San Francisco

Basic Demographic Information

Official Name: San Francisco Chinese Seventh-day Adventist Church

Church Administrative Unit: XXXXX Conference, Northern Californian Union

Date Officially Formed: 1950

Founding Minister: Leong Wai Chow

Date on which Current Sanctuary was Dedicated: July 1978

Church Website:

Current Address: 7777 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco CA 94121,

Phone: (415) 387-5222

Current Membership: 150 as at 2002

The first Chinese Adventist Church was founded in San Francisco and the founders were Joseph Keh (郭育坤) and his family, and the family of Mrs. Wong Hee Yeung (黃起煬夫人). Mr. Keh’s father was Pastor Keh Nga Pit (郭子穎), our pioneer worker in Fujian province. Mrs. Keh, nee Mary Ang (洪惠卿), was second daughter of Pastor Ang Tsi Kit (洪子杰) who was our pioneer worker in Shantou (汕頭). Mrs. Wong Hee Yeung was the neighbor of Mrs. E. H. Wilbur (鄔爾布夫人), who and her husband were our pioneer workers in South China. Later, Mrs. S. A. Nagel (那基理夫人), who with her husband had worked in the Hakka Mission and Shantou Mission, continued Bible study with Mrs. Wong Hee Yeung and her three sons. Mrs. Wong Hee Yeung was the first Chinese Adventist baptized in North America. Later on, Pastor E. G. Annofsky (顔樂士), who once worked in South China, came to offer more bible study sessions in San Francisco; J. E. Christensen (高哲儒) and John Oss (史約翰) also came to help with the evangelistic work among Chinese; and Joseph Hwang Ru Yu (黃如愚), a church elder, arrived from China, to join the group. Led by Mrs. Wong Hee Yeung, they bought a huge house on Hyde Street (海德街) and converted it into a meeting place. The first Chinese Adventist church in North America was then founded in 1950, with Leong Wai Chow (梁惠舟) as its first pastor.

In 1959 Wallace Chan Woo Shang (陳湖生) conducted a series of highly successful evangelistic meetings in San Francisco. During the mid-1960s, after founding the Los Angeles Chinese SDA Church, he was invited back to San Francisco. As its pastor, he conducted more highly successful evangelistic meetings. The growth in membership made it necessary to have a larger church building. When a permanent church building was being constructed, Hwang Ru Yu and Walter Chin (陳秀軒), both church elders, coordinated the project. At that time, Jerry Chang Chung Wai (張仲偉) was the pastor, and Dr. Chan Shun (陳俊) was very generous to pay paying for half of the construction cost. The new church building at 7777 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco CA 94121 was dedicated in July 1978. Its telephone is: (415) 387-5222. By 2002, there were 150 members in that church. As of May 8, 2012, the membership was 139. After the departure of Jerry Chang, John Lu (呂俊明), D. W. Curry (居義理), Clayton Sugg (蘇克雷) and John Ang (洪江河) served as pastors. The next pastor was Chapman Wong (黃彩雲) who served from 1996 to 2013 when he accepted a call to work in Hong Kong. His successor is Michael Liu (劉國賢).