Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 106

A day in the life of Penfield SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2006 3 DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE Area Asians gather at Chinese church MARY CHA0 STAFF WRITER As a member of the Rochester Chinese Christian Church for the past three decades, Greece resident Shir building off Jackson Road, immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Malaysia as well as American-born Chinese gather to share and spread God's message. rTTTTTl I i I Services are held in English, Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese to accommodate the diversity of the congregation, said Pas ley Lynn, 60, has seen the congregation change over the years. When she arrived in Rochester in 1974, she sought other yt Lynn Tang tor Herman Tang. About 300 people worship on a weekly basis. The church also hosts family events such as picnics and ping-pong games, ii 1 MjS and it has a nursery for children.

While the church encourages social activities, its mission is clear, said Pastor Mitchell Her Chinese Christians to worship with. The Chinese immigrants back then hailed mostly from Taiwan, with some from Lynn's native Hong Kong. They held Bible study classes at Browncroft Community Church, Lynn recalled. Just about the time when the Rochester Chinese Christian Church moved to Penfield about 15 years ago, a new group of Chinese immigrants from mainland China began arriving in Rochester for jobs at Xerox Corp. and Eastman Kodak she said.

"I invited a few to church," Lynn said. "When I mentioned starting a fellowship, they were very interested. Now the group (from mainland China) is the largest fellowship, with 60 to 70 people." Inside the octagonal shaped JAY CAPERS staff photographer li22 p. nit Thomas Keller Jr. of West Bloomfield, from Ark Glass and Glazing installs rubber gaskets around windows at the New Covenant Fellowship building under construction on Five Mile Line Road.

Building a house 'where love lives' Herring ring. "We are a place where we worship God," Herring said. "It might look from the outside like a community center, but we're not. Our mission is to share Christ." MCHAOfiDemocratandCriranicle.com MICHAEL ZEIGLER STAFF WRITER As storm clouds gather on an overcast day, Pastor Michael McDonald Background The new church, being built across from Bauman's Farm Market, has 18,600 square feet. A hoped-for expansion program, which would include a classroom wing, would nearly double its size.

ONLY THE FRESH STUFF i v. t. 9 -r. stands outside the church being built for his congregation and ponders the potential impact of the wrong color. The next home of New 1 1 McDonald families, including a children's ministry called Kidstock, a teen program, a marriage and parenting support group, and a coffeehouse.

New Covenant Fellowship, a nondenominational congregation, began in 1977 when some members left a denominational church. It founded a school that evolved into The Charles Finney School, a Christian K-12 school. The church moved into the old school building in 1981 and purchased the building two years later. In 2004, the church sold the building to Finney, which is now independent of the church, as the church worked toward breaking ground on its own facility. As evangelical Christians, the congregation of New Covenant Fellowship takes seriously the commission of Jesus to preach the Gospel to all the world.

In its present location, the church is somewhat isolated, according to McDonald. "A lot of people don't even church and its mission to spread the Gospel must be plainly visible in the community. The $3.2 million, 530-seat facility, being built in a field that is expected to be flanked in a few years by new homes, is the first building to be erected solely for the congregation. The 350-member congregation, which started in a little white church on Route 441 and continued in the former Denon-ville School at 2070 Five Mile Line Road, hopes to use its new facility to reach out to the community, says McDonald, senior pastor since 1994. "What's happening now is that we have to kind of rethink what we are as a church, which is probably a good thing," he says.

"In the past, we've had kind of a scattered outreach vision. Now we're focusing on becoming a suburban church in the suburbs, looking at the needs of the community around us." The new building will give the congregation an opportunity to offer programs that focus on know we're here." He says he and co-pastor Timothy Morral hope the move continues to energize the congregation. "I think it's easy at times for a church to be a little reclusive," McDonald says. "I think we have to look at how we can express our love of Christ to the community around us." He says the church's motto "A Church Where Love Lives" will continue to drive it. "Everything we do has to pass a love litmus test," McDonald says.

"If it doesn't express God's love to one another or to our community in tangible ways, then we don't do it." MZEIGLERfflDemocratandChronicle.com Covenant Fellowship, scheduled to open in late October at Five Mile Line and Plank roads, will be topped by three crosses. When McDonald learned that architect Ann VerHague ordered them painted dark red to symbolize the blood shed by Jesus, he mused whether a gray, brushed-steel finish might make the crosses look better. "She said, 'You'll lose them in Rochester's McDonald says with a smile. "She was right." McDonald believes the JAY CAPERS staff photographer fl.Wi David Ying of Penfield picks corn at Gentles Farm Market. "I come every other day for corn and peaches," Ying says.

I i j) PMwwwmJI pten.uivjidl fUmvn' FOCUS ON LI A day in the life of one of our neighbors. PICK UP AN EXTRA KEEPSAKE COPY OF THIS SPECIAL SECTION, AVAILABLE ALL WEEK AT THESE FINE BUSINESSES. CITIZENS BANK- Penfield Branch 2200 Penfield Rd. 377-2331 citizensbank.com CITIZENS BANK Panorama Trail 715 Panorama Trail 586-1231 citizensbank.com CITIZENS BANK PeiifieM 1601 Penfield Rd. 383-1580 citizensbank.com BANK OF AMERICA 2515 Browncroft Blvd.

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