“
P
reach the gospel at all times; use words if neces- sary” is a quote often attributed to Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order. Whether or not Francis was the one who said it, this is the kind of preaching seen in China today. In a country where its voice has long been restricted to inside buildings, the church’s public face has changed drastically in the last decade. Elder Fu Xianwei, chair of the national Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), said the church in China “is in a golden era of development.”
The name of the Protestant movement refers to three principal goals declared by the Christian missions in China: self-governance, self-support and self- propagation. Those goals became part of the Chinese church’s self-identity in 1951. More than 60 years later, Fu said, “we are being forced to build up fast to meet the needs of society even as society is asking the church to act.” One of the needs the church has begun to meet is
social programs. “The church is not just about pastoral care for church members; it is also about social ser- vices for society,” Fu said. “With the rich tradition of the ELCA’s work in social services, we seek further cooperation.”
This exterior work has had a profound effect on the
church’s growth. Wei Kan, a pastor who chairs the Sich- uan [Provincial] Christian Council, confirms that “there is a correlation between the expansion of social services and church growth.” He notes that the government now sees faith and Christianity as motivators for social devel- opment, and that Christianity is more and more recog- nized as a part of the culture. The Sichuan province is where the ELCA has been
active in accompanying the church, working in particu- lar with social services but also seeking ways to support growth in the church. Even at this provincial level, the church is grow- ing rapidly. In Sichuan alone, there were about 50,000 Protestant Christians in 1950. The Cultural Revolu- tion during the 1960s reduced that number of believers drastically. Yet today there are some 460,000 Protestant church members in 116 congregations and many more preaching points and house gatherings. In all of China, there are more than 50,000 registered Protestant churches and meeting points, with as many as 30 million members. Exact numbers are difficult to gauge, but estimates for all Christians, including Roman Catholics and those in unregistered churches, are as high as 130 million.
Ishida is director for Asia and the Pacific, ELCA Global Mission. 38 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
In
China,
ELCA support undergirds their efforts
Friendship with the ELCA
During his September visit to China, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson saw this vitality in the life of the Chinese church.
Addressing leaders of the China Christian Council
and TSPM in Shanghai, Hanson spoke of the friend- ship between the Chinese church and the ELCA. “We have found accompaniment first, then what we give and receive from one another,” he said. “We have been on an accompaniment journey for years now: I am here to listen and learn.” When the ELCA began accompanying the Chinese church in 2005, social services had already taken root, especially in the Luzhou city parish, in southeastern Sichuan province. The ELCA brought funding and expertise that helped further develop these programs. Today church-based social services in Sichuan have expanded east in the province to the cities of Guang’an
By Y. Franklin Ishida
the church is growing
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