As Chinese churches, particularly those in the urban areas continue to grow and mature, leaders are increasingly focusing on where the church needs to go from here. This article, published in the Christian Times, is about Pastor Zhang of the Beijing Gospel Missionary Church, and his thoughts on the issues facing the Chinese Church in the near future.
As the environment changes and restrictions loosen, many Chinese Christians are turning their attention to the issue of how to be salt and light in their communities. This article, published on the popular Christian site Kuanye Zhi Sheng ("Voice in the Wilderness") is about a local ministry in southern China that is reaching out to care for some of China's "left-behind children," children who are left behind in villages and small towns when their parents go to the cities to work.
An interview with economist Dr. Zhao Xiao.
Last week the New York Review of Books blog published an interview of American-based Chinese pastor Yuan Zhi-ming conducted by journalist Ian Johnson. In the 1980's Yuan Zhi-ming was a documentary film-maker in China. Because of his involvement in the 1989 protest movement, he was forced to flee China, eventually ending up in the United States. He became a Christian in 1992, and started the China Soul for Christ Foundation, which produced the documentary The Cross: Jesus in China.
China's comeback as a world power is undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary stories of our time.
Equally extraordinary is the comeback of China's church. Both numerically and in terms of its growing influence in society, the church has experienced phenomenal growth during the past three decades.
Facts about the church in China may be more readily available than they were 10 or 15 years ago. But more information does not necessarily produce greater clarity. Often the opposite results.
This is the third section of an article on the Fuyinmen (Gospel Door) website titled "Christianity Brings Western Medicine to Guangdong Province." The first two sections can be found in the previous two posts. In this third section, the reporter conducts an interview with Protestant church officials from Guangdong Province concerning the historical development of the Church in the province.
The first part of the article on the Fuyinmen (Gospel Door) website focused on western missionary work in the medical field in Guangdong. The second part of the article focuses on education and a missionary's encounter with Hong Xiuquan, who would later lead the Taiping Rebellion.
In recent years it has become more common for political and religious leaders in China to acknowledge some of the positive aspects of early foreign missionary work in China.
"Faith is not just a beautiful adornment added to our lives; it encompasses our entire lives. Truth is not a set of ideas or theories, but personal realities for which one can live and die." This article presents a detailed analysis of the challenges facing the church in todays society. It was originally posted on the Sina blog of Xing Pinghuang, and later re-posted on the Gospel Times website.
This brief eulogy recalls the life and influence of Moses Xie, a patriarch in the 20th century Chinese church who endured more than two decades of imprisonment for his refusal to cooperate with the Three Self Patriotic Movement following its formation in the early 1950s. Following his release in the early 1980s Pastor Xie became a mentor to many young leaders and at times a spokesman on behalf of Christians in China to the outside world. He passed away in June of 2011, and this was published in Church China Journal in July of 2011.
From the editor's desk.