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Francis Chan 恩藩(born August 31, 1967), is an American Protestant author, teacher, and
preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...
. He is the former teaching
pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
of Cornerstone Community Church, an Evangelical church in
Simi Valley, California Simi Valley (; Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The ...
founded by Chan in 1994. He also founded
Eternity Bible College Eternity Bible College (EBC) is a private Bible college in Simi Valley, California. It was founded by Francis Chan, former pastor of Cornerstone Community Church. The college is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education. History ...
in 2004, and served as its early chancellor until 2010. Chan has been a board member of several Christian and social justice organizations, including Children's Hunger Fund and
Gospel for Asia Gospel for Asia (now GFA World) is an independent Christian missionary and humanitarian organization, founded by K. P. Yohannan in 1979, focusing on residents of Asian countries and small parts of Africa. The organization is located about ...
. He has authored and co-authored numerous books including Crazy Love, a New York Times bestseller. Chan has also served as an ambassador for Care for Children.


Biography


Early life and education

Chan was born in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
to immigrants Pak-sum Chan 柏森 a former minister at the Leighton Road Baptist Church in Hong Kong, and Wan-bing Mui 韻冰 a “Bible woman of the Hong Kong Baptist Church, Caine Road.” He was their third child; his mother died during his childbirth, of “excessive bleeding”, leaving his father with sister Grace, brother Paul, and newborn Francis, who was named for the city of his birth and of the tragedy. Chan was sent to Hong Kong to be raised by a grandmother, a Buddhist for several years. During this time, his father married Amy Law 笑容and gave Francis a half-sister, Gloria. In 1976, when Chan was eight years old, his stepmother Amy Chan died in an automobile accident. His father then remarried again, to Josephine Leung 克閲 who “raised hefour children lovingly with Godly influence.“ In raising the four, his father and new stepmother had family support from his father's younger sister and her husband, Marion and William Wong, along with a large extended family and church family. He did not get along well with his father growing up but says that his fear of his father has helped him understand a level of fear of God. He also stated he didn't understand the love of God well until he became a father himself. In 1979, when Francis was twelve years old, he lost his father to cancer. As a high-school and then junior-college student, Chan was active in Christian youth groups, which helped develop his faith in Christ and his interest in ministry. Chan graduated high school and went on to earn a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree from Master's College, and a
master of divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...
degree from
The Master's Seminary The Master's Seminary (TMS) is the graduate seminary division of The Master's University and Seminary and is located on the campus of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. It is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University ...
.


Career

After earning his seminary degree, Chan "landed a youth pastor position" in
Chatsworth, California Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...
, at the Church at Rocky Peak. ''
Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...
'', reporting in 2009, has Chan characterizing this as a period where his personal life was not lived consistently with his religious ideas, stating "Those were the worst years of my life... a sinful, hypocritical time." For reasons not explained further, Chan left that pastoral position for a job at a restaurant, waiting tables.


Cornerstone Community Church

Chan, his wife Lisa, and 30 others founded Cornerstone Community Church in 1994; within two months, the church had grown to have 100 attending. The church continued to see increases in attendance, and by the year 2000, it had received approval from local officials for building expansion to double its capacity, in support of a 1,600-member congregation. As of January 2008, Cornerstone was one of the largest churches in
Ventura County, California Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxn ...
. After a three-month leave from Cornerstone, ca. 2008, Chan said he felt convicted to sacrifice more for God. Chan had been giving away about 50% of his income, didn't take a salary from his church, and donated most of his book royalties, which totaled about $2,000,000, to various charities. All of it goes to organizations which rescue sex slaves in foreign countries. Furthermore, in 2008 it was reported that Cornerstone would give away 55% of its income to charitable causes. Chan started
Eternity Bible College Eternity Bible College (EBC) is a private Bible college in Simi Valley, California. It was founded by Francis Chan, former pastor of Cornerstone Community Church. The college is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education. History ...
in 2004 as a ministry of Cornerstone Community Church, with 100 students. In 2008, Eternity launched an abroad program in Ecuador. As of 2009, the college had 47 graduates serving in various parts of the world. On Sunday, April 18, 2010, Chan announced to his congregation that he felt called to resign.


Return to San Francisco

In June 2011, he stated he felt called to
San Francisco, CA San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. He moved to Northern California and started a
church planting Church planting is a term referring to the process (mostly in Protestant frameworks) that results in a new local Christian congregation being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, worship center or ...
network of
house church A house church or home church is a label used to describe a group of Christians who regularly gather for worship in private homes. The group may be part of a larger Christian body, such as a parish, but some have been independent groups that see ...
es called "We Are Church". In September 2014, Chan joined the board of elders of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship; as of August 2016, he was no longer an elder at that congregation. He served as a top-level leader in the We Are Church network until 2020.


Return to Hong Kong

In 2020, Chan moved back to
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, living and working in
Sham Shui Po Sham Shui Po is an area of Kowloon, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei (). It is located in and is the namesake of the Sham Shui P ...
, the poorest area in Hong Kong and the neighborhood where his mother used to do ministry in the 1950s.


Return to the US

In January 2021, Chan announced he and his family had returned to the US after his HK visa was denied. He has stated his intent to return to Hong Kong when possible.


Theology

Chan frequently talks about "What the Bible is really saying" "and really living our lives that way." According to one author, he is not afraid of confronting "lukewarmness" in the Christian life. With regards to Communion, in January 2020, Francis Chan began to publicly investigate his stance on the
real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist, not merely symbolically or metaphorically, but in a true, real and substantial way. There are a number of Christian denominat ...
, a
lighter A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or c ...
view of which is taught in the
Reformed Protestant Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the Christian theology, theological tradition and forms of Christianity, Christ ...
tradition (which Chan has been associated with in the past).


Ecumenism

Prior to this shift on the
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
, Chan had given a talk to Catholics at the (
Neo-charismatic The Neo-charismatic (also third-wave charismatic or hypercharismatic) movement is a movement within evangelical Protestant Christianity that is composed of a diverse range of independent churches and organizations that emphasize the post-biblical ...
Protestant) Onething conference in 2018, and was prayed over by multiple Catholic priests. He spoke at the Fellowship of Catholic University Students' SEEK conference in February 2021.


Personal life

Chan is married to Lisa, a singer. They wed in 1994, and as of December 2014 they have seven children. Their eldest is singer Rachel Chan.


Bibliography

* * * * * *Chan, Francis; Mark Beuving (2012). ''Multiply.'' David C. Cook. * * * *


Further reading

* This author discusses the responses of Chan to the controversial Mars Hill pastor,
Rob Bell Robert Holmes Bell Jr. (born August 23, 1970) is an American author, speaker and former pastor. Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, and pastored it until 2012. Under his leadership, Mars Hill was one of the fastest-g ...
.


References


External links

*
Francis Chan's Sermon Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Francis 1967 births Living people 20th-century Christians 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Christians American Christian writers American male non-fiction writers American people of Hong Kong descent Hong Kong Christians People from San Francisco 21st-century American male writers