wfn.org | Chinese Christians renew ties with United Methodists

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Oct. 16, 2003	News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212)870-38037New York
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By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - In the Fujian Province of China, people are drawn to
Christianity through the example that church members set in their everyday
lives, according to a church and seminary leader there.

"We emphasize that every Christian should be a good citizen in our society,"
the Rev. Zhihua Lin told staff of the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries during an Oct. 14 meeting in New York.

Lin was part of a nine-member delegation of Christians from China making an
Oct. 5-26 visit to renew friendships with Protestants in the United States
and Canada. The delegation was led by the Rev. Shengjie Cao, president of the
China Christian Council, and Presbyter Jianhong Ji, chairperson of the
Three-Self Patriotic Movement of Protestant Churches in China.

Representing some 16 million Protestants, the Chinese leaders engaged in
dialogue with Board of Global Ministries staff on such concerns as the need
for theological training, arranging mutual visits and sharing resources. The
United Methodist Church was among the first denominations to support the
Amity Foundation, an independent social service organization started by
Christians in China in 1985, and the church still provides support for
Amity's Hong Kong Office.

The history of Methodist mission in China dates back to 1847, when the first
Methodist Episcopal Church missionaries arrived in Fuzhou. Mission workers
from other predecessor denominations followed, eventually establishing
schools, hospitals, clinics and other social and evangelistic ministries in
various regions of China.

With the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and other changes
by the Chinese Communist Party, the activities of foreign mission workers
became increasingly restricted, and the last Methodist missionary left by the
end of 1952. During that decade, the 700,000-some Protestants in China
initiated the post-denominational "Three-Self Movement," based on the
principles of self-governance, self-support and self-propagation.

During China's Cultural Revolution, from 1966 to 1979, religious activity was
banned, so Christians could meet only in small groups in people's houses. The
China Christian Council was founded in 1980 to provide a national structure
when the ban was lifted. The council is now a member of the World Council of
Churches. Working in cooperation with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the
council functions as an umbrella and service organization for all Protestants
in China.

Theological education is promoted through 18 seminaries and Bible schools,
and more than 70 centers serve as distribution points for Bibles, hymnals and
other resources. Training and social services programs, even those initiated
by local churches, receive council support.

Christians are encouraged to serve as models for the community "when it comes
to meeting the needs of others," Ji said, adding that each Christian is
considered an evangelist.

Ji, who also serves as executive vice president of Nanjing Union Theological
Seminary, told the group that drawing people to worship is not difficult.
"Many people are looking for the gospel and come into the church by
themselves," he explained.

About 75 percent of those believers are women, who also constitute 26 percent
of the total number of pastors in China and about 44.5 percent of church
workers, including lay workers.

Cao, who is vice president of the National YWCA of China, considers her 2002
election as the first woman to serve as council president to be an
encouragement to women seeking leadership positions in the church. She noted
that the ordination of women has been "quite successful" since 1981, and she
added that women are half the student body at theological seminaries. More
than 400 women are ordained pastors in China.

Although she admitted that the idea of male superiority remains strong in
China, Cao reported that church members generally accept female pastors, and
some women have risen to significant positions. A woman currently is senior
pastor of the largest Protestant church in Beijing, for example.

Meilin Chen, a council executive and chief director of overseas relations for
the two organizations, believes the change in women's status in the church
reflects what has occurred in Chinese society as well a deepening of
theological thinking in the Chinese church.

"Awakened Chinese women Christians are making efforts to overcome prejudice
and make people realize that men and women are both created by God and share
the same image of God," she wrote in a paper on "The Status and Role of Women
in the Growing Church of China." 

The China Christian Council and Three-Self Patriotic Movement have
established a commission on women's work, which has led 18 provinces,
municipalities and autonomous regions to form local commissions. The national
commission has encouraged the training of clergywomen and female lay workers
and seminary faculty members, according to Chen. Churches also offer literacy
classes to help illiterate Christian women read the Bible.

In fact, Chinese Christian women are advised to practice "Four-Self"
principles - self-administration, self-support, self-confidence and
self-respect. "We also encourage our women pastors and women church workers
to learn from outstanding and talented women in the Bible and take them as
good role models, so as to understand what role they should play and what
responsibilities they should take on in the church of our times," Chen wrote.

The council is in mission with some of China's 56 ethnic groups, according to
Cao, and is developing leadership within those groups.

Information on Christians in China is available in English at
www.amityfoundation.org, the Amity Foundation Web site. Another site,
www.chineseprotestantchurch.org, is available in Chinese.

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*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

 
 

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