This morning, Pastor Cai sent me a WeChat message saying, "Elder Xu Yongzong of Puyi Church has been in heaven for a month..." I couldn't believe my eyes.
The first impression that Elder Xu gave me was that he seemed to be a church doorman, a handyman, etc. I didn't know that he was the elder and director of the church until I planned the 120th-anniversary celebration of Puyi church with the pastor and deacons.
Elder Xu Yongzong was born in March 1952 and his ancestors were all Christians. In 1990, he led his whole family to Jesus Christ and had been serving in the church since then. In 1995, he was ordained as the deacon of Puyi Church. In 1997, he was elected as the vice director of the church committee. In 2005, he was elected as the director of the new church committee and ordained as the elder of the Puyi Church. He stepped down in 2021 when he reached retirement age, but he had been helping the new director much.
During his fifteen years of service as the director of the church administrative board for three consecutive terms, Puyi Church was awarded the honor of "2005 Model Religious Activity Site for Contributing to Building a Harmonious Society" by Zhangpu County Religious Affairs Bureau.
Elder Xu's education level was not very high, but he had the will to study and improve himself. He seized the opportunity of the sixth volunteer training course held by the City Christian Council in Puyi Church in 2008 to participate in the training and study, and he was selected as the monitor. After graduation, he was invited to serve as a volunteer preacher to assist the pastor in preparing the Sunday afternoon sermons and visiting ministries. Until 2018, he ended his preaching service according to the pastoral retirement system, but his ministry of visitation and caring for believers did not stop. While doing his own job at Puyi Church, he also cared about the rural church in the county and helped to build the rural churches.
During the nearly three years of the epidemic, in order to keep believers from leaving the church, he humbly learned from other churches and made Sunday sermon videos with simple photographic equipment together with the church pastor and preachers, making Puyi Church the first county-level Christian church in Zhangzhou that can conduct Sunday worship online.
Over the years, he worked diligently until he was unable to work due to illness. He went to heaven on April 20, 2022, at the age of seventy-one.
Puyi Church held a memorial service for him, and more than 500 believers saw him off.
- Translated by Luke Liu
今天上午，蔡传道发来微信说：“浦邑堂许永宗长老已回天家了一个月……” 我有点不相信自己的眼晴。
他给我的第一个印象，他好像是礼拜堂的门卫、打杂工……在同堂会牧师、执事共同策划浦邑堂建堂120周年庆典的讨论时才知道他原来是这个堂会的长老、主任。
许永宗长老于1952年3月出生，他的前辈都是信主，1990年他蒙恩带领全家归信耶稣基督，从此参与教会侍奉。1995年被按立为浦邑堂执事，1997年被选为堂委会副主任，2005年被选为新一届堂委会主任并被按立为浦邑堂会的长老，直到2021年因到了退休年龄，退下主任位置，但他一直帮助新的主任很多工作。
在他连续三届被选为堂委主任的十五年事奉中，浦邑堂被漳浦县民宗局授予“2005年为构建和谐社会做贡献模范宗教活动场所”等殊荣。
许永宗长老文化底子虽然不是很厚，但他有刻苦学习追求进步的心志，他抓住2008年市基督教两会在浦邑堂举办第六期义工进修班的机会，参加培训学习，被选为班长。结业后又应邀以义工传道的身份，协助牧师作好主日下午讲台和探访牧养工作，直到2018年依照教牧退休制度结束讲道事奉，但他探访关心信徒的事工并没停止。在做好浦邑堂本职一切工作的同时，也关心全县乡村基层教会，帮助兴建乡村教会。
近三年的疫情期间，为了让信徒不离开教会这个家，自己他虚心向别的教会学习，与堂会牧师、传道一道，用简陋的摄影器材，亲自当导演、摄影师，自编、自制主日讲道视频，使得浦邑堂成为漳州地区第一个能在线上进行主日崇拜的县一级基督教堂。
近些年，他勤奋地工作，直至病倒。于2022年4月20日归回天家，享年七十一岁。
浦邑堂为他举行追思礼拜，500多位兄弟姐妹为他送最后一程
怀念福建漳浦县浦邑堂许永宗长老
This morning, Pastor Cai sent me a WeChat message saying, "Elder Xu Yongzong of Puyi Church has been in heaven for a month..." I couldn't believe my eyes.
The first impression that Elder Xu gave me was that he seemed to be a church doorman, a handyman, etc. I didn't know that he was the elder and director of the church until I planned the 120th-anniversary celebration of Puyi church with the pastor and deacons.
Elder Xu Yongzong was born in March 1952 and his ancestors were all Christians. In 1990, he led his whole family to Jesus Christ and had been serving in the church since then. In 1995, he was ordained as the deacon of Puyi Church. In 1997, he was elected as the vice director of the church committee. In 2005, he was elected as the director of the new church committee and ordained as the elder of the Puyi Church. He stepped down in 2021 when he reached retirement age, but he had been helping the new director much.
During his fifteen years of service as the director of the church administrative board for three consecutive terms, Puyi Church was awarded the honor of "2005 Model Religious Activity Site for Contributing to Building a Harmonious Society" by Zhangpu County Religious Affairs Bureau.
Elder Xu's education level was not very high, but he had the will to study and improve himself. He seized the opportunity of the sixth volunteer training course held by the City Christian Council in Puyi Church in 2008 to participate in the training and study, and he was selected as the monitor. After graduation, he was invited to serve as a volunteer preacher to assist the pastor in preparing the Sunday afternoon sermons and visiting ministries. Until 2018, he ended his preaching service according to the pastoral retirement system, but his ministry of visitation and caring for believers did not stop. While doing his own job at Puyi Church, he also cared about the rural church in the county and helped to build the rural churches.
During the nearly three years of the epidemic, in order to keep believers from leaving the church, he humbly learned from other churches and made Sunday sermon videos with simple photographic equipment together with the church pastor and preachers, making Puyi Church the first county-level Christian church in Zhangzhou that can conduct Sunday worship online.
Over the years, he worked diligently until he was unable to work due to illness. He went to heaven on April 20, 2022, at the age of seventy-one.
Puyi Church held a memorial service for him, and more than 500 believers saw him off.
- Translated by Luke Liu
Remembering Fujian Puyi Church Elder Xu Yongzong
