FEATURES OF CHRISTIANITY IN WORLD REACH1: PART 1

China Christian Council

The People's Republic of China has seen a burgeoning of congregations related to the China Christian Council and the National Three Self Patriotic Movement since 1979. (It must be remembered that there was almost no communication at all with the virtually moribund Christian communities for thirty years!) It is a post-denominational church, building on the almost forgotten heritage of the mainline missions and the early unity of the Church of Christ in China. Even the Seventh Day Adventist descendants participate, because, since Sunday is a workday like any other, church attendance on Saturday is not an issue. There are fifteen thousand organized Three Self churches registered with the government, and thirty to forty thousand house churches related to them. It is common to count twelve hundred persons packed into one of the old church buildings from missionary days, with a large crowd outside listening to the service through open doors and windows.

We are told that an average of six new churches are registered every day, and Sam Pearson writes from Nanjing, "the church in China is growing by leaps and bounds and moving into an ideological vacuum created by Communism and the cultural revolution's weakening of a sense of continuity and culture, which left many people bereft of both the gods of Communism and those of traditional Chinese culture."13 He adds that it does not currently have an adequate leadership to replace the eighty and ninety-year-olds who were educated before the Revolution. It is said that there is an average of one pastor for every ten thousand members. In one region, there is no ordained minister or appointed elder for ninety-eight registered congregations with forty thousand believers. The lack of trained pastors and elders for vast areas of the country presents the danger of fanatical cults and marginally Christian sects, and leaves the churches without evangelization and pastoral care.

Of course, the famous fundamentalist movements like that of Watchman Nee (1902-1972), founder of the Little Flower Church, urged on by conservative Christians abroad, meet in resistance not only to the ruling Communist Party, but also to the structures of government and the ecumenical leadership. No one knows how many independent house churches there are. The churches associated with Bishop K. H. Ting and with our own Disciples of Christ roots cooperate with the Department of Religious Affairs of the United Front and the National People's Congress. In fact, some of the government representatives are new secret Christians who are spiritually supported by the ones they oversee administratively.

This church in China is consequent, not only because of the great number of congregations springing up daily and the number of students in Bible schools and seminaries (twelve hundred in twenty-three institutions), but because of its potential contribution to the life of China.14 There is an intellectual and spiritual interest on the part of university professors and researchers that was called not long ago a "Christian fever" to see philosophy, history and literature in a new light, although few Chinese Christians are prepared for this dialogue. There is a gracious openness to conversation with outsiders. In my opinion, and as Sam indicates, a now-lifeless Marxism prepared the way for not only a metaphysical but also a biblical interest in theology. Some of these intellectuals are called "culture Christians," for whom church membership and the preaching level of the pastors are incompatible. To my knowledge, a trend in theology reflecting the Chinese reality, past and present, is not appearing yet, although every seminary student must study the religious importance of art. What I have heard and read is the offer to seek answers to the problems of the twenty-first century together.