VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS)-Leaders of the American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) hosted Chinese government officials and religious leaders following the completion of "The Bible Ministry Exhibition of the Church in China" in New York City. The group met at the Mission Center in Valley Forge on June 12 to discuss the state of church life in China.
After meeting with Mr. Zhu An Wang, vice minister of China's State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), ABC General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Roy Medley, said "We deeply appreciate the opportunity for ongoing dialogue with SARA around the life of the church in China and its relationship to the church in the U.S. We look forward to increased interchanges with our brothers and sisters in China." Medley, along with leaders of International Ministries (IM), had met with Chinese Church leaders, when they visited the country earlier this year. Those leaders also participated in the opening of the Bible exhibition in New York on June 5, which was held at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. The exhibit, which ended June 12, displayed Bibles, manuscripts, and Christian art from hundreds of years in China. The exhibit began its tour at Crystal Cathedral, in suburban Los Angeles, April 27 to May 4 and then moved to Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta from May 19 to May 24.
At the end of the exhibit, a delegation from SARA came to the Mission Center to meet with Medley and other American Baptist officials, including Rev. Charles Jones, acting executive director of IM, Rev. Rothang Chhangte, Director of Ecumenical Formation for ABCUSA, Mr. M. Thomas Ridington, senior vice president of Eastern University, Mrs. Stephanie MacTavish, vice president for East Asian relations at Eastern University, Rev. Florence Li, Asian churches strategist and national coordinator of intercultural ministries with National Ministries, and Rev. Benjamin Chan, area director with IM for East Asia, China, and India.
The exhibit in New York, Li said, "was magnificent and valuable." And after talking with both government and church officials from China at the Mission Center, Li said she was amazed to see God at work in China in such a powerful way. Ridington, who has participated in earlier conversations with Chinese leaders who have visited the Mission Center, felt this most recent conversation was equally productive.
"Every time I meet with a delegation of Chinese church and religious leaders, I become aware of the great promise of the Chinese church and the tremendous complexities of coexistence in a Community-party led society," Ridington said.
Indeed, Mr. Wang noted that only avowed atheists can be members of the Communist Party of China, though some IM executives noted this was not the case in Cuba and Italy, for example. Wang did say government positions are not limited to party officials and some Christians are now working in government roles. Chan -- who organized the dialogue -- was encouraged by Wang's plea for collaboration in training more pastors and Christian workers for a rapidly growing Prostestant church in China. "It was a valuable experience to listen directly to SARA officials. I am especially amazed by their concern for the inadequate number of pastors and Christian workers as the Church in China has grown in a tremendous way."
Since the end of the cultural revolution in China in 1976, and the re-opening of churches beginning in 1980, church leaders through the China Christian Council, the National Three-Self Patriotic Movement, and Amity Printing Co. have printed more than 40 million Bibles, which have been distributed through thousands of churches and dozens of distribution centers. Amity Printing now publishes about 2.5 million Bibles a year.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches, USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/