Worship Time：
Sunday 11: 00-12:15 pm (EST)
Place of Worship
Room 280 on second floor, First Baptist Church
2709 Monument Ave., Richmond, VA 23220
Church Belief
(A) The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Bible is the truth that God revealed to man, written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by the prophets and apostles. The Bible, consists of 66 books, is inerrant, and infallible, and the supreme authority of Christian faith and the highest standard of Christian conduct. We accept the beliefs expressed in the several creeds of Christian church through the ages. However, the Bible is our supreme authority of statement of faith and is also the code of conduct in our lives.
(B) The Trinity
We believe in the true God who is One God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. He is the only God, and in Him there are three persons (hypostases): the Holy Father, the Holy Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father is God, The Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God also, not three Gods but one God; not three uncreated, three infinites, but one uncreated, and one infinite（essence). And the whole three persons are coeternal together and coequal, there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less. We believe God Trinity is the maker of heaven and earth, all things visible and invisible, and He is the ruler and sustainer of all things.
(C) The Person and Work of Christ
We believe our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (homoousia)with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us man, and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnated by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and on the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father. He is the only mediator between God and man, and His kingdom shall have no end.
(D) The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, the Helper who proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque), who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, He spoke by the prophets, and now He speaks to all of us through the Bible that is inspired by Him, so that sinner will be born again. He lives in the heart of the redeemed, leads our lives into the perfection of God, and gives us joy in serving and glorifying God.
(E) The Church
We believe in one holy apostolic Church, this is the church that is established based on the pure beliefs that have been taught by the apostles and prophets; it is the organization where saints of all ages have communion. The church is the body of Christ, and Christ is the head of the church. The saints in the church are members of the body, are brothers and sisters. We acknowledge and administer the ordinance of baptism that is established by our Lord and the Holy Communion which symbolizes the New Covenant. We will have baptism and the Holy Communion (the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist) according to His command until He comes back again, and He shall be with us just as His promise. And we believe the Right of Local Church. We believe in the autonomy of the local church. The church shall manage its own affairs and shall not be subject to any other religious body or organization.
(F) The Total Depravity of Man and the Salvation
We believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, which will cause the sins of fallen man be forgiven. Although man was created according to the image of God, he sinned due to disobedience, became totally corrupt and separated from God. Through the salvation of Jesus Christ’s precious blood shed on the cross, all those who confess their sins, repent of their sins, and receive Lord Jesus as their personal Savior will be saved and become God’s children, in Christ we become new creations.
(G) The Second Advent of Christ and the Eternal State
We believe Christ Jesus will come back again in glory to judge the living and the dead. The body of the dead will be resurrected and the body of the living will be changed. The unrighteous will enter into eternal fire and the righteous will enjoy eternal life.
(H) The Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the Fall of Man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10)
Church Mission
Reaching the Lost and Equipping the Saints. Bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to the Chinese Community.
Church Vision
Let every overseas compatriots find a church that can worship Haotian God in their mother tongue not far from where they live. For us, the number of churches is more important than the number of people in a church.
Brief History of the Church
In September 2022, Rev. Gong Jingyao and Mrs. Gong’s wife Zhang Ruiying established the “Aletheia Chinese Christian Church” in Richmond, Virginia. Now they worships every Sunday in the chapel of the First Baptist Church in this city.
Pastor Profile
Our Shepherds (Founders)
Rev. Daniel Gong, born in Tianjin in 1970, studied Danqing for a while. In 1986, he began to read the Bible to understand Western painting. In 1988, he converted to Christ and became a Christian. After the spring and summer of 1989, he left his paintbrush and began to preach publicly at the end of 1989, from the city to the countryside; at the beginning of 1993, he dedicated himself full-time, teaching himself while preaching.
In 2003, he went to a seminary in the United States to receive formal training. For a total of three years, he obtained three master’s degrees in Divinity and Theology. From 2008 to 2017, he pastored North American Chinese churches full-time for nine years.
At the beginning of 2019, he moved to the state capital of Virginia (Richmond), regained his brush, and opened a studio to paint health and expand the gospel ministry with the characteristics of the new era. In September 2022, after two years of plague, the “Aletheia Chinese Christian Church” was established in Richmond.
Over the past 30 years, Pastor Gong has traveled all over the eastern and western provinces of mainland China, from Tukang caves to Jiangzhou fishing port, from church podiums to classrooms in theological training centers, and has accumulated rich experience in the environment with Chinese characteristics. Experience and service experience; Since 2007, he has been studying in North America for more than ten years and full-time pastoring churches. He deeply feels the needs of overseas Chinese compatriots for faith and the difficulties and challenges of overseas Chinese churches. The founding, management and development of the church under the system also has unique understanding and thinking.
Pastor Gong has written a large number of articles, which have been published on the Internet and magazines at home and abroad. He has also published the monograph “Mixed with Foam” introducing the history of the ancient church, and the “Commentary on the Book of Esther” on Bible interpretation, aiming at pastoral ministry. “Koinonia-The Communion of the Sacraments”, and “Commentary on Chinese Church History” (2006 first edition) and other works.
Pastor Gong currently lives in Richmond, the capital of Virginia, with his wife and two sons. If you want to know about the paintings and artistic accomplishments of Reverend Gong, please click on the independent website of Reverend Gong’s personal studio: GongFineArt.com.
Our pastor’s wife
Pastor Gong’s wife, Preacher Zhang Ruiying grew up in Tianjin. When she was studying at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, she believed in the Lord by grace. In 2007, she was called to study for a Master of Divinity at the Asian Center for Theological Studies and Mission in South Korea. During her stay in Korea, she pioneered and assisted in the development of the Seoul International Student Church. Afterwards, she returned to her hometown to serve as a substitute preacher, serving the podium, professional youth fellowship, and seminary.
At the end of 2012, he went to Regent College, BC, Canada for further study, and obtained a master’s degree in theological studies in 2015, majoring in Master of Arts in Theological Studies. In the same year, she began to serve full-time in the Vancouver Baptist Gospel Church, serving as a preacher for children and youth.
In 2018, married Pastor Gong and moved to the United States. After moving to Richmond in 2019, she assisted Pastor Gong to establish the Aletheia Chinese Christian Church, and served as a children’s ministry preacher at the Emmaus Korean Church (2021-present).
Pastor's Writings
- 《κοινωνία－Understand the Holy Communion》Rev. Gong, Daniel; Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation; 2012 (Chinese)
- 《The Book of Esther: The Hidden God & Display of History》 Rev. Gong, Daniel; Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation; 2012 (Chinese)
- 《The Study of the History and Theology of the Byzantium Church》 Gong Jingyao co-authored with others; Yunnan People Publishing House; 2011 (Chinese)
- 《An Exegesis of Chinese Church History》 Gong Jingyao，Internal publication, Tianjin China; 2006 (Chinese)