Our Story

CIBC History

The Chinese Independent Baptist Church San Francisco was established in 1905 under the leadership of Rev. Tsai Leong Lee. The church had her roots in an indigenous Chinese Baptist movement in Guangzhou, China in the 1800’s. It placed great emphasis on a unique approach to church life and church polity of “Self-Governing, Self-Propagating, and Self-Supporting," hence the word "Independent" in the name of the church. The missiological concept was ahead of its time. The church actually created history of sorts. It was the first Chinese church in San Francisco (and one of the first in the nation) that was established by indigenous Chinese Christians. They met in rented quarters on Clay Street.

In 1906, the Great Earthquake struck San Francisco.  Their meeting place was destroyed and part of the congregation moved to Oakland to live while some of the members remained in San Francisco. After the Quake, the church continued meeting in two locations. The San Francisco group bought property in 1913 on Washington Street and the building was completed in 1922. The Oakland group bought property in 1963 and built on their present location on 8th Street. In 1967, the San Francisco and the Oakland congregations became two autonomous churches – Chinese Independent Baptist Church San Francisco and Chinese Independent Baptist Church Oakland.

In 1975, the San Francisco church established a missions point in the Sunset District which later became the Sunset Chinese Baptist Church in 1980 (presently Sunset Church of San Francisco). In 1976, the Marin County mission point was established and it later became the Marin Community Church. Also since the seventies, the church began supporting missionaries serving in the mission field and mission organizations funding these with money above and beyond what the members normally give to the church. Since the late eighties, the church began sending out short-term missionaries to various parts of the world.

In 1972, the church started a new English congregation which in 1979 became the nucleus of the English congregation of the present Sunset Church. After a hiatus of seven years, in 1986, the church again recommitted to having a separate English congregation, which lasted to the present. At this moment, the church feels led to continue the English congregation for the English-speaking population in Chinatown.

In 2003, the church affirmed its commitment to remain in San Francisco Chinatown by pledging its resources to build a four-story addition and do a major renovation of the existing church building. By the grace and mercy of God, the $2.4 million project was completed debt-free and the new building, aptly called the “Faith Building,” dedicated to the Glory of God on April 3, 2010.

In May 2019, CIBCSF became a member church of the Southern Baptist Convention. The church is also a member church of the Northern California Chinese Baptist Association (NCCBA) as well as a member church of The Chinese Baptist Fellowship of United States and Canada (CBF).

In January 2021, the church established the Benevolent Fund to expand the caring ministry of the church for her members in need. In December 2022, for the first time in more than 40 years, the church completed and adopted revision of the entire church Constitution and Bylaws.

In all her ministries, the church seeks to realize its mission to “Know Christ and to Make Him Known beginning in San Francisco Chinatown.”