WCC views church life, social work and Bible production in China

-21/11/06

The World C


WCC views church life, social work and Bible production in China

-21/11/06

The World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation currently visiting China has been received by leaders of the Jiangsu Provincial Council of Churches by the faculty and students of the Jiangsu Provincial Bible School. The ecumenical visitors heard that providing sufficient church workers for some 3,700 congregations is the greatest need in the province.

Thy also met local leaders of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, established to promote a strategy of ‘self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation’ in order to maintain the independence of Chinese churches ñ something the government is keen on.

Delegates said they were moved by the development of Amity Foundation’s pioneering work, begun in 1985 by Bishop K. H. Ting and other Christian leaders. Focusing on efforts to empower people-centered, sustainable development through the ecumenical sharing of resources, Amity makes Christian involvement and participation in meeting the needs of society more widely known in China.

“We believe in what you do,” Dr Kobia said in response to what the group called ìa spirited briefingî on the work of the foundation. “You have been a very effective instrument in helping churches in China see that what is preached is translated into the real lives of people.”

At the request of Amity general secretary Mr Qiu Zhonghui and associate general secretary Mr Zhangliwei, staff members shared ëbest practiceí stories of the impact of the foundation’s work in the key areas of education, rural development, medical and health care, social welfare, and gender development.

“Our social development is lagging behind the economic growth of China. We always see ourselves as a bridge between church and society,” Zhangliwei explained. “We are working with church leaders to get volunteers working outside the walls of the churches,” he added.

On 18 November 2006, their final day in Nanjing, the members of the WCC delegation visited the Amity Printing Press, a joint venture between the Amity Foundation and the United Bible Societies that began in 1986. Since then, 42 million Bibles have been printed in Chinese.

Giving priority to printing Bibles, hymnals and other Christian literature for China, the Amity print house supplies more than 50,000 congregations through 65 distribution centres around the country.

Amity has also produced Bibles in Chinese Braille and a number of minority languages. More than eight million copies of the Bible have also been exported to more than 30 different countries and regions.

The final visit in Nanjing was to the building site of the new Nanjing Union Theological Seminary in the centre of the Jiangning Science and Technology Zone. Located on approximately 33.5 acres (13.5 hectares), the new premises will accommodate 500 students and are due to open in September 2007.

At the seminary in Nanjing, Dr Kobia paid tribute to Bishop K.H. Ting, who helped lay the foundations for the revival of a post-denominational Protestant church in China, following the repression of the Cultural Revolution, which the authorities now repudiate as ìa mistakeî.

Bishop Ting has also been instrumental in deepening Chinese theological reflection and its links with global trends in theology. But the programme of ëtheological reconstructioní established in his name has been controversial.

Proponents say that it is about updating the principles and practices of theological learning in seminaries and churches. Critics say that it has involved imposing a narrow range of views.

Bishop Tingís writings, which are in the mainstream of ecumenical thinking, have been highly influential in this process.

There are some 65 million Christians gathered in churches officially registered to the China Christian Council (Protestant) and the Catholic Patriotic Association. But there are also millions of unofficial congregations, which are often stamped down hard by the authorities.

Observers say that the growth of Christianity and more freedom of religious expression has been a notable development in recent years.

But there are also continuing serious concerns about harassment and restrictions on civil rights, too. Official church delegations tend to raise these concerns privately and diplomatically, but activists outside the country have been more vocal.

Other official visitors over the past couple of years have included the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, recently, and representatives of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.


WCC views church life, social work and Bible production in China

-21/11/06

The World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation currently visiting China has been received by leaders of the Jiangsu Provincial Council of Churches by the faculty and students of the Jiangsu Provincial Bible School. The ecumenical visitors heard that providing sufficient church workers for some 3,700 congregations is the greatest need in the province.

Thy also met local leaders of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, established to promote a strategy of ‘self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation’ in order to maintain the independence of Chinese churches ñ something the government is keen on.

Delegates said they were moved by the development of Amity Foundation’s pioneering work, begun in 1985 by Bishop K. H. Ting and other Christian leaders. Focusing on efforts to empower people-centered, sustainable development through the ecumenical sharing of resources, Amity makes Christian involvement and participation in meeting the needs of society more widely known in China.

“We believe in what you do,” Dr Kobia said in response to what the group called ìa spirited briefingî on the work of the foundation. “You have been a very effective instrument in helping churches in China see that what is preached is translated into the real lives of people.”

At the request of Amity general secretary Mr Qiu Zhonghui and associate general secretary Mr Zhangliwei, staff members shared ëbest practiceí stories of the impact of the foundation’s work in the key areas of education, rural development, medical and health care, social welfare, and gender development.

“Our social development is lagging behind the economic growth of China. We always see ourselves as a bridge between church and society,” Zhangliwei explained. “We are working with church leaders to get volunteers working outside the walls of the churches,” he added.

On 18 November 2006, their final day in Nanjing, the members of the WCC delegation visited the Amity Printing Press, a joint venture between the Amity Foundation and the United Bible Societies that began in 1986. Since then, 42 million Bibles have been printed in Chinese.

Giving priority to printing Bibles, hymnals and other Christian literature for China, the Amity print house supplies more than 50,000 congregations through 65 distribution centres around the country.

Amity has also produced Bibles in Chinese Braille and a number of minority languages. More than eight million copies of the Bible have also been exported to more than 30 different countries and regions.

The final visit in Nanjing was to the building site of the new Nanjing Union Theological Seminary in the centre of the Jiangning Science and Technology Zone. Located on approximately 33.5 acres (13.5 hectares), the new premises will accommodate 500 students and are due to open in September 2007.

At the seminary in Nanjing, Dr Kobia paid tribute to Bishop K.H. Ting, who helped lay the foundations for the revival of a post-denominational Protestant church in China, following the repression of the Cultural Revolution, which the authorities now repudiate as ìa mistakeî.

Bishop Ting has also been instrumental in deepening Chinese theological reflection and its links with global trends in theology. But the programme of ëtheological reconstructioní established in his name has been controversial.

Proponents say that it is about updating the principles and practices of theological learning in seminaries and churches. Critics say that it has involved imposing a narrow range of views.

Bishop Tingís writings, which are in the mainstream of ecumenical thinking, have been highly influential in this process.

There are some 65 million Christians gathered in churches officially registered to the China Christian Council (Protestant) and the Catholic Patriotic Association. But there are also millions of unofficial congregations, which are often stamped down hard by the authorities.

Observers say that the growth of Christianity and more freedom of religious expression has been a notable development in recent years.

But there are also continuing serious concerns about harassment and restrictions on civil rights, too. Official church delegations tend to raise these concerns privately and diplomatically, but activists outside the country have been more vocal.

Other official visitors over the past couple of years have included the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, recently, and representatives of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.