Reverend Charles Koo, Senior Pastor 辜漢然牧師

Email Reverend Charles (Charles.Koo@cccdc.com)

Charles Koo

Charles Koo came to CCC in 2003 from Chinese Christian Church & Center in Philadelphia where he had served for 17 years in several pastoral capacities. Pastor Charles received his M.Div. from Tyndale Seminary in Toronto and was ordained in 1992. He has completed coursework for his Ph.D. in Old Testament Hermeneutics and awaits the right timing to finish writing his dissertation. His qualifications are rounded out by a variety of ministry trainings such as small groups, spiritual gifts, stewardship, discipleship, leadership, and church vision.

Since coming to CCC Pastor Charles has focused ministry work on Building a People for God’s Kingdom, emphasizing that the church can only move forward on its knees, approaching God in prayer in all things. For several years Pastor Charles has ministered to the needs of three congregations with help from lay and guest speakers, ministry teams, seminarians, and a couple former associate pastors. Currently, he is concentrating his efforts in organizing and strengthening the pastoral leadership team to meet the spiritual needs of the congregation and the community and to make CCC God’s light in the Nation’s Capital. Having witnessed God’s hand firmly leading CCC since moving to our I Street home, he can’t wait to see how He will use CCC to continue His Kingdom work.

Besides traveling, he loves being outdoors surrounded by nature, especially being at the beach or a campfire or engaged in water sports. His prayer for CCC is for her to be guided by the words of John the Baptist, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30), in all she sets out to do.

Read Pastor Koo’s Testimony

Reverend Xu Lijuan (Joanna Xu) 徐麗娟, Mandarin Pastor 徐麗娟傳道

Email Joanna (Joanna.Xu@cccdc.com)

Joanna XuJoanna comes from Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of China, where her grandparents were devout followers of a Chinese religion called Yiguan Dao (一貫道, meaning Consistent or Persistent Way). With this background as well as exposure to different sects of Buddhism, Joanna was not able to find peace in her heart.

Joanna came to the U.S. with her parents in 1998 and became a permanent resident. She became quite ill when her family returned to China, experiencing severe pain which was worsened by a car accident in 2005. At this lowest point of her life, she began to question what would become of her when she died. She met a group of Christians, one of whom taught her English. She found them very different, with a special warmth, joy, and love that other people didn’t have. She was baptized in 2006.

Miraculously, she found lodging in Wah Luck, a building in D.C. for low income families and subsequently found nearby CCC, which she attended regularly. She dedicated herself to full-time ministry at an AFC (Ambassador for Christ) Missions Conference in 2010 and went to Seminary the following year. After she graduated, she came back to CCC for her internship and is now serving as Assistant Pastor for the Mandarin ministries.

Pastor Joanna loves to read, cook, decorate, garden and raise goldfish. She has a desire for all she comes in contact with to know the love of God and enjoys encouraging the young adults to grow in their faith. She lives with her husband in DC.

Reverend Joshua Cho, English Pastor 曺富鉉牧師

Email Reverend Joshua (Joshua.Cho@cccdc.com)

Rev. Joshua Cho was born and raised in Chicago, IL. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he went on to receive his Master of Divinity degree at Covenant Theological Seminary. During his seminary years, Joshua served as a pastor of The Crossing Church, a multi-ethnic congregation in St. Louis, MO. This is also where Joshua met his wonderful wife Esther. Joshua and Esther were married in 2013 and moved to Princeton, NJ, where he served as a pastor of Princeton Christian Church.

Following God’s call, in 2018, Joshua, Esther and their son Caleb (4) moved to Washington, DC, to serve as pastor of the English Ministry at Chinese Community Church (CCCDC). In their time in DC, God has blessed the family with a little girl, who they named Chloe (1). Whether it’s children, youth, college, young adult or beyond, Joshua is thankful to God to have the privilege of being called to full-time ministry and always looks forward to what God will do. Joshua loves preaching the Word of God, worshiping the Lord through praise, spending time with family, friends, and church members, and sharing life together with others. Rev. Joshua Cho is ordained in the Evangelical Church Alliance (ECA).