Twin City Chinese Christian Church (T4C) is based at 1752 Terrace Drive in Roseville, Minnesota, in the metropolitan area between Minneapolis and St. Paul. The independent, non-denominational church is known for three congregations that worship together as one body: English, Cantonese and Mandarin. Its shared life includes Sunday worship and Sunday school, nursery care, Friday fellowship groups for adults and children, a teen ministry, prayer gatherings, discipleship classes and local mission work.
One Church, Three Languages
T4C is a trilingual church whose purpose is to share God's love and hope with Chinese people in the Twin Cities through worship, service and discipleship. The three congregations are not separate churches; they are interdependent parts of one church. A visitor may worship in the language most comfortable while taking part in the same church-wide life of Word teaching, fellowship and outreach.
- 9:30 to 10:40 a.m. English worship in the South Sanctuary and Cantonese worship in the North Sanctuary. Mandarin adult Sunday school and children's Sunday school run at the same time.
- 11:00 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. Mandarin worship in the South Sanctuary. English Sunday school, Cantonese Sunday school, teen Sunday school and children's Sunday school run at the same time.
Children's programs are conducted in English during both worship periods. Nursery care is available for children from three months through 24 months during worship. The children's Sunday school includes an English-language track at 9:30 and 11:00, while teen Sunday school is part of the 11:00 hour.
All three worship services are livestreamed. Viewers can follow the English worship livestream, Mandarin worship livestream, or Cantonese worship livestream. Past English, Mandarin and Cantonese services are also gathered in the church's sermon archive. Some Mandarin Sunday school rooms offer limited virtual participation, and some Friday groups also meet with a limited virtual option.
T4C's office is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and closed on Mondays. The church office telephone is 651-644-9321, and its general email is contact@tcccc.org. A Sunday shuttle bus serves the church, with pickup requests handled by the transportation team at transportation@tcccc.org.
From a University Bible Study to the Terrace Building
The church's story begins in 1949, when Mrs. Torjesen, a returned missionary from China, invited several Chinese students at the University of Minnesota to begin a Bible study group. Three years later, Mr. and Mrs. Victor Christianson, also returned missionaries, came to lead the growing fellowship. Chinese Christian Fellowship was officially established and registered in 1958. Joseph Wong, a seminary student and member, became its part-time minister in 1966 and its first full-time pastor in 1970.
Those first years required flexibility. The fellowship bought a small house near the university in 1958 for Bible study and prayer, while Sunday worship took place in facilities belonging to other local churches. In 1975, Chinese Christian Fellowship bought an elementary school building in Lauderdale. Its gym became the main sanctuary, and its many classrooms supported a growing Sunday school. The location between the university's two campuses also made the building a natural center for student ministry.
The congregation's needs and composition continued to change. Monthly English services began in 1989, and a Cantonese congregation began meeting monthly in 1991. English worship became weekly in 1995, followed by weekly Cantonese worship in 1996. The church took its present Twin City Chinese Christian Church name in 1982, becoming a larger and more diverse body with English, Mandarin and Cantonese congregations linked under one leadership.
Outreach beyond the Roseville congregation shaped the next stage. T4C planted Twin City Chinese Christian Church Woodbury in 2004; that church became independent in 2009. A second church plant, West Metro Chinese Church, began meeting in Plymouth. T4C eventually outgrew its former school building. It purchased the Roseville Terrace property in 2014, renovated it and moved into the building in 2017. The former warehouse now serves as the church's home, with north and south sanctuaries and classrooms that support three language groups.
The move from school to warehouse made room for two sanctuaries, many classrooms and dedicated children's and youth areas. The former elementary school's gym had once been adapted into the main sanctuary; at Terrace, worship moved into two sanctuary spaces. That physical evolution parallels the church's educational growth, from one growing Sunday school to adult Mandarin and Cantonese classes, teen classes and children's programs.
The present direction continues that history: T4C's vision is to build three interdependent congregations as one church and become a center of discipleship and outreach to Chinese people in the Twin Cities. The Roseville building gives that vision a shared home for worship, service and evangelism.
Friday Nights Bring the Church Together
Friday fellowship night runs from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. and is one of T4C's clearest expressions of its three-language life. Larger fellowship groups are organized around shared language or life stage, and smaller Bible study and fellowship groups meet at locations throughout the Twin Cities. Most groups include Bible study and a time of encouragement. Visitors can arrive at the church and be directed to an appropriate group.
- Cantonese fellowship groups serve all ages, including college students.
- Mandarin fellowship groups serve all ages.
- An English adult small group meets at T4C on Friday nights, while other English groups meet at various times and locations during the week.
Friday fellowship is also a bridge to the church's wider network. Small groups meet not only inside T4C but at other locations across the Twin Cities, often during different times of the week. This lets people connect with a group near them or with one organized around their language, while Friday gatherings at Roseville bring the different groups into one building.
Parents often attend their own fellowship groups while their children participate in age-specific activities. Nursery care is provided for children under four on Friday evenings, making the evening programs usable for families with young children.
The Boys and Girls Club welcomes children from four years old through sixth grade. One group serves children from four years old through kindergarten, and another serves grades one through six. Bible stories, games and fellowship are central to the club's activities. For seventh through twelfth graders, T4C's Teens 4 Christ youth group meets in the sanctuary from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Its evenings include games, worship, a lesson and small-group encouragement, followed by snacks, foosball, games and conversation in the youth rooms.
Learning That Starts With Seekers and Continues in Community
Sunday school is not limited to one age or one level of faith. At 9:30 a.m., Mandarin students can begin with a systematic introduction to God, the Bible, humanity and sin, Jesus' death and resurrection, grace and new life. The Mandarin track also includes a new-believer course about assurance, baptism and reading John's Gospel, an Old Testament survey, and biblical book studies.
The Mandarin classes give newcomers a twelve-unit introduction to the gospel and faith, then offer a three-module, twelve-lesson follow-up for new believers. A longer Old Testament class traces creation, the fall, the promise given to Abraham, Israel in Egypt and the tabernacle, while other classes study individual biblical books. The stated aim is not only to increase knowledge but to help students understand Scripture, pray and begin life with other Christians.
The Cantonese adult Sunday school includes a faith-exploration class that invites seekers and new believers to ask foundational questions about God, creation, suffering, Jesus, salvation, the Holy Spirit, the church and the end times. The Cantonese discipleship class works through a 42-chapter book on spiritual growth and discipleship as a Christian, with classroom discussion, reflection and practical exercises in family, church and work life.
Other Cantonese classes focus on Hebrews and the pressures and questions of Christian life. The Hebrews class approaches the biblical letter as encouragement during dark seasons and as a connection between the old and new covenants. The Christian-life class addresses loneliness, bitterness, depression, fear, death and grief through the teaching and encouragement of Scripture.
English Sunday school meets at 11:00, and teen Sunday school also occupies that hour. Jody Tellers, director of children's ministry, coordinates the Sunday school teachers and curriculum, the Friday Boys and Girls Club and summer Vacation Bible School. The children's work therefore follows children across worship, weekly club meetings, age-specific learning and a summer program.
The difference between a seeker class, new-believer follow-up, book studies and discipleship classes reflects T4C's broader aim of making discipleship the center of church life. The three congregations teach in their own languages while sharing one stated vision for the Chinese community.
Prayer, Mission and Practical Service
One regular prayer gathering is Moms in Prayer. On the second Sunday of each month, English- and Cantonese-speaking participants gather at T4C, followed by a separate session for Mandarin-speaking participants. The group prays for children, teachers and schools, and for the commitment of children to Jesus as Lord and Savior. It is part of Moms in Prayer International.
The Gospel Center is T4C's local mission platform. It coordinates mission ministry in the Twin Cities and seeks to reach Asian and American individuals. This emphasis extends the church's history of church planting and its commitment to evangelism, giving the mission program a local as well as a regional dimension.
T4C's offering funds reflect the same practical emphasis. The General Fund covers the annual budget, including building costs, missions support, staff salaries and benefits and other ministry needs. The Building Fund pays mortgage costs, and the Thanksgiving Fund meets physical needs of individuals and families in the church. Giving can be placed in an offering box, mailed to the church, made through PayPal giving, arranged by direct deposit or made with appreciated stock or other assets.
Membership follows a defined path. T4C welcomes applications from baptized Christians who regularly attend Sunday worship and fellowship for more than six months. An applicant completes the appropriate English, Cantonese or Mandarin form, supplies a photograph and written salvation testimony, and takes a membership class. A baptism certificate or letter of recommendation from a previous church is required when the person was not baptized at T4C. Review by the deacon board centers testimony, baptism and teaching within the church's three language communities.
The mission emphasis also appears in T4C's support for church plants, while the Gospel Center gives local outreach a dedicated structure. The church's stated purpose reaches beyond its own congregations: it seeks to speed evangelization by bringing men, women and children to living faith in Jesus Christ. Giving to the General Fund includes missions support, and T4C missionaries have historically been sent to places including Taiwan and Thailand.
Faith Common to the Congregations
T4C is non-denominational and independent, and all are welcome to worship God and fellowship in the church in Christ. Its statement of faith centers on the inerrancy of the 66 books of the Bible, the triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, humanity's separation from God through sin, and salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ.
The fuller statement adds that people cannot be made right with God by good works; that Jesus was fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life, died and rose again, and saves all who repent and trust him; and that the Holy Spirit indwells every Christian, sanctifies believers and gifts them for service. It describes the church as the body of Christ, glorifying God through worship, ministry of the Word, baptism and the Lord's Supper, service and evangelism.
At the center of the statement is the authority of the Bible, the work of Christ and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. The church also holds that Christ has ascended, his return is imminent, and he will raise the dead to judgment. These beliefs are summarized in the same terms in the English and Chinese statements, reinforcing the one-faith structure of the three congregations.
Those beliefs shape the church's stated purpose: worship God according to his Word, promote the preaching of the Gospel, administer the ordinances of the New Testament, minister to people's spiritual needs regardless of race, color or creed, and lead men, women and children to living faith in Jesus Christ. The three congregations are united by this common confession while allowing worship and study in the language of their congregations.
Pastoral and Lay Leadership
Rev. Fred Li serves as Mandarin pastor. He completed an MDiv at Phoenix Seminary in May 2020 and joined T4C in June 2020; before that, he served as a fellowship chair and deacon at Greater Phoenix Chinese Christian Church. Rev. Michael Gin has served as English pastor since 2001 and was ordained in 2003. He earned his MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Rev. Tim Haas is youth pastor and focuses on helping young people explore their faith; he earned his MDiv at Bethel Seminary.
Rev. Stephen Mma is T4C's emeritus Mandarin pastor. After earning an MDiv from Bethel Seminary in 1997, he served as a full-time interim minister and was ordained by T4C in 2001. Jody Tellers has directed children's ministry since 2015 and coordinates Sunday school teachers and curriculum, the Boys and Girls Club and summer Vacation Bible School.
The church's elders are Ivan Lui, Tike-Ching Wong, Tai Yeow and Jim Chang. Its deacon board includes Steven Fu as chairperson, Jason Chan as vice chair and resources leader, Theo Liu in fellowship, Louis Lau and Harry Tian in buildings and grounds, Da Gao in resources, Gongping Liu in finance, Colin Chan as treasurer, Ed Bello in missions, Nicole Dong in children and Andy Law in personnel. Their assignments support the church's worship, discipleship, care, administration and outreach.
A Common Life Across Three Languages
What distinguishes Twin City Chinese Christian Church is not one congregation standing apart from the others. It is a single church organized around English, Cantonese and Mandarin worship, with each congregation contributing its own classes, small groups and leaders to a shared life. From the Terrace building in Roseville, the church continues the work that began with a 1949 Bible study: teaching the faith, gathering people in fellowship, caring for families, serving those in need and carrying an outward emphasis on discipleship and mission.