Chinese Christians renew ties with United Methodists
10/16/2003 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York
By Linda Bloom*
Amity Foundation. Photo number W03047, Accompanies UMNS#494
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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.
# # #
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
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