English

History of ECC Snohomish County

The Evangelical Chinese Church of Snohomish County (Washington, USA) was started as a small Bible study group with five people living in Everett and Lynnwood area. They attended the worship service at Evangelical Chinese Church of Seattle (thereafter referred to as ECCS) on Sundays but were in need of a place to fellowship with other believers. In September 1991, they started to meet once a month at the homes of these brothers and sisters for Bible study and prayer. As time went on, more and more people joined the Bible study and soon the number grew too large to meet at homes. So they rented a classroom at Trinity Lutheran Church (where we now meet) for regular Bible study on Saturdays.

Pastor Simon Chou and several members of the Bible study group felt the need to establish a church in Everett and Lynnwood area, so they started to pray for this matter. After many months of prayer, they were clear that God was leading them into this direction. So Pastor Chou presented a church planting proposal to ECCS, which later was approved by the church board in mid 1999.

With the blessing of ECCS, ECC of Snohomish County (thereafter referred to as ECC-SC) was officially established in October 1999, with about 40 adults and some children attending the Sunday service. Over the years, a number of people have come to accept Christ and became new members of the church.

In November 2003, ECC-SC engaged Paul P. Eng, a Ph.D. candidate from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL, as its non-ordained pastor for a year. After two and a half years without a full-time minister, Pastor Simon Chou returned to ECC-SC to assume the full-time pastoral ministry starting April 2006. At the time of this writing, Sunday worship attendance averages 100 adult and about 30 children.

Currently, the church’s ministry consists of Sunday worship service (in Mandarin with English translation), adult and children Sunday school, fellowship for adults of different age groups (i.e. young families, middle-aged and senior adults), as well as marriage counseling ministries. Our members consist of people from Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and Southeast Asian countries.

We cordially welcome you to be part of this young and growing community of believers in the north region of the Greater Seattle area called ECC of Snohomish County.

One day, when Jesus and His disciples came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked them this question, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” The disciples replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

What a sobering question! Different people say different things about our Lord Jesus. Some say He is a prophet. But He is more than a prophet. Some say He is a great teacher. But He is more than a Teacher. Some say He is a miracle worker. But He is more than a miracle worker.

When faced with this question, Simon Peter declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” To which Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:15-17 NIV)

Indeed, Jesus is no ordinary man. He is the Son of the living God. He is the Christ, or God’s Anointed One. He came to this world not only to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, He also came to heal the sick and to raise the dead. Having done all, he ultimately gave up Himself and died on the Cross to bear the sins of the world. But that’s not the end of the story. He came back to life on the third day.

Every believer can testify to the power of His salvation. People who truly believe in Him can witness to a life change that took place in them. The old sinful life gave way to the regenerated life. There are several reasons why you should believe in Him.

1. Because He forgives our sins. We may not have committed any crime, but all of us have hated someone or have coveted some things that do not belong to us. All of the evils of the heart are sins in the eyes of God. Sin has its consequences and they lead to death. Jesus died to take away our sins. By trusting in Him, our sins are forgiven and eternal life is given to us (John 3:16).

2. Because He is the only Way that leads to the Heavenly Father. This is what He says in John 14:6. He said to His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He is the only Way because He is the beloved Son of the Heavenly Father. He not only knows the way to the Father, He has become the Way by giving up his own body as a sacrifice on the Cross.

3. Because in Him is the abundant life. Many people simply exist in this world. They work to live, without any purpose. To them, life can be very boring. Not so for people who believe in Him. They not only live, but live their life to the full. Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” As Christians, we never find our life boring. There is nothing more exciting than knowing that your life has a purpose!

“Lifting up Jesus” is our ministry theme for this year. We hope you would come and join us in getting to know more about our Lord Jesus!