited into the Peking Opera Troupe together with Wen Lin, who played the cello. As the Peking Opera Troupe was disbanded after the Cultural Revolution, Sun attended the Music Department of the Fuzhou Normal University. After his graduation, he returned to the Zhangzhou Normal University Music Department as a teacher and head of the department. In 2003, he retired to serve at Beimen Church as the conductor of the choir.
The year 2014 marked the 140th anniversary of the founding of the Banzai Church in Pinghe County, Fujian Province, the hometown of world literature master Lin Yutang. The church invited the Beimen Church Choir to participate in the celebration. At 6:00 am, setting off from Beimen Church, they drove 70 kilometers to Banzai. At the ceremony, Rev. Lin Muzhong preached a sermon with the title "The Axe Is Borrowed".
The Beimen Church Choir directed by Mr. Sun and choirs of Dongbanhou Church, Xiaoxi Church, and Banzai Church in Zhangzhou sang at the ceremony, which won waves of applause from thousands of believers at home and abroad!
When Mr. Sun learned that our relatives at home and abroad who were the descendants of Lin Wenfeng (a preacher) 's family were going to hold a memorial service at the ancestral tomb of the Lin family in Xiaoxihulu Mountain after the ceremony, he took the initiative to attend the memorial service with the choir. At the memorial service, praise echoed throughout the mountain.
On Sunday, November 11, 2018, Rev. Huang Lihong of Beimen Church was invited by Fuzhou Guanxiang Church to preach, accompanied by the Beimen Church choir. When we met again after more than four years, Sun was obviously a little emaciated. He told me, "Due to illness, it's been two months since the surgery, and I'm still undergoing chemotherapy. Thank the Lord who always watches over me. I'm recovering well as the surgery went well..." My colleague told me Sun went back to the church to train the choir after he was discharged from hospital and that he insisted on taking the choir to Fuzhou by himself. Sun said that it was the grace of God for him to perform in Fuzhou, so he did not want to glorify the name of the choir, but to glorify the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ and to spread the gospel.
Early on the morning of March 17, Wen Lin sent me a message on WeChat, "Sun (the choir conductor of Beimen Church) returned to heaven in the morning..."
On March 18, Sun's memorial service was held in Beimen Church.
- Translated by Leo Liu
In Memory of Choir Conductor in Fujian Church
