Meet Nguyễn Hữu Bình, the New President of the Alliance of Vietnam (South)

Nguyễn Hữu Bình’s journey from a Protestant orphanage and decades of pastoral service to becoming president of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South).

For Nguyễn Hữu Bình, the call to serve God began when he was a young teenager growing up at the Nha Trang Protestant Orphanage. More than five decades later, after years of local-church ministry, theological study, and service to the national church, he has been elected to lead one of the largest churches in the worldwide Alliance family. The Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) has more than 1.2 million members, 3,600 churches, and 1,750 ordained ministers.

Bình was born on October 22, 1952, in Dien Phong Commune, Dien Ban District, Quang Nam Province, now part of Da Nang City. His family originally practiced ancestor worship. In 1960, his father, Nguyễn Lừ, studied the gospel and led the family to faith in Jesus Christ. Both of Bình’s parents have since gone to be with the Lord.

Soon after the family came to faith, Bình’s father became seriously ill and died. His mother, Trương Thị Bán, entrusted him to the Nha Trang Protestant Orphanage, where he was nurtured through the teaching of Scripture. It was there that Bình began to sense God’s call to pastoral ministry.

“I became aware of God’s calling upon my life to serve him as a pastor,” he says.

After leaving the orphanage, however, Bình turned away from that calling. He no longer desired to dedicate his life to pastoral ministry.

As the years passed, however, Bình continued to reflect on the call he had first sensed at the orphanage. In time, he renewed his commitment to pastoral ministry, entrusted his future to God, and prepared himself for a lifetime of service to the church. That return would shape the rest of his life.

Bình began theological studies in 1973 through the Gospel Research Program at the Bible and Theological Institute. In 1975, he officially enrolled in the Theological Seminary to continue his ministerial training.

The General Church then appointed Bình to pastoral ministry. The years that followed were shaped by steady service in local congregations.

Beginning in 1982, he served as interim pastor in several churches: Gia Ray Church and Phuoc Binh Church in Dong Nai Province, and Chanh Hung Church and Nguyen Tri Phuong Church in Ho Chi Minh City.

Through these assignments, he gained experience in preaching, pastoral care, discipleship, and congregational leadership, while helping each church maintain continuity of ministry during a period of transition.

Serving churches in both provincial and urban settings broadened Bình’s pastoral experience and deepened his understanding of the varied needs of local congregations.

At the end of 1992, Gia Dinh Church in Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City, invited him to serve as assistant pastor. In 2005, he became Senior Pastor of Gia Dinh Church.

While shepherding the congregation, Bình continued his theological education. In 2009, he earned a Master’s Degree from Singapore Bible College.

By then, his ministry had expanded beyond his local congregation.

During the 45th General Assembly of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) in 2009, Bình was elected General Treasurer of the Executive Committee.

He was also entrusted with responsibilities on the Construction Committee and was appointed Director of the Communications Department, the official media and publications ministry of the church.

In November 2013, during the 46th General Assembly, he was elected Second Vice President, overseeing External Affairs. He continued serving with the Construction Committee and Communications Department. During the 47th General Assembly in July 2017, Bình was re-elected for a second term as Second Vice President and continued overseeing the Communications Department. Five years later, in July 2022, the 48th General Assembly elected him General Secretary, while he continued his responsibility for the Communications Department.

Then, in July 2026, during the 49th General Assembly of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South), the church entrusted Bình with his greatest leadership responsibility to date. He was elected President of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) for the 2026–2030 term.

For a man who first sensed God’s call as a young teenager, the election marks another step in a journey that has included ministry in local churches, theological education, and decades of service to the national church.

Bình now begins his term of service in a church with a presence across Vietnam.

The history of the gospel in Vietnam stretches back to 1911. Today, the church serves communities across the country through local congregations, provincial representatives, pastors, and lay leaders. Its churches have continued to increase in number as the gospel reaches more people throughout Vietnam. This is the church Bình has now been called to lead.

As he begins the 2026–2030 term, Bình has embraced the strategic directions established by the General Church.

At the center is a call for spiritual revival through prayer, the study of Scripture, and obedience to God’s truth.

The church also seeks to proclaim the gospel among unreached ethnic groups, strengthen and expand the church throughout Vietnam, and serve Vietnamese communities around the world.

The vision includes strengthening theological education and ministry training, developing existing and new models for preparing men and women for Christian service, and preserving the biblical order, discipline, and spiritual heritage of the church.

The church also seeks to fulfill its responsibilities through charitable and community service ministries and to carry out the resolutions adopted by the General Assemblies.

Bình’s vision also includes ministry among women and young people.

The church seeks to encourage and equip Christian women to live according to God’s Word and serve in their families, churches, and communities. At the same time, it seeks to strengthen the spiritual lives of young people, guiding them toward a Christ-centered life and preparing them for service in the church.

Another part of the vision is the continued production, translation, and publication of Christian literature, including publications in the languages of Vietnam’s ethnic minority groups.

Now, as he begins his term as president, Bình is asking the worldwide Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) family to pray for the church in Vietnam.

“We respectfully ask pastors and churches throughout the worldwide Christian and Missionary Alliance family to remember the Church in Vietnam in your prayers,” he says.

He asks the Alliance family to pray as the church carries out the responsibilities entrusted to it and seeks to glorify God through its ministry.

May God grant Nguyễn Hữu Bình and the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) wisdom, strength, unity, faithfulness, and grace as they enter this new term of service.