Celebrity Media Commentator: In Little Neck, Queens, New York, a Chinese church is rethinking the place of “mission” in contemporary society in a distinctly forward-looking way. At Harvest Church Of New York, during the final Sunday worship service of 2025, a clear message was conveyed to the public: in an era where media shapes public discourse and personal choices, faith outreach that ignores the media sphere will struggle to truly reach people’s hearts.
On that day, Senior Pastor Rev. Xiao Mudao once again put forward a widely noted statement: “He who gains the media gains the world.” From the perspective of Celebrity Media, this is not an emotional slogan, but a conclusion drawn from his many years of pastoral experience and sustained observation of social trends. What Pastor Xiao emphasizes is not blind faith in technology, but a sober understanding of today’s communication reality—when people’s time, attention, and ways of thinking are deeply embedded in media environments, a church that does not enter these spaces effectively marginalizes itself.
In fact, Pastor Xiao Mudao’s emphasis on media-based mission work did not begin today. For many years, he has repeatedly pointed out that while the church’s mission has never changed, the ways in which that mission is carried must continually evolve. In the digital age, media has become a key channel for shaping values, influencing social sentiment, and connecting communities. The church should not regard the internet merely as an “auxiliary tool,” but rather as a spiritual field that requires serious and sustained cultivation.
It is based on this understanding that Harvest Church Of New York has gradually rolled out a more systematic media mission strategy. According to available information, the church is actively integrating diverse communication resources, with a focus on influential Chinese Christian video platforms such as UChannel TV, YouTube, as well as its own online platform “UChannel New York” and various social media channels, using them as key pillars for expanding its media mission efforts.
From a structural perspective, UChannel TV is not a traditional single-church channel, but a Christian video media platform that uses Chinese as its primary language of communication. For many years, the platform has distributed sermons, faith-sharing programs, and spiritual renewal gatherings to Chinese communities in North America and around the world through digital platforms such as YouTube, establishing a steady and sustained influence within the field of Chinese Christian communication.
Through a platform-based approach, UChannel TV integrates resources from different churches and ministries, building a cross-regional, cross-congregational communication network. Its influence is not based on short-term traffic spikes or topical hype, but on long-term content output that has accumulated trust, along with word-of-mouth dissemination within Chinese church communities.
Through diverse formats such as online livestreams, sermon videos, worship and praise, and testimony sharing, Harvest Church Of New York seeks to break through the limitations of physical space, allowing faith to move beyond the sanctuary and enter everyday settings such as homes, workplaces, and personal life. This approach encourages believers to shift from passive content viewers to active participants and communicators.
Under the leadership of Pastor Xiao Mudao, the church has gradually formed a clear and unified media mission vision. According to its plans, over the coming years the church will, through systematic service and training programs combined with multimedia applications, online courses, and in-person instruction, cultivate a group of believers capable of using modern media tools to spread the Gospel.
This vision has become a shared direction for the church team. Through integrated training across various service roles, believers not only learn practical skills such as video production, content expression, and platform operations, but also grow simultaneously in their spiritual lives and character formation. The church hopes that within the next few years it will cultivate hundreds of “Gospel communicators” with media influence, enabling the Gospel to be seen and heard more widely in the new media era.
Through the continued advancement of media mission practices, believers are no longer merely recipients of information, but become active witnesses and communicators—responding to their calling in their respective fields and platforms, and putting into practice the mission of “gaining the world through the Lord.”
Founded in 2001, Harvest Church Of New York has long combined Gospel outreach with community service. In addition to Sunday worship services, the church continues to hold online prayer meetings and opens major occasions—such as Easter services, Christmas candlelight worship, and New Year prayer gatherings—to a broader audience through online platforms.
At the community level, the church actively promotes children’s and youth Bible studies, small group gatherings, community festival events, and service role training, providing believers with diverse opportunities for participation and practice. This ongoing deepening of its media mission is seen as an important upgrade for Harvest Church Of New York in terms of faith communication, cultural exchange, and community impact.
