Witness Lee; Evangelist Leader, Writer

Witness Lee, 91, Chinese evangelist who led congregations in Southern California. A former accountant, Lee dedicated himself to Christian teaching, leading worshipers first in Taiwan. He came to the United States in 1962 and was based in Los Angeles and later Anaheim. He traveled the country, preaching and teaching. Lee espoused having only a single Christian church in each community, naming a congregation for its city, as the Church in Anaheim. Known collectively as the Local Church, the denomination has about 120,000 members worldwide, including 25,000 in Taiwan and 12,000 in 125 congregations across the country. Lee was also head of the Living Stream Ministry, which was the church’s publishing and recording arm. He wrote prolifically, with his major work titled “Life Study of the Bible” with 25,000 pages of commentary on the books in the Bible. On Monday in Anaheim.