History of the Chinese Evangelical Free Church of Santa Barbara

Our history began in 1883, Dr. Ira Condit, a retired Presbyterian Missionary who had worked in China, established the Chinese Mission of Santa Barbara under the sponsorship of the Board of Home Missions of the New York Presbyterian Church. In 1915, the Mission became directly associated with the Santa Barbara Presbyterian Church. The Mission was led by three devoted former missionaries (nicknamed the three Graces): Miss Terry, Miss Livermore and Miss Gorham. Miss Gorham, in particular, devoted her whole life to spreading the Gospel among Chinese in Santa Barbara. She remained with the Mission until she passed away in 1966 at the age 93.

In 1916, Mr. June Yee (we called him "Uncle June") arrived at Santa Barbara from China. He was led to Christ by Miss Gorham and since then, had worked faithfully and tirelessly to spread the Gospel among Chinese in Santa Barbara. He was never married and considered the church his own family. During the 60's and 70's, Uncle June was our leader, kept the church going almost single-handedly. From cleaning the church, cooking for the Youth and Sunday School children to serving as driver to take guest preachers commuting from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara for the Sunday worship, he was the anchor of the church. In the 80's as the church grew and has its own Pastor, Uncle June was always our "elder", inspiring and encouraging us, every step of the way. He passed away in 1992 at the age of 95.

In 1915, a young American woman was faced with the choice of either attending the prestigious Stanford University or becoming a missionary to China. Ruth Hitchcock was her name and indeed, she was a member of the wealthy Hitchcock family here in Santa Barbara. Miss Hitchcock chose to follow the calling of God and served God in China faithfully until her 70's. Whenever she came home to Santa Barbara either on furlough or after her retirement from her Mission work in China, the Chinese in Santa Barbara became her missionary field. She was active in helping and supporting the church. Many of our current and past church members were led to Christ directly through her. Miss Hitchcock passed away in 1984 at the age 93. Her faith and dedication to the Lord, as described in her book entitled "The Good Hands of Our God", will remains forever a source of inspiration and hope among our members.

Another person who has inspired our church is Rev. Paul Bartel. Rev. Bartel was born in China when his parents were serving as missionary to China. Rev. Bartel spoke fluent Chinese and his whole life was dedicated to spreading the Gospel to Chinese people. He considered himself a Chinese by birth and even after his retirement, he made many trips back to China to assist in the missionary work in China. He was also working hard to promote a revival of the "Bible Magazine" in China. Rev. Bartel was one of the Sunday Worship guest speakers at our church before he passed away in 2001 at the age 96. He was a true inspiration to our church.

Over the years, God has called many Pastors to lead our church. In addition to Pastor Adrain Lim who is our current pastor, Rev. John Wong, Rev. But-Biu Li, Rev. James Chien-Wei Yang, Rev. Kenneth Auyeung, and Brother Abraham Niu all have served as Pastor of our Church. Pastor Stephen Yik also served as our interim pastor during our pastor search and Rev. Burns Anderson was a great help to us before we had a regular full time pastor during the early years of the church. Through the dedication and love of these people, God has laid a foundation for the Chinese Evangelical Free Church. Compared to the many local Christian churches here in Santa Barbara, the Chinese Evangelical Free Church is small. Our church programs are not as well developed as some of the bigger churches. But our sense of mission and vision is strong. We believe that in the world today, the mission fields of Ira Condit, Miss Terry, Miss Livermore, Miss Gorham, Ruth Hitchcock and Rev. Paul Bartel includes not only China, but also the Chinese community here in Santa Barbara and the United States. We need to love and care for the new immigrants in our community (students, visiting scholars and their family from China and Taiwan). We need to love and care for the Chinese people moving to Santa Barbara from other communities (professionals who move here with their family, students coming to UCSB from other parts of California and the United States). We need to love and care for our own children who, in addition to facing the many challenges encountered by a modern day teenager, must also deal with the many inter-cultural problems of a Chinese American.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the Harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Matthew 9:37-38). The Chinese Evangelical Free Church is committed to be the workers of Christ in the harvest field of Santa Barbara. We like to invite you to join us in this important mission.