By Matthew Bell
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. – When worshippers show up at Pastor Johnny Yue's Sunday morning Cantonese-language service at the Bay Area Chinese Bible Church, they're not seeking fiery moralistic evangelism or profound philosophical dialectics.
Instead, Yue ministers to the faithful with everyday wisdom on practical matters of the spirit.
Like most Christian services, this one begins in song. Traditional Chinese characters appear on a huge retractable projector screen above the pulpit to prompt attendants with the lyrics for each musical number. A sharply-dressed young woman in black at a grand piano and a man in a smart suit playing at once emcee and conductor goad the congregation into participating.
On a slightly elevated platform and surrounded by various electronic gadgetry, a man makes an audio recording from the back of the auditorium. Tapes of today's and other lectures by Pastor Yue will be available for sale after the service for $2. Bibles go for $10.
This is one of the largest Chinese churches in the country, according to church literature, with an overall Sunday attendance of about 800. Most of the faithful gathered today, close to 200 in all, like Pastor Yue, are from Hong Kong originally. Others come from families with roots in Cantonese-speaking areas of southern China. They have come to Cantonese worship from all over the east side of the San Francisco Bay this morning, from as far away as Lafayette in Contra Costa County, to hear Pastor Yue preach.
Carol and her husband have been coming to the church for four months, Bibles in hand, and they're not even Christians. They just like to listen to Pastor Yue. Carol is delighted to translate today s sermon.
"He's saying that you'll be happy if you concentrate on the happiness of others," she explains, whispering in a back pew to a reporter.
On this day, Pastor Yue looks like he could be speaking at a corporate board meeting. He wears a pinstriped, charcoal, double-breasted suit and a tie with broad red and navy stripes. Indeed, with a degree in business from the University of California at Berkeley and years of experience in the corporate world, he'd be just as comfortable in a boardroom.
Yue has been preaching here for seven years and his presence at the pulpit and his rapport with the faithful is immediately apparent, even to non-Cantonese
READ ON: Pastor Yue has them laughing in the aisles
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Coming soon
In
late May, journalism students from
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