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Vietnamese Pastors Ordained in the U.S.A.

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — The first two Mennonite pastors of the reorganized Vietnam Mennonite Church (VMC) were ordained to Christian ministry on July 18. The unusual ceremony was held at the Vietnamese Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, and one pastor, currently imprisoned in Vietnam, was ordained in absentia.

The Vietnam Mennonite Church selected Nguyen Quang Trung, VMC president and Nguyen Hong Quang, vice president and general secretary, for ordination. Since the Mennonite Church is not yet officially recognized in Vietnam, state authorities would not have considered ordinations there valid.

The VMC requested that Lancaster Mennonite Conference, provisional member of Mennonite Church USA, ordain the two men. L. Keith Weaver, conference moderator, was initially reluctant to ordain a minister in absentia. But he, along with other conference leaders, gave careful attention to this request, to Quang's writings, to the testimony of those who know personally his character and firm commitment to the Christian faith as well as the Mennonite Confession of Faith.

Carl E. Horning, assistant moderator, commented: "As I read through the materials, I was struck with similarities between Pastor Quang and the Apostle Paul. In an appeal to the authorities of Vietnam to establish equitable laws governing the exercise of religion, he used material from Chairman Ho Chí Minh, and Chairman Fidel Castro! Not the kind of authorities we would invoke, but reminiscent of Paul in the Areopagus.

"Pastor Quang's treatment at the hands of the authorities and his response to it also invoke comparisons to the Apostle Paul. [Quang] also noted that the Lord Jesus was Asian; his twelve disciples were Asian. A fact we often ignore!"

Tran Xuan Quang, retiring pastor of the Vietnamese Mennonite Church in Philadelphia with whom Trung worked as pastoral assistant in Vietnam prior to 1975, preached the sermon. Bishop Freeman Miller, Lancaster Mennonite Conference Asia fraternal representative, led the service of ordination for Pastor Trung.

Following Trung's ordination, Miller daubed the oil of anointing on Nguyen Hong Quang's certificate of ordination. He and other ordained ministers laid their hands on the certificate and prayed a prayer of consecration and commissioning of Pastor Quang into ordained Christian ministry.

Trung was on a private trip to the eastern United States, a gift from his three children, to visit friends he had learned to know in the 1960s and 1970s. Eastern Mennonite Missions helped facilitate his visit to Pennsylvania and Virginia. He spoke in several churches and visited Mennonite institutions in several communities before his departure on July 19.

Trung's visit seemed an opportune time to fulfill the Vietnam Mennonite Church request for North American Mennonite leaders to conduct an ordination service. These leaders, with connections to the church in Vietnam, agreed that Trung should be ordained. They also felt they needed to honor the Vietnam church's request that both men be ordained at the same time, a seemingly insurmountable problem with Quang's June 8 arrest and detainment.

The ordination in absentia proved to be a workable solution. Quang continues to be held at an undisclosed location.

On Sunday afternoon following his ordination, Trung visited the Vietnamese/American Mennonite Church near Wilmington, Delaware. Speaking on the theme of the Great Commission of Jesus, he noted that the gospel is spread by one person telling another the good news. Philip told Nathaniel, and Andrew told Peter.

"Preaching the Gospel is like a chain," Trung declared. "No one should be the last link of this chain."

Trung is 64 years old, and has given leadership to the house church in Binh Thanh District of Ho Chi Minh City for many years. Several years ago he became overseer of several house church groups in Quang Ngai province. He was chosen VMC president at the church conference in July 2003. His wife, Ngo Thi Bich, continues involvement in social ministries. They have three adult children and two grandchildren.

Nguyen Hong Quang, 45, is VMC vice-president and general secretary. Church representatives met in mid-July and named his wife, Le Thi Phu Dung, to serve as acting vice-president until Quang is released. They are the parents of three young children.

— Vietnamese Ministries