Christians need to acknowledge a fact. We might disagree on whether Confucianism is a religion or not. But Confucianism, together with Daoism and Buddhism, are spiritual traditions that have provided “chicken soup” for Chinese souls for more than two thousand years.
A small congregation worked together to create a beautiful rental space, then lost their pastor and had to move from place to place due to government restrictions. Through this experience, they came together to create unbreakable bonds with one another and learn about what truly makes a church.
One old-timer (a Bible-smuggler…) told me... “There is a lot possible when we function within the law. We can still head in all kinds of directions. There are always open doors in every country no matter how ‘closed’ they are. We just have to find them.”
Menzies discusses his belief that the Pentecostal churches in China have an important contribution to make to the larger, global body of Christ, and that the Pentecostal movement, in China and globally, need the larger body of Christ.
The world in which Jesus grew up and spent his earthly life was in many respects a microcosm of our world today.
Rather than skirting uncomfortable China conversations, leaning into the narratives by which evangelicals seek to make sense of China and its church can uncover the biases and cultural assumptions standing in the way of a more authentic understanding of what it means to be citizens of God’s kingdom.
If Christian workers, foreign or local, were aware of the cyclic historical pattern, they might be less surprised by the recent retightening of religious policy after four decades of reform. It was just a matter of time.
From the desk of the guest editor.
In this issue, we are offered thoughtful articles which provide us with rich draughts of wisdom and experience. We will be drawing from this deep well for some time to come.
A taste of the 2022 winter issue of ChinaSource Quarterly, "Chinese Christians in the New Era."
Preventing infiltration through preaching, seen as a national security concern, has become a valid reason for prohibiting foreign missions whenever the pendulum swings towards the restrictive side…. I propose revisiting the concept of missions in order to find a breakthrough.
Secularization affects the church everywhere and China is no exception. This conversation with an experienced pastor from East China points out that the connectedness of our current age contributes to the challenges of secularization and often hampers spiritual growth.