basket holiday-bow

A Grateful Review

Emily Seitz

Spring 2025
Emily Seitz
Seitz Family posing with PC in Taiwan staff
The Seitz family with Presbyterian Church in Taiwan staff in 2009.

Dear friends,

As I had mentioned in a previous letter, Jonathan left mission service in August 2024 to take a church position, and I have known that my time was also coming to conclude service. I am grateful that I could stay on a little longer serving with the Taiwan Ecumenical Forum, as we moved from Taiwan (“The Heart of Asia”) to Ohio (“The Heart of it All”).

The Interim Unified Agency of the PC(USA) has concluded the World Mission ministry area and will continue global engagement with the Global Ecumenical Partnerships ministry area. All World Mission staff and mission co-workers concluded service on March 24, 2025. Please see the Presbyterian News Service articles below that detail this shift and the reasons behind it.

children dancing and having fun at VBS
The Seitz children participate in the Anhe Presbyterian Church summer camp in 2016.

How do you make sense of more than fifteen years? A true review of this chapter of my life, 2009-2025, would recall miles of travel, thousands of Chinese words studied, children born and growing up, and an eclectic mix of work experiences (serving as a guide at a museum, the historical home of George Leslie Mackay, a Canadian Presbyterian missionary who served in northern Taiwan; teaching at Taiwan Seminary; preaching and serving in children’s ministry in beloved congregations in Taiwan; and, visiting beloved congregations in the U.S. while on interpretation assignment). It would include the surprise (!) of twins, of finally finishing my PhD, of seven schools for the kids, of an unwanted diagnosis, of hard moves and big milestones, and of many moments of grace.

I remain grateful for the threads that stitched our family into Taiwanese life: a Taiwanese American congregation where we served, Rutgers (where I was in graduate school) and Princeton Theological Seminary alumni in Taiwan, Jonathan’s colleagues and students at the Seminary, and Taiwanese and international friends we met while in Taiwan.

children dancing and having fun at VBS
The Seitz children participate in the Anhe Presbyterian Church summer camp in 2016.

Now, on the other side of the ocean, we still meet Taiwanese friends. A couple came to Jonathan’s installation, there is a Taiwan Studies group at nearby Ohio State, and my kids happily attend a Taiwanese-run language school on Saturdays. There is a lot of familiarity, but it is also a “new approach” for the Seitz family.

To churches who have supported and encouraged our ministry over the years, we offer a hearty “Thank you!” May God bless you richly, and if you should pass through Columbus, Ohio, come and say hello. ‘And may the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 4:7).

Emily and Jonathan