A Bilingual Family in the Sunset District
On Lawton Street, near 37th Avenue in San Francisco's Sunset District, two church buildings face each other across the block: the Worship Sanctuary at 3638 Lawton and the Christian Education building, or CE Building, at 3635 Lawton. Together they house Sunset Church, a congregation better known by its legal name, Sunset Chinese Baptist Church, that worships in both English and Cantonese Sunday after Sunday. The church's vision statement is straightforward: to glorify God by making gospel-transformed disciples of all people, in the city, and in the world.
The Sunset neighborhood is one of the city's most residential stretches, a setting that shapes the congregation's unhurried, neighborhood-sized feel. For decades the church has served families, college students, young professionals, and seniors from across the western side of San Francisco. In recent years it has also become a sending base for short-term mission teams to Japan, India, and Zambia, while partnering locally with ministries serving women, children, and families in the city. A gym behind the Worship Sanctuary doubles as a basketball court, fellowship hall, and gathering space for events that draw the whole church together.
Sundays on Lawton Street
Sunset Church runs four Sunday services every weekend, two in English and two in Cantonese, hosted in alternating buildings.
English services meet at 9:00 AM in the Worship Sanctuary (3638 Lawton St.) and at 11:00 AM in the CE Sanctuary (3635 Lawton St.). A live band leads worship in both services, and the preaching is expository, working straight through books of the Bible. The current sermon series is a long walk through the Gospel of Matthew; recent messages have included Faithfulness in the End (Matthew 24), Be Ready (Matthew 25:1-13), Do Something (Matthew 25:14-30), Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46), How to Worship (Matthew 26:1-16), and The Lord's Supper (Matthew 26:17-29). Each week's sermon comes with a downloadable audio file and a study guide formatted for community groups, with observation, interpretation, and life-application questions.
Cantonese services follow a parallel rhythm, meeting at 9:00 AM in the CE Sanctuary and at 10:30 AM in the Worship Sanctuary. Periodically the two congregations come together for a joint bilingual service; on baptism Sundays the schedule condenses to a single 9:00 AM gathering followed by baptisms during the usual 11:00 AM window.
For visitors who want to plan ahead, a Plan Your Visit form is available, and the church's get-connected page helps newcomers find a community group, a Bible study, or a serving team.
The Two Sanctuaries and the Church Gym
The Worship Sanctuary at 3638 Lawton is the larger of the two sanctuaries and the main home for the first English service. It also houses the church lobby, which hosts regular potlucks, men's fellowship dinners, and the church patio used for outdoor gatherings and membership classes.
The CE Building at 3635 Lawton, across the street, holds the CE Sanctuary, classrooms, the church office wing, and the children's ministry wing. Children's ministry doors are reached through the left-side entrance with the glass door. Inside, families check children in at computer stations staffed by volunteers, then kids move into free-play, worship, and age-grouped Bible lessons.
Behind the Worship Sanctuary sits the Sunset Church Gym, a full-size gymnasium that hosts the Hoops for Missions basketball tournament, Women's Gathering Space mornings, Friday night youth time, and other church-wide events. The gym is one of the most visible pieces of community life at Sunset and a reminder that the congregation's ministry extends well beyond the sanctuaries.
What the Church Believes
Sunset's statement of faith centers on the Bible, the Trinity, humanity, salvation, the church, baptism, and membership.
The Bible is God's written Word, recorded by human authors under the direct supervision of God, without error in its original manuscripts, and is the complete revelation of His will for salvation and the authoritative guide for Christian faith and life.
God is one God eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Jesus Christ, the eternally begotten Son, is fully God and fully man, united in a single person. The Holy Spirit maintains His own personhood and deity as the third person of the Trinity.
Humanity was created in God's image as male and female. Marriage, as defined by the Bible, is the union of one man and one woman. Through Adam's sin, all of humanity is fallen, totally lost, and utterly unable to remedy the condition.
Salvation is the restoration of humanity through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, brought from death to life, and is received by grace through faith alone. There will be a bodily resurrection of all people, the saved to eternal life and the unsaved to everlasting judgment.
The Church universal is expressed in local churches, congregations of believers in a particular place who actively make disciples in the world. Local churches are described as the gathering of God's people, the household of God, the bride of Christ, and the body of Christ.
Baptism is the symbol of what Christ accomplished through His death and resurrection: those being baptized identify with dying and being raised to new life. In obedience to Christ's command in Matthew 28:19, a believer is to be immersed in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Membership is a covenant, a public promise to live according to Scripture and to support the church's vision and mission. Rather than a consumer's relationship, membership is the mutual commitment by which members and leadership hold one another accountable before God.
DNA and the Five M's
Sunset describes its congregational DNA in five phrases: gospel-centered, dependent on the Spirit through prayer, life impacting life, expository teaching, and outwardly focused.
The church's mission follows five verbs, called the Five M's: Meet Jesus, Mature in Jesus, Ministry for Jesus, Missional for Jesus, and Multiply for Jesus. Together they trace the journey from first encountering Christ to growing in Him, from serving Him inside the body to living missionally in the neighborhoods around the church, and from sending out disciples who plant and multiply churches far beyond San Francisco.
Raising the Next Generation
Children and youth are at the heart of Sunset's ministry. The children's ministry, called Sprouts, walks with kids from the nursery through fifth grade during both Sunday services.
Programs run at 9:00 AM and 10:45 AM in the CE Building. The Nursery cares for infants from birth through 24 months, with gentle caregivers who play, read, and sing with them. Preschool (ages three to four) gathers in CE6 for snacks, play, songs, and Bible stories. K-5 (kindergarten through fifth grade) meet in CE5 for recreation, games, Bible teaching, videos, and music centered on the centrality of Jesus. Every Sprouts volunteer is background-checked, trained in safety policies, and reviewed annually.
Parents dropping off infants are asked to bring ready-made formula or milk, diapers, a change of clothes, socks, a pacifier, and a bib labeled with the child's name. Allergies can be noted on the child's name tag at check-in. The well-child policy keeps children home when they have a cold, fever, rash, persistent cough, diarrhea, or other signs of illness.
The youth ministry covers grades six through twelve. Junior high ministry is called Rooted (Colossians 2:6-7), built on foundational truths and gospel-centered discipleship. High school ministry is called Agape Koinonia, a Greek phrase meaning love fellowship, after Jesus' words in John 13:35 about loving one another as disciples.
Most Fridays the youth gather at the CE Sanctuary at 8:00 PM. The evening runs from 8:00 to 10:00 PM: musical worship at 8:00, Bible teaching at 8:30, age-specific small groups at 9:00, and free time and pickup at 10:00. Visitors are placed into small groups where adult leaders walk alongside students through life's questions, doubts, and struggles.
Sunday mornings also offer grade-specific Sunday school, with middle schoolers meeting at 9:30 AM and high schoolers gathered by grade at 9:30 or 9:45 AM. Students are encouraged to participate in both Friday night youth and Sunday school, since the two together give a fuller picture of following Jesus than either alone.
Adults in Community
Sunset asks its members to regularly participate in three rhythms: weekly worship services, community groups, and serving inside and outside the church. Community groups are where much of that happens.
A Sunset community group is a gathering of people who want to understand and live out a gospel-shaped life together. Groups share a meal, study the Bible, encourage one another, and pray for one another. Groups are expected to engage in a service project locally or globally at least once a quarter.
Pastor Abe coordinates the network of groups. Groups meet across the city and in limited parts down the bay, and the church points newcomers to a group by emailing him or by submitting a get-connected form.
Beyond community groups, four named fellowships gather adults around shared stages of life. Vineyard is the young professionals fellowship, meeting Tuesday nights from 7:45 to 9:45 PM in the CE Open Area. Letters is the homeschool families fellowship, meeting monthly on Monday nights from 6:30 to 8:30 PM with full-family participation, where families share how they lead their children to Jesus, how they run their homeschools, and how they serve the church.
Two further fellowships are described below.
Men's, Women's, and Marriage Ministry
The Men's Ministry gathers monthly on the second Wednesday from 7:00 to 9:00 PM in the church lobby. The meeting opens with a potluck meal, transitions into small-group discussion, and closes with prayer. The current study has been working through The Titus Ten: Foundations for Godly Manhood, with men supporting each other in becoming the husbands, fathers, workers, and churchmen God calls them to be. The men's ministry is coordinated through Chris W. and the church's Men's Fellowship email list.
The Women's Ministry builds a community of women deeply rooted in Christ. Anchored in Genesis 1:27, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, and Titus 2:3-5, the ministry runs three regular gatherings. A Women's Gathering Space, usually the last Sunday of the month, meets in the gym from 10:30 AM to 12:45 PM for snacks, conversation, and fellowship across generations. A Women's Monthly Prayer Time gathers on the fourth Monday from 10:15 to 11:30 AM in the lobby (occasionally at a group leader's home) to pray for families, children, grandchildren, neighbors, and the world. The Common Thread newsletter is published several times a year to keep women connected in between events.
Marriage ministry centers on the Marriage Maintenance Workshop, a half-day event held in the CE Building that helps married couples address conflict and cultivate friendship. Led by Kelly Pong-Der, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, the workshop handles communication roadblocks and offers tools for repair in marriages of every length. Couples attend together, and the church holds similar events on topics such as biblical counseling and spiritual growth throughout the year.
Mission and Outreach
Sunset Church carries the same outward focus on both sides of the Pacific. Locally, the church works with a long list of partner ministries that serve vulnerable women, foster and adoptive families, youth, children, and the homeless.
Alpha Pregnancy Center empowers women and families facing unplanned pregnancy through economic, emotional, and spiritual support. Because Justice Matters creates intentional relationships for women in urban communities through pizza pop-ups, a monthly Nail Day, and dance classes. Camp Toons is the church's own summer day camp for children entering first through eighth grade, with character-building activities in a safe, friendly environment. Child Evangelical Fellowship is a worldwide Bible-centered ministry reaching boys and girls with the Gospel. Grafted supports foster, adoptive, and vulnerable families from prevention through post-adoption by partnering with local churches and agencies. Hands at Work in Africa provides resources so that local churches in impoverished African communities can care for widows and orphans. Mobilize Love runs a city-wide mobile outreach for children, youth, and families, with a fleet of trucks bringing mentorship, food, education, and medical resources into underprivileged neighborhoods. Old Skool Cafe trains at-risk youth in restaurant management and life skills alongside the gospel. SNAP, the church's own after-school and family program, displays God's love for children in the program and walks alongside families through the school year. YWAM San Francisco reaches the Tenderloin District through a Thursday food pantry, a Friday hot chocolate outreach, weekday restoration initiatives, and a Sunday pop-up church.
On the global side, Sunset sends multiple short-term mission teams every year. The 2026 calendar includes a Missionary Care Response Team trip to Japan (March), a Zambia STM in partnership with Hands at Work (July), a Japan STM (July-August), and an India STM (December). Each team raises prayer and financial support through the church's giving pages, and trips are shared back to the congregation through reporting events like Japan STM Sharing and Africa STM Sharing.
Twice a year a Special Needs Buddy training is offered at the church, recruiting volunteers to walk alongside children and adults with disabilities during Sunday services and church events. The ministry aims to give every family a place to belong on Sunday morning.
Chosen People Ministries
Twice a year or more, Chosen People Ministries leads a monthly fellowship gathering in the CE Building. The series unfolds across three evenings under themes such as The Prophets and God's Plan, The Messiah in the Scriptures, and Hope for the Future, helping the church see God's heart for Israel and for all nations through the story of Scripture. Local Jews-for-Jesus-style evangelism and the support of global Jewish outreach are woven into these evenings.
Prayer as a Way of Life
Prayer is one of the five pieces of Sunset's DNA, and the church has published an extended prayer resource to shape both individual and group practice. The teaching defines prayer as the act of asking God to do what He has already promised, a habit of grace that grows out of an intimate relationship with the Father.
The church teaches that prayer glorifies God because it acknowledges a higher authority, that God's sovereignty does not erase the need to pray but gives prayer its meaning, and that prayer changes things by changing those who pray. Prayer is part of the Christian's spiritual armor against temptation, and lack of prayer reveals misplaced trust.
For those who don't know what to pray, the church points to the Psalms as a starting place, allowing the words of Scripture to shape what is brought before God. It also offers the A.C.T.S. acrostic: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication, drawn from the flow of the Lord's Prayer. Recommended reading includes works by R.C. Sproul, Kevin DeYoung, Paul Miller, Timothy Keller, John Onwuchekwa, and Donald S. Whitney, alongside catechism and devotional resources.
A recurring Bible Study Fellowship meets Thursday evenings at 7:00 PM online via Zoom, currently studying the book of Romans as the blueprint of God's salvation plan.
Pastors, Elders, and Staff
Joey C. serves as Lead English Pastor and carries preaching responsibility for the English congregation. Abe L. serves as Assistant Pastor and coordinates community groups alongside general pastoral care. Gabriel Y. is the Youth and Family Pastor, overseeing the Friday night youth program and partnering with parents.
In the Cantonese congregation, Kee Yip Paul S. serves as Assistant Pastor and Antonio L. as Associate Pastor. Joe W. leads the volunteer Cantonese ministry team, with Judi C. coordinating missions for the Cantonese side.
The English elders are Byron C., Johnson E., and Kevin C. The Chinese elders are David H., Joe W., Wayman S., and Thomas F.
On the ministry staff, Thara L. coordinates the Women's Ministry; Chris W. leads junior high; Nathan W. directs the children's ministry; Jason T. serves as the children's ministry outreach coordinator; and Richard L. handles communications. The Cantonese side is staffed by Esther L. (communications specialist), Olwen T. (ministry assistant), and Yuet Mui M. (missions assistant). Operations are led by Lucy G. (operations manager), Marco L. (tech and office coordinator), Roger M. (facility manager), Monica H. (accountant), Francis W. (AV consultant), and Michael C. (facility associate). Silvia G. and Divina L. provide administrative and missions support.
Worship ministry is run by a volunteer team, with open auditions posted through the year. Volunteers run the camera for online services, lead music in the worship band, and serve in children's, youth, and welcome roles. The church's volunteer form is the entry point for any of these.
Visiting Sunset Church
First-time visitors will find a relaxed neighborhood congregation that welcomes families and newcomers. There is no dress code; people come in whatever is comfortable, ranging from jeans and a t-shirt to business casual or a suit and tie. A live band leads contemporary worship at every English service.
Parking is described as not too hard to find because the church sits in a residential area. The simplest courtesy is to avoid blocking neighbors' driveways.
Children's programs run during both English services at 9:00 AM and 10:45 AM. Nursery (birth-24 months), Preschool (ages three to four), and K-5 classrooms are available throughout the morning. Sunday school is provided for junior high and senior high students during the 9:00 AM hour. Cantonese services include parallel Chinese-language ministry for children.
On arrival, families with children enter through the left-side door of the CE Building at 3635 Lawton. A volunteer at the check-in station will gather basic contact information, print name tags with allergy notes if needed, and direct parents to the appropriate classroom. After the service, parents return to the same entrance, present their label code, and wait for their child's name to be called.
Visitors are encouraged to fill out a get-connected form so that someone from the church can follow up, answer questions about membership, baptism, or community groups, and help find the right place to plug in.
Supporting the Ministry
Sunset Church treats giving as a form of worship, holding that cheerful and sacrificial giving blesses both giver and recipient. Gifts can be made online through the church's Church Center giving page (with recurring options via bank ACH or credit card) or through PayPal Giving Fund for one-time donations that carry no fees. Checks can be made payable to Sunset Church and sent through bank bill pay.
The church welcomes employer matching gifts through companies such as Apple, Bank of the West, Chevron, Genentech, Google, and Hanson Bridget. Stocks can be transferred through Charles Schwab (Account 5782-3605, DTC 0164, Code 40) under the name Sunset Chinese Baptist Church dba Sunset Church, Tax ID 94-0972569.
Designated giving supports the 2026 short-term mission teams: the Missionary Care Response Team to Japan, the Zambia team, the Japan team, and the India team. Each has its own giving page.
For those who would like to serve rather than give, the church welcomes volunteers in children's ministry, youth ministry, music and worship, AV and tech, hospitality, hospitality-on-the-gym-floor, and outreach partnerships. A volunteer form gathers interest in any of those.