Chinese Church is Thriving But Faces Major Challenges in the Future
Episcopal News Service. December 6, 2000 [2000-216]
(ENS) A generation after emerging from an intense period of persecution, Chinese Christian churches are bursting at seams -- and experiencing all the problems that accompany such rapid growth. The church is desperately short of clergy, for example, forced to rely on dedicated lay leadership. It is also struggling with some internal theological issues as it attempts to shape a uniquely Chinese theology.
Responding to an invitation from the China Christian Council, Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold sent a delegation of "personal representatives" in hopes that the mid-November visit would "strengthen the strong ties already existing between us." Those ties, Griswold added, were bolstered by the "grace-filled" participation of Bishop K.H. Ting, the last Anglican bishop in China, in the 1988 House of Bishops meeting.
During an intense schedule that took the delegation to Shanghai, Nanjing, Luoyang and Beijing, members were greeted warmly by the church's leaders as well as members of urban and rural churches, students and professors at seminaries and Bible schools, and the staff at the Amity Foundation.
As the largest and historically the most westernized city in China, with an estimated population of 13 million, Shanghai's skyline is changing rapidly. Towering skyscrapers and gridlock traffic on the streets offer ample evidence of the nation's rapid modernization.
The same intensity seems to infuse parishes like Community Church, originally built by Americans for foreign residents of the city, but now thoroughly Chinese, with a vibrant parish life. It is one of 136 churches in Shanghai, many incorporating a variety of styles because of a religious tolerance that is a primary tenet of the church.
In a conversation with its senior pastor, Pastor Sun, one of five clergy on staff, the delegation learned that the church has three services on Sunday with an average attendance of 1,500 at each service. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) the building was occupied by an opera group and is still being renovated. The pews in the sanctuary are in a jumble as a work crew applies a fresh coat of paint.
Despite the "post-denominational" structure of the church in China, Sun says that "we still have different traditions." As a former Anglican, he said that Eucharists in the Anglican style are still offered, usually once a month, and "more and more people like it." Most of the church, he observes, "is more evangelical" as the result of its missionary background.
When asked about particular challenges, Sun said that "the first task" is clergy supply. As young people have more options in the developing economy, it is difficult to find young candidates for ministry. There is more interest in the rural areas, he pointed out, where options are more limited. Candidates indicate their interest at the local parish level, must receive the endorsement of the governing board and then the China Christian Council.
The Chinese people seem increasingly interested in a search for spiritual meaning, he said, not satisfied with material things. The Rev. Elyn MacInnis, an Episcopalian who has been living and working in China for the past 12 years, said that there is a strong sense of devotion in the church, one that she finds "very beautiful." It is a special piety that members of the delegation would experience for themselves.
The Chinese church practices adult baptism almost exclusively, beginning at the age of 18, based on the conviction that believers must make the choice deliberately and with great conviction.
"Pray for us -- and tell your people what you have seen," said the pastor in parting. He said that "too many rumors" about the Chinese church are spread by those who don't know the facts.
In a wide-ranging and very open conversation, officials at the headquarters of the China Christian Council in Shanghai began by noting that last September they celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Three-Self Movement, the cornerstone concept of a church in China that is "self-supporting, self-propagating and self-governing."
At the time of the Revolution in 1949, there were about 700,000 Protestant church members -- after a century of mission work -- and Protestant churches were considered "foreign." Today's post-denominational church, freed of the baggage of colonialism and imperialism, has grown to a membership of 15 million in 16,000 churches and 32,000 "meeting places." This growth came despite the "lost decade" of the Cultural Revolution. As the image of the church changed, becoming a more overtly Chinese church, it grew rapidly. "In the hearts of the Chinese, it had become their own church," one of them said.
One of the major challenges is to build and strengthen the church's theological foundation, which they say is "stuck in the 1940s" now. They agreed that they are in the middle of some theological rethinking and renewal. "Chinese theology must be cultivated in Chinese culture," one of them said.
There are 18 seminaries in the whole nation, but only Nanjing Seminary is a "national" seminary in the Western style. Today there are about 1,500 students in seminaries, but only about 2,000 ordained clergy in the whole church -- so lay leaders play an essential role in the church. Many regional Bible training schools have graduated over 4,000 since the churches were reopened in 1980-81, after the Cultural Revolution. Those schools emphasize the training of lay workers.
About 99 percent of the Bibles in China were seized during the Cultural Revolution, and getting the Bible back in circulation was a top priority for the church as it emerged from that decade of persecution. Church leaders said that there are 27 million Bibles available now, with another three million printed each year.
The delegation learned that Roman Catholicism is regarded as an altogether different religion in China. Yet the CCC has a formal relationship of "mutual respect" with Chinese Catholics, and leaders meet regularly at the urging of the government and offer advice on religious matters.
As for the so-called "underground churches," CCC leaders said that they were no longer secret but, for a variety of reasons, do not register with the government. The conservative church known as Little Flock has refused to register since the 1920s on theological grounds. Some are now registering as "activity places," not churches.
For a closer look at how the church prepares its clergy, the delegation traveled to East China Theological Seminary in the suburbs of Shanghai. Opened last February, it is still under construction and offers several levels of education, including a four-year college curriculum with 90 students, a two-year Bible training for 30 middle school students, and a three-year, part-time theological training at a church in the city.
In conversation with students and faculty, Sisk -- formerly dean of Seabury-Western in Chicago -- discussed some of the differences in theological education in America and China. At one point he asked what was the "integrating factor" at the school, mentioning that at Seabury-Western it was worship. The Chinese students quickly agreed, pointing out the new chapel, with a cross of glass open to the sky in the ceiling, which nurtures the whole community.
As the delegation debriefed before taking the train to Nanjing, Mauney noted the aging leadership of the church, underscoring the critical loss of a generation during the Cultural Revolution. Yet he was excited by what seemed to be a readiness to explore some other theological directions.
The Rev. Chen Zemin, vice principal of Nanjing Seminary, pulled together members of the faculty for a stimulating conversation. He began by describing "a time of transition when young people will take over." It made him "very hopeful about the future."
The seminary was actually founded in 1952 and Bishop Ting has been its principal since then. With a four-year curriculum, it provides the church with most of its pastors and teachers. But it also offers a three-year correspondence course to about 3,000 students, most of them lay workers.
As recently as 10 years ago, Chen noted, Christianity was still regarded by many as an "imported" religion, but now even secular schools offer courses in religion and it is much better understood by intellectuals. He said that Ting was launching a "theology of reconstruction," a theology in the Chinese context that moves beyond Western traditions in an attempt to update and make it easier to understand in modern China.
The Amity Foundation in Nanjing is the church's outreach into Chinese society, supporting work in education, social welfare, medical health and rural development for the last 15 years. In that time, Dr. Han Wenzao, president of the China Christian Council, has noticed "an encouraging trend for the better" among churches in their understanding of ministries of compassion. It is even possible now to talk about AIDS, although the topic is still regarded by many as threatening.
Based on a belief that local people are the true agents of change in Chinese society, Amity works with the rural poor, providing health training for health workers and mobile surgical vans. It supervises a program for foreign teachers, usually in English. Han said that those who work at the foundation take "deep satisfaction to provide spiritual dimensions, not just meet material needs."
At a dinner hosted by Han, Bishop Ting addressed the "disappearance of Anglicanism" in post-denominational China. Before the Liberation in 1949 there were 15 Anglican dioceses in China but a total membership of only 50,000, "too small to maintain much influence in the formation of the China Christian Council," he said.
Anglicans were "greatly appreciated for better learning and theological training," Ting said, exerting a strong influence on the formation of the regional councils. And there is growing interest in the Anglican style of worship. "Anglicans have produced a lot of church leaders," added Han, especially in the China Christian Council.
Ting said that one reason the church is growing so rapidly is "because of its good witness," coupled with a willingness to help those in need. Yet he sees signs of a crisis in areas of faith (see sidebar), especially some new kinds of heretical teachings. He argued for openness and progressiveness for the sake of a healthier church in the future.
In a two hour conversation later at his home, Ting was even more blunt. "The mission of the church in China will be fruitless if it adopts anti-communism as our mission -- especially these days," he said. He is convinced that the Communist Party is changing its attitude towards the church and stated, "I am quite firm in my thinking that we can't treat communists as our enemies. It's true that at the grassroots some officials can be very rude in their treatment of church people, but the higher you go you discover that the attitude has changed.
"You no longer hear any talk of religion as an opiate of the people," he added. "That doesn't mean that communists are being converted to the Christian faith but they know they must respect the church and its leaders," especially if they hope to mobilize people to build the country.
Addressing the touchy topic of human rights, Ting said that organizations like the CCC have not made statements "because we are too small. If we do such a thing it will not be good for the church in the long run," and it would be used by those outside critics of the country and its policies. Church leaders find other ways to share their opinions with the government.
In a debriefing conversation later, members of the delegation said that they were impressed by the presence of young people in the ranks of the clergy -- including women. They noted the fears among some church leaders that the church is burdened with what Mauney called an "otherworldly, pietistic religion."
Sisk wondered how the gifts of Anglicanism were being incorporated in a post-denominational church. "Our richest gifts don't seem to be appreciated," he said, although he admitted he was encouraged by an interest in the Prayer Book and liturgy.
The delegation attended Sunday worship at St. Paul's, a brick and ivy-covered church that could pass for Anglican almost anywhere -- except for the hundreds of bicycles parked in the courtyard and the packed house with people peering in the windows and others watching on closed-circuit television in a neighboring building. The delegation was introduced and Shimpfky brought greetings from the presiding bishop and the American church.
Delegation members drew a crowd after the service with many church members asking the bishops for prayers and a blessing.
The delegation got another glimpse of church life during a stop in the city of Luoyang, on the way to Beijing. It visited Thanksgiving Church, built by the sheer determination of the "grannies" of the congregation who patiently collected 180,000 bricks for its construction. The delegation was welcomed by church leaders and government officials to a half-finished country church building springing up in the fields outside the city, built on the hopes, prayers and determination of its 500 members.
On his last night in Beijing, Grieves brought greetings to a weekly Bible study for young people at Gang Wa Shi Church. The parish has five Sunday services with over 4,000 people attending. This is his fourth trip to China, Grieves told the group, and "each time I feel a deeper love and respect for the people of this country. As the world gets smaller, we wear clothes made in China and you are eating Big Macs and Kentucky Fried Chicken."
The church is smaller but no less vibrant in the nation's capital, Beijing. There are about 40,000 believers in eight churches and 200 meeting places, with 31 clergy, a third of them women. Once again, it was obvious that lay leaders are of critical importance.
Shimpfky asked about attitudes towards women clergy and an ordained woman replied that it had not been a problem. It may help that women form a majority of church membership, she added.
As the visit drew to a close, members of the delegation sorted through their impressions. Sisk said it had been "a real eye-opener," a witness to the church's ability to survive persecution. But he was also struck by what he called the "vulnerability" of the Anglican tradition in places like China.
MacInnis said that, for many of the church members in the countryside "we may have been the first foreign visitors."
"The Three-self Movement hints at where we need to go," Shimpfky said. The high point for him was the conversation with Ting. "It was a very spiritual time," he said. In a letter to Griswold later he called the trip "a revelation, a balm and an inspiration."