Tag: House Church
Where is the Church in China?
Today it is difficult to talk about the church in China without referencing China’s church outside China. Many leaders operate with one foot on Chinese soil and the other abroad, either by virtue of their frequent international travel or via offshore organizations through which their voices are amplified, making them spokespersons for a movement that transcends China’s borders.
Christianity in Post-Pandemic China
Navigating the Shifting Landscape
Understanding both the registered and unregistered aspects of the church in China provides a more comprehensive picture of the dynamic interplay within the Christian sphere, shedding light on the various challenges and opportunities that each sector encounters.
Praying for China’s Cities
We want to follow the lead of Chinese Christians. If they are praying for one another in a specific way, we want to lift them up in the same manner. If they feel a need to better know and understand one another, then we also share that same need.
Securitization of Everything
Churches and individual Chinese Christians have felt the impact of this shift to greater emphasis and concern about security. Unregistered churches and groups are seen as threats affecting societal and cultural security. Any foreign connections are seen through a security lens as a potential threat to China’s stability and healthy development.
Whispers from Within
Understanding China's Changes
When I first visited China, someone gave me a very wise piece of advice. They told me everything I ever heard about China was probably true—of someone, somewhere! There are definitely overarching trends and tendencies throughout the country as a whole. But a whole swathe of people in one town may have experiences that are completely contradictory to the experience of others somewhere else.
From Despair to Hope
Enter into the world of rural China and open your heart to the story of a young woman who suffered with depression until she heard the gospel in college. Now she is full of hope and joy because of truth and beauty of her Christian faith. She has led her family to Christ and was able to minister to the house church in her village.
Beyond the Standard Narrative
Legislation may technically render a host of Christian activities illegal, but these activities do not suddenly cease. While we may hear that “China” is clamping down on unregistered meetings or websites or online gatherings, the reality on the ground may tell a different story.
Faithful Disobedience as Testimony to the Kingdom
A Book Review
Wang Yi wrote, “The goal of disobedience is not to change the world but to testify about another world.”
Church Development and Theological Education
Doubtless the vigorous development of theological education since the 1990s is one of the important evidences of the growth of Christianity in China. Besides reflecting the growth of the church, it was itself a factor in the further expansion of the church.
5 Theological Truths and Church-State Relations (2)
Lessons from China
How will we react to attempts to divide us along socio-economic, racial, ideological, or nationalistic lines? Will we quietly acquiesce and accept a church that is not really whole?