Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs.
Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and Chinese Culture and Communication at Wheaton College (IL) and Taylor University (IN).
Joann has a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and an MA in teaching from the University of St. Thomas (MN).
She is the author of Survival Chinese Lessons and The Bells Are Not Silent: Stories of Church Bells in China.
Her personal blog, Outside-In, can be found at joannpittman.com, where she writes on China, Minnesota, traveling, and issues related to "living well where you don't belong."
You can find her on X at @jkpittman and on Facebook at @authorjoannpittman.
She makes her home in New Brighton, Minnesota.
"Where are their pastors?" my Chinese colleague asked incredulously as she counted the visible tattoos on the arms and legs of some of the newly arrived Christian English teachers. "How can their pastors allow them to have tattoos?"
A big part of observing China is trying to figure out what is really going on. For those following recent events regarding the church in China, this has been especially true.
One of my favorite blogs is the China Law Blog, maintained by lawyers with extensive knowledge of and experience in China. It seems like they always have something interesting and helpful to say.
As the church in China continues to grow and mature, opportunities to connect and partner with churches in the West continue to grow as well. In many cases, these partnerships provide opportunities for churches in China to learn from the experiences of the churches in the West. This is a good thing.
If you work for a foreign NGO in China and have had the feeling that it has been under a bit more scrutiny lately, it seems that you are not imagining things.
Last month we highlighted a video from the Grace to the City Convention held in Hong Kong in March, which featured the participants singing the popular Getty hymn, "In Christ Alone."
I am not a regular reader of Daedalus (although I probably should be), but a few weeks back I downloaded the Spring 2014 edition of the journal Daedalus onto my kindle because the cover caught my eye: "Growing Pains in a Rising China."
Yesterday I highlighted some of the key points of the first of two panel discussions hosted by the Brookings Institute last week. The specific topic of that panel was the political and social status of Christianity in China.
Is Christianity transforming Chinese society? The Brookings Institute China Center recently hosted two panel discussions exploring that question.
Kudos to Ian Johnson for getting his hands on an official document that helps explain the Sanjiang Church Demolition Incident. In what is arguably the most comprehensive reporting on the incident, he writes in The New York Times that "an internal government document reviewed by The New York Times makes it clear the demolitions are part of a strategy to reduce Christianity's public profile.
In March of this year, more than 1500 pastors and church leaders from around China gathered at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong for a conference called Grace to the City Convention. The keynote speaker was Dr. Timothy Keller, of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City who, with the assistance of a phenomenal interpreter, spoke on the themes of grace, contextualization, integration, and movement. In addition, the participants heard four pastors from four different areas of China give their perspectives on these themes. A team of musicians from Harbin led the worship.
Is there religious freedom in China? The answer, of course, depends on the meaning of the term "religious freedom"