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.
In a recent post on Chinese Church Voices, a college professor who is a Christian contrasted his own life in China with that experienced by his father. His portrait of these two generations finds interesting parallels in the leadership of China'S church.
It is common journalistic shorthand to attribute any policies, economic action, or military behavior that appears to emanate from Chinese officialdom to "China."
China's "official" churches (those operating under the auspices of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement) are fairly often associated with terms such as "restrictive," "government-sanctioned," or even "Communist-controlled." Granted, one does not have to look too far within China's religious bureaucracy and its associated policies and practices to find evidence that would justify such notions. Unfortunately, however, the perception of the official church which these labels create tends to mask much of what is actually happening on the ground in TSPM-affiliated churches.
I'm already two weeks into my current episode of jet lag, so I know there is no excuse. However, I still find myself waking up in the morning and wondering, "What day is this anyway?"
An article that appeared last month in China's official press raises interesting questions about how the church in China is viewed by both the Chinese state and society.
Over the years many foreign faith-based entities have made what might best be described as a "survey trip" to China. The purpose is ostensibly to understand what is happening on the ground and to discern whether, and how, their particular organization could begin a China work.
The church in China is often viewed through two prevailing and related paradigms. The "persecuted church" paradigm positions the church and the Chinese government in perpetual opposition to one another, while the "Christian China" paradigm sees Christianity as bringing a new moral order to China and foresees the day when the church will usher in political change.
The new year is upon us, and McKinsey China has come out with a new set of predictions for 2014. A key theme running through these predictions is a significantly changing labor market, particularly as a result of advances in technology and the way it is being utilized both in the workplace and by consumers.
Mention the church in China and the conversation invariably turns toward China's religious policy, the underlying assumption being that the Chinese government is bent on suppressing Christianity. In the most recent issue of ChinaSource Quarterly we take a closer look at this question. As with most things in China, both the stated policy and the observable reality belie a complexity that makes it extremely difficult to generalize about the relationship between church and state in China.
So here I am, eggnog latte in hand, seated in one of the ubiquitous branches of an internationally branded coffee chain. The city is not important. This could be Hong Kong or Beijing, New York or London. The festive holiday decor would be the same anywhere, along with the exhortations to "Create Wonder" and "Share Joy" stenciled on the front window.
Religious Freedom in China: Policy, Administration, and Regulation; A Research Handbook by Kim-kwong Chan and Eric R. Carlson
Reviewed by Brent Fulton
This volume provides reliable information about religious policy and its implementation in China.
A recent article appearing in Global Times, the English-language mouthpiece of the authoritative People's Daily, raises interesting questions about how China's leaders view the relationship between the official and unofficial church.