As with most questions of a linguistic nature, the answer is a bit complicated because in English the term "church" can refer to either a gathering of believers or a building where those believers gather. In other words, we can use the term "church" to call any and all gatherings of believers, regardless of the existence of a building. Generally speaking, we can infer from the context what is being discussed.
The biblical way of handling advice and counsel lies in stark contrast to my foolish responses and is, I believe, something the Chinese Church models fairly well.
Christians from a church in Shanghai minister to leukemia patients.
James Palmer, a Beijing-based journalist has penned an excellent, yet disturbing, piece about the disabled in China, titled "Crippling Injustice." "Disabled people in modern China," he writes, "are still stigmatised, marginalised and abused." "What hope is there for reform?"
Two weeks ago I had the chance to speak to a group of students and professors at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN) about the church in China.
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.
For the Winter Issue of the ChinaSource Quarterly, which focused on the issue of religious policies in China and the relationship between the church and the state, ChinaSource conducted an interview with a Three-Self pastor in China. Below is the article/interview in its entirety.
The mainland think-tank Pacific Institute for Social Sciences recently translated an article by Professor Liu Peng, titled Three Issues Concerning Chinese House Churches. This article provides and excellent overview of the history and current situation for house churches in China.
Video from a Christmas Eve service at a Three-Self Church in Northesast China
A house church in Beijing prays for Japan.
A Chinese Christian writes about ecclesiology 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.