Reflections emerging from the 2026 Cambridge conference invite readers to reconsider what we mean by the “Chinese church,” how different standpoints shape theological understanding, and what it might mean to belong to one church across cultural and historical boundaries.
Overall, the conference featured not only an array of varying perspectives on Chinese ecclesiology—some stretching the interpretation of that term to its limits—but also diverse approaches to the importance of perspective itself, which was eye-opening.
For a moment, it was easy to understand the dream of finding something of home among one’s own, even far from home. Yet I wondered about the reverse: might someone still feel like a stranger among people who shared their language and cultural memories, longing for a belonging that familiarity alone could not provide?