The Chinese Presbyterian Church of Oakland is one of the oldest Asian churches established
in the San Francisco Bay Area. It grew from an 1860s English Class to an organized Bible
study group with the help of the First Presbyterian Church in Oakland. In 1878, Dr. Ira Condit,
a Presbyterian missionary, helped members of the Bible study group to organize as a
church. Among the original sixteen charter members was Huie Kin, who would
become the founding pastor of the First Chinese Presbyterian Church in New York, established in
1910.
At first, the Chinese Presbyterian Church of Oakland rented a house on 13th and Harrison
for worship services. In 1906, the location changed to a house on 6th and Harrison. The church
moved to its present building at 265 Eighth Street in 1927. Reverend Lee Hong, was called
to minister to the Chinese Presbyterian Church in 1929. Under his leadership, the church
attained financial independence from the Presbytery and the Mission Board, and the congregation
grew to over one hundred. Since then, the church has fostered a long history of Christian
life and service.
Today, the Chinese Presbyterian Church continues to strive to be a faithful witness of the
gospel of Jesus Christ in Oakland's Chinatown and the surrounding community.
The Reverend Huie Kin had reminisced at the end of his ministry, "I came to America for gold
as many of my cousins had done before me, ... but I found riches that never rust and a
fortune that cannot be stolen." We pray that in the midst of changing times, the church
might always point to the unfading hope and unending love found in the living and
unchanging Triune God.