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[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Who Will Liaise between Chinese Churches?'
Malaysian Bishop Urges LWF Mediation

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia/GENEVA, 15 June	2004 (LWI) * Someone is needed to 
liaise between the official Protestant church in mainland China, the 
"Three-Selves-Movement" (TSM), and the country's independent churches, 
Malaysian Bishop Gideon Chang told a gathering of Asian Lutheran church 
leaders in Kuala Lumpur.

Chang made his remarks while preaching at the opening worship of the 
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Asian Church Leadership Conference (ACLC), 
held June 4-7 in the Malaysian capital. The bishop heads the Lutheran 
Church in Malaysia and Singapore (LCMS), which ministers to 
Chinese-speaking Lutherans.

The Malaysian Chinese bishop rejected the claim that the independent 
churches were more evangelical than the TSM. He lamented that the two 
groupings of churches criticized each other, at times even fighting, 
instead of respecting each other as fellow Christians. "Who is the person 
to call [to the two groups]: please, come together, we can talk at the 
table?" Chang asked.

The bishop asked whether the LWF could provide a bridge between both groups 
in keeping with its vision of working "for the healing of the world," the 
theme of the 2003 LWF Tenth Assembly. Such talks were needed to remove the 
suspicions, even hatred, that exist between the TSM and independent 
churches, also known as house churches or underground churches, Chang said.

Speaking to Lutheran World Information (LWI), Chang said, "There is much 
suspicion among independent churches toward anything to do with the 
[Chinese] government," which made these churches somewhat mysterious to 
outsiders. "Blaming the government for being communist is not very fair," 
he remarked.

The number of independent churches in China is huge and growing, although 
precise figures are impossible to obtain. A Christian revival is underway 
since several years in at least seven northern provinces, according to 
various reports, Chang said. The independent churches have very good 
contact with free churches abroad, whereas the LCMS maintains relations 
with the TSM.

Rev. Ginda Harahap, Department for Mission and Development Area Secretary 
for Asia, noted that the LWF remains open to a mediating role between the 
TSM and independent churches. He drew attention to the work of the Mekong 
Mission Forum (MMF), bringing together Lutheran churches and mission 
partners in Asia, Europe and North America, who are engaged in mission work 
in six countries along the Mekong river in southeast Asia/Cambodia, China, 
Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

The purpose of the forum, Harahap explained, was not to establish a 
Lutheran church but to bring locals into contact with the Christian 
message. The LCMS, one of MMF's mission partners, is active in Cambodia, 
China and Myanmar.

There are LWF member churches that serve Chinese-speaking Lutherans in Hong 
Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Canada and the United States of America. 
(457 words)

(By Amsterdam-based LWI correspondent Andreas Havinga, reporting on the 
ACLC on behalf of LWI.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran 
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member 
churches in 76 countries representing 62.3 million of the almost 66 million 
Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas 
of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, 
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various 
aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in 
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless 
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or 
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an 
article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced 
with acknowledgment.]

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