China Protestant Church Leader Describes Fast Growing, Changing Church

(Photo: World Council of Churches)Rev. Gao Feng, president of the China Christian Council and Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, World Council of Churches general secretary are seen at the Nanjing Theological Seminary on June 14, 2012. Photo: World Council of Churches

The head of the officially sanctioned Protestant church in China and a government official for religious affairs met with delegates of the World Council of Churches on Thursday during the global church fellowship's first official meeting in the country.

About thirty WCC delegates, including General Secretary Rev. Dr. Olav Fyske who also spoke at a seminary, made the trip.

Rev. Gao Feng, President of the Christian Council of Churches spoke at a seminar in Nanjing on the topic of the "Church in China Today" at a seminar on "Understanding China." The CCC is hosting the meeting.

Rev. Feng describe the "fast growing" church in China.

"The growing church in the People's Republic of China today represents four characteristics: independent and autonomous, post-denominational, fast growing and faced with lots of challenges and emerging difficulties," he told delegates.

"[T]he demographic situation of Christianity is fast changing; however, there are more challenges that we also are faced with," he said.

The CCC has 23 million members and is the largest member constituency of the WCC in Asia.

"Many grassroots churches don't have ordained pastors," he added. "Lay leaders who manage churches and preach on Sundays may not have formal theological education; seminaries lack faculty members and library resources.

He also told of progress over the past 30 years in the expansion of Christianity, noting the government's role.

"The changes in the religious policies of the Chinese government after the cultural revolution, especially since the early 1980s, have helped the reopening of churches, setting up new seminaries and reopening old ones and printing Bibles," he said.

Religion and State's Aim for a "Harmonious Society"

A government representative on religious matters also spoke about the state's expectations of religions in building a harmonious society.

Jian Jianyoung, China's vice minister for Religious Affairs, visited the WCC's headquarters in Geneva in 2003 when he was the head of the Jiangsu Provincial State Administration of Religious Affairs.

"If there is no religious harmony, then no social harmony exists in society and it is in this context that the government recognizes and encourages the role of religions in developing a harmonious society," said Jian Jianyong, the vice minister for Religious Affairs of the People's Republic of China.

"Policies of the Chinese government calling on religion for building a harmonious society are based on four principles: harmony within one religion is prerequisite; interfaith harmony; harmony between religions and society for peaceful order; harmony between religions and the state," he added.

Jianyong said that while China gives freedom to all religions, it expected that related activities would not interfere with affair of the state and its administrative matters. He said there is no predominant religion in the country and all religions were treated equally. The government believes that the "state cannot develop or extinguish any religion."

WCC Head Speaks at Seminary

Rev. Tveit, on his first visit to China since taking on the top his current position, spoke with students and faculty at Nanjing Theological Seminary.

He said the "church in China is part of the body of Christ and an integral part of the global fellowship of churches around the world."

The China Christian Council is the only WCC member church based in the country, according to the group's website. The CCC has been a member since 1991. This week's visit marks the first officially sanctioned WCC meeting in the country since the global church body's beginnings in 1948.

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