Brent Fulton

Brent Fulton is the founder of ChinaSource.

Dr. Fulton served as the first president of ChinaSource until 2019. Prior to his service with ChinaSource, he served from 1995 to 2000 as the managing director of the Institute for Chinese Studies at Wheaton College. From 1987 to 1995 he served as founding US director of China Ministries International, and from 1985 to 1986 as the English publications editor for the Chinese Church Research Center in Hong Kong.

Dr. Fulton holds MA and PhD degrees in political science from the University of Southern California and a BA in radio-TV-film from Messiah College.

An avid China watcher, Dr. Fulton has written and taught extensively on the church in China and on Chinese social and political phenomena. He is the author of China's Urban Christians: A Light That Cannot Be Hidden and co-authored China's Next Generation: New China, New Church, New World with Luis Bush.

Dr. Fulton and his wife, Jasmine, previously lived in Hong Kong from 2006 to 2017. They currently reside in northern California.

He is currently facilitating a network of member care professionals serving missionaries sent out from China. He also consults with other organizations on the impact of China's religious policy.

Latest

The Greying of China and the Church’s Response

As China’s elderly population mushrooms and its working-age population shrinks, Christian families find themselves caught in the middle of this demographic divide. Cultural expectations and legal requirements put the onus on them to care for older family members, but neither the government nor the society at large are adequately prepared to support this effort.

Cults in China

Last year members of the Almighty God sect savagely attacked a customer in a McDonald’s in northeast China after she refused to give them her cell phone number. Formerly known as Eastern Lightning, the Almighty God sect has emerged as one of the most active cults in China.

China by the Lists

Grab your calculator – China’s leaders are at it again!

To usher in the Year of the Sheep, President Xi Jinping has placed his indelible stamp on Chinese history by unveiling the Four Comprehensives.

The Chinese Church’s Shifting Battleground

Christians throughout history have seen themselves engaged in a battle that is ultimately spiritual in nature. Forces arrayed against them, political or otherwise, are physical manifestations of this unseen battle, which will ultimately conclude with the return of Christ.

Marriage and the Church in Urban China

For first-generation urban Christians in China, social expectations regarding marriage present difficult dilemmas as they seek to remain faithful to biblical teaching regarding the family.

Beyond the Crosses

The forced removal of crosses from literally hundreds of churches in the Wenzhou area during the past year has called attention not only to the local government’s heavy-handed approach toward the church, but also to the phenomenon of the church buildings themselves.

Church Leader Development in China

The development of leadership training within China’s unregistered church has followed a trajectory that roughly parallels that of the larger society as it has experienced major advances in education, a rising standard of living, and massive urbanization.

China’s Next Generation

What a difference a decade makes! Over the last ten years the nation of China and the Chinese church have changed significantly; so has…

Who Speaks for the Church in China?

Given the relatively opaque nature of China's church, international organizations have often found it difficult to know where to connect. Chinese representation at several high-profile international conferences in recent years has, in some ways, been a welcome breakthrough. These events have ostensibly helped to bring together a wide spectrum of leaders from within China with those from abroad who are seeking to partner with them.