Buddhist With Presbyterian Home

Ai Tasedan has attended services at St. Mark Presbyterian Church faithfully for the past 25 years. She got married there. She goes on church-sponsored mission trips and volunteers wherever needed.

Did we mention Tasedan is a Buddhist?

It’s an ecumenical twist that doesn’t bother the liberal Newport Beach congregation very much, if at all. St. Mark’s elders decided in 1975 to help rescue Tasedan and her family, Vietnamese refugees who were in living in a crowded tent city at Camp Pendleton after the Vietnam War. Since then, Tasedan has been as much a part of St. Mark as the stained-glass windows.

Now a successful accountant who is married with two children, Tasedan will celebrate the silver anniversary of the unexpected interfaith relationship by throwing a thank-you party for the congregation after the 9:30 a.m. service Sunday.

“The church has such wide-open arms for every walk of life,” Tasedan, 43, said. “Nobody’s a stranger at St. Mark. I always feel so much warmth. It has a very special spot in my heart.”

The feeling is mutual.

“She appreciates everything the church has done for her,” said Judy Gielow, who along with fellow church member Nancy Jenks first met Tasedan, then 18, at the refugee camp. “But I say, ‘Wait a minute. You’ve done so much for the church. We should be throwing a party for you.’ ”

St. Mark gave Tasedan, her mother and her cousin (her father wouldn’t get out of the country for another 12 years) housing, money and job opportunities.

Tasedan took it from there.

She held one part-time and two full-time jobs while working her way through college. With her limited English, she gravitated toward numbers and became an accountant.

She and husband Robert--a refugee from Communist Romania--were married at St. Mark in a Christian service following a Buddhist ceremony at their home. The Costa Mesa couple’s children are being raised in the Presbyterian church.

As Tasedan sees it, the congregation of 385 let her in on the American Dream. She says for that, she’ll never be able to repay them. Still, she tries.

She relentlessly volunteers. Last summer, she even went on a mission trip to a Navajo reservation in Utah, serving, among other duties, as the team’s cook, a skill that helped her pay for college.

Baking cakes is Tasedan’s specialty, something the church takes full advantage of. Wedding, birthday, anniversary, party, yule log cakes--you name it, she’s baked it. And she does it free of charge. On those rare occasions someone insists on paying, she has them write a check to the church or a charity.

Because her first name is pronounced “I,” Tasedan inadvertently creates a version of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First?” comedy routine when people gather to eat her cakes.

“If you ever go to our church,” Tasedan said, “someone will say, ‘Ai made this cake.’

“And the next person will say, ‘You make this cake?’

“And another will say, ‘No, Ai did.’ ”

Tasedan, who has an infectious personality, breaks out laughing each time she tells the story.

She does get serious when explaining why she’s never switched from Buddhism to Christianity, however.

“I have a great understanding of the faith, but I don’t want to convert because it would break my mom’s heart,” said Tasedan, who attends Buddhist temple in Santa Ana. “And that’s one thing I wouldn’t do.”

For Pastor Gary Collins, her conversion isn’t necessary. And in Orange County’s conservative Christian world, that’s an unusual point of view.

“I’d love for her to become a Christian if that brings her closer to God,” Collins said. “But if she’s close to God as she is and feels spiritually connected, I’m fine with that.”

It’s fitting that Collins’ sermon on Sunday will center on the Gospel of Mark (10:39-40): “Anyone who is not against us is for us. If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I assure you, that person will be rewarded.”

“We do emphasize Jesus’ inclusiveness,” Collins said. “People like Ai won’t be excluded from God’s love.”