wfn.org | Hong Kong and mainland churchs face new future

[David Pomeroy <wfn@igc.apc.org>]

Hong Kong and mainland churches face new future
Church leaders speak at open forum on Hong Kong

Lutheran World Federation

HONG KONG, July 25, 1997 (lwi) - In this new period of openness toward
religion in China and the remarkable growth of the church in China, the
church faces many problems and challenges, Rev. Bao Jia-Yuan, associate
general secretary of the China Christian Council (CCC). "But we understand
that to achieve something means overcoming hurdles and solving problems,"
he said.

Bao spoke during an Open Forum on China July 11.
While the Chinese churches uphold the Three-Self principle
(self-government, self-support and self-propagation of the gospel), "we
stress that the Chinese church is part of the church universal," said Bao. 

"The Chinese church is willing to be related to any overseas churches and
church organizations that respect our Three-Self principle and deal with us
on an equal footing for the purpose of strengthening bonds between Chinese
Christians abroad," he said.

The Three-Self principle of self-government is most difficult for Roman
Catholics in China because "the Pope is an integral part of our faith,"
said Bishop John Tong Hon, auxiliary bishop of the Hong Kong Diocese of the
Roman Catholic Church and representative of the Vatican. He estimated that
90 percent of Catholics in China are still loyal to the Pope. While they
can pray for the Pope, they are not able to have direct contact with the
Pope, he said.

"We are very proud of being called a 'post-denominational church,' but we
are struggling with the problem of restructuring the church, training
enough qualified leaders and managing it in a democratic way," Chen Xi-Da,
vice-director in the Commission for Overseas Relations of the CCC, told the
Assembly. He noted that there were only 700,000 Protestant Christians in
1950, but now there are more than 10 million.

"People are asking about the real meaning of the church in such a large,
non-Christian and modernizing socialist society," said Chen. 

Differences in political, cultural and social backgrounds are barriers
between Hong Kong and mainland China that the church in Hong Kong needs to
overcome, said Dr. Tso Man-King, the general secretary of the Hong Kong
Christian Council. Many overseas churches have been creating an unnecessary
internal dilemma in China by polarizing China's Three-Self church and the
'house church,' Tso said. 

"The Three-Self movement was initiated to eliminate the negative aspects
which came with the missionaries in the 19th century, misleading some
Chinese to perceive Christianity as a 'foreign religion,' a product of
capitalism and imperialism." It has helped to constructively establish
Christianity with Chinese characteristics in Chinese culture, Tso said.

The Hong Kong Christian Council has been building relations with churches
in China since the reopening of China in 1979, said Tso. "Our relations
should be based on the 'Three Mutuality' principles, namely mutual respect,
non-subordination and non-interference." These principles in the Basic Law
can allow each church "to fully develop its own characteristics in
different contexts."

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