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Vision or Vanity? What Are We Passing On?

Both foreigners serving in China and Chinese are experiencing a profound shift in roles. Chinese believers are stepping to the forefront, as it should be, but what should foreigners be passing on to them? How does vision play into this and do we want to pass it on?

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A Chinese Voice from 120 Years Ago

The following is a suggestion made by a Chinese pastor to the rest of the attendees at the 1890 Shanghai conference of all the Protestant missionaries in China. It must have taken a lot of courage and strong convictions for him to address the room full of foreigners in this manner (there were only a handful of Chinese delegates at the 1890 Conference). Yan's purpose in speaking was to remind the missionaries that in addition to attracting new converts, there was still much work to be done to care for the believers already in the churches.

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How to Make the Church Chinese? Three Perspectives

The full title of this article is "How to Make the Church Chinese: Perspectives from the Religious, Academic, and Political Spheres" and is posted on the website of the China Christian Council/Three-Self Patriotic Movement (CCC/TSPM). Originally published in the official China Nationalities News, it examines the question of how Chinese the church is in China. While most Chinese Christians would likely agree that today's church is already Chinese both in character and leadership, many in the larger society have yet to acknowledge Christianity as genuinely a Chinese religion. The process of Sinicization, this writer argues, involves not only Christians themselves, but also China's intellectual and political elites.

• October 2, 2012 •

Ways to Pass the Baton

Encouraging and supporting local believers as they pursue God’s calling in their lives is much more difficult than simply teaching what is most comfortable for the teacher. Here are a few suggestions to help ensure that outsiders ministering in China remain focused on serving local Chinese Christian communities.

• September 21, 2012 •

The Church Today is on a Training Ground

Crossing the river by feeling the stones, a popular Chinese idiom, is a fitting way to describe Chinas emerging urban church. Its leaders have no older generation to look up to, and the opportunities and challenges they face are unprecedented in Chinas history. In this article published in the Christian Times, one pastor describes the dangers facing todays urban church leaders. He cautions them to be humble and teachable, as the decisions they make will affect an entire generation.

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Chinese Church Voices

With translated sermons, articles and blog posts, this new web site provides a platform from which non-Chinese speakers can access conversations taking place within China's on-line Christian community to broaden their understanding of the issues facing the Chinese church.

• September 20, 2012 •

The Church in China: A Place at the Table

​I sat across from a Chinese Christian in the lobby of a Beijing hotel as he rearranged the cups and plates on the coffee table between us. Having cleared a space at the center of the table, he pointed to a cup sitting at the edge, near one corner.

• September 12, 2012 •

The Chinese Church and the Global Body of Christ

Pastor Jin briefly looks at the history of the church in China and how it influences today's church as well as the changes the present-day church faces. He identifies six challenges facing the church and also looks to the future. In a side bar, he challenges the North American church.

• June 7, 2012 •