China Ministries International

The Wall Street Journal
July 11, 2011

China is cracking down on Christians who consider God, not the Communist Party, the head of the church

By David Aikman

Chinese police usher people onto a bus at the site of a planned outdoor service by the Shouwang Church

“For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill," Puritan John Winthrop famously preached to fellow immigrants to America aboard the Arbella in 1630. At least two American presidents in the 20th century, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, have quoted him, and his words have resonated for many Americans ever since, reminding them of their spiritual obligations, not just to each other, but to the whole world.

If Winthrop were alive today, he would undoubtedly be heartened to see his words quoted in the quarterly magazine of Shouwang Church, one of Beijing's largest unsanctioned "house" churches (shouwang means "keeping watch" in Chinese). He would share, too, the anguish of the church members at their continued intimidation by the authorities. Since early April, police have prevented church members from gathering for normal Sunday worship services -- albeit at an outdoor plaza and not a church building. Hundreds have been detained for short periods and the entire church leadership has been under house arrest since April.

Ironically, Shouwang Church, whose 1,000-strong congregation is mostly upscale professionals, actually paid $4 million for meeting space in a Beijing office building. But under pressure from the authorities, the sellers refused to hand over the keys, leaving the church with no place to meet.

China tolerates Christian church services, but only within the narrow boundaries of theology and church life dictated by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, which oversees two church umbrella groups, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and, for Protestants, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). Estimates of the number of Christians in China vary widely, ranging from the TSPM's figure of about 20 million for its own churches to that of outside observers who say the total is as high as 130 million. The reason? Most Chinese Christians belong to unofficial house churches like Shouwang, which reject Communist Party-controlled TSPM theology and consider God -- not the Communist Party -- the head of the church. The number of house-church Christians, while hard to estimate, is likely more than 60 million.

The recent crackdown on house-church Christians is the outgrowth of a Communist Party initiative launched last December, called "Operation Deterrence," to force all house-church Christians to be incorporated with the TSPM or suffer persecution. In light of the savage treatment of practitioners of Falun Gong, a meditation group brutally repressed since 1999, the implications of "Operation Deterrence" are alarming.

Shouwang Church was founded in 1993 by Jin Tianming, a graduate of Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University. Its steady growth is partly due to the increase in recent years of Christian converts among urban professionals, but it's also due to skillful self-administration. Its literary quarterly "Almond Flowers" recently published a detailed explanation of why Shouwang refused to join the TSPM.

Explaining that the TSPM was an outdated product of the Cold War, "Almond Flowers" asked, "Is there any reason for such an agency to exist today?" It pointed out that "the faith that the TSPM adheres to is what church history calls liberal theology, while the faith of the house churches is evangelical theology."

Evangelical churches around the world, of course, have always stressed the need for Christians to share their faith. The TSPM, however, forbids its members to evangelize. Last autumn, that ban meant the the TSPM was not able to attend the Lausanne Conference on World Evangelism because its representatives could not sign the mandatory Lausanne pledge to promote evangelism. It then stood back as authorities blocked some 200 invited Chinese house-church representatives who were willing to sign the pledge from leaving China.

The crackdown on Christians is part of a rising tide of repression against dissent that's often accompanied by interrogations and torture. Recently, the wife of blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng said that she and her husband were beaten and tortured for several hours by a gang of plainclothes thugs led by the village Communist Party secretary. Worryingly, some of the Shouwang church detainees found TSPM representatives taking part in the police interrogations, "educating" and "rebuking" the Shouwang Christians. Incredibly, TSPM Chairman Fu Xianyou denies that house churches even exist.

Sadly, the TSPM is often hosted in the United States by churches and organizations such as the World Evangelical Alliance and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which ought to know better. It was the Rev. Graham himself, during a 1988 visit to China, who took great pains to visit privately with one of China's most revered house-church heroes, Rev. Wang Mingdao. Wang had spent two decades in prison for his refusal to join the TSPM.

If America's churches are truly to be "as a city upon a hill," they should follow the Rev. Graham's example and help to shed light on the ongoing repression of their brethren in China.

Mr. Aikman, a former Beijing bureau chief for Time magazine, is the author of "Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China And Changing the Global Balance of Power" (Regnery, 2006).

Reprinted with permission of The Wall Street Journal © 2011 Dow Jones & Company. All rights reserved. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304760604576428260216...

Views: 106

Reply to This

Saving Pastor Gong

Please Help Saving jailed Pastor Gong of Huanan Chruch

http://ministrysolar.wix.com/pastor-gong-huanan

~~~

Since Dec 2, 2012, my father Pastor Shengliang Gong had High Blood Pressure and Cerebral Infraction, but he never got the proper medical checkup and adequate treatments. Consequently, my father’s illness got worse and worse. More than once my father almost fell to the ground during last November.

Finally when he got the checkup on November 26th 2013, the doctor said my father’s illness was not very optimistic. He was having Cerebral Infraction, Encephalatrophy, Brain Lesions and Leukoaraiosis, etc. The doctor said that my father needs to have checkup every three months. So we repeatedly requested the prison officials to perform checkup accordingly, once every three months. The prison said that they had one done on April 17th, but refused to release the hospital’s medical treatments records and conclusions to neither my father nor the family members. They would not make any specific statements about my father’s illness. Now, my father and our family have no ideas about the level of his illness.

       Since my father illness, previously we could buy some appropriate medicines for him according to his known conditions pieced together from oral communications of diagnosis, after consulting with doctors. Though this won’t amount to totally healing, it was the only way our family could do for him under the circumstances. But now, as the prison withholding medical records from us, we are unable to know his condition and thus cannot providing suitable medicines for him-the very minimum request was denied of us.

       The inadequate medical treatments within the prison cannot give my father prompt and sufficient treatments. Yet the prison won’t send him to hospitals outside for necessary treatments and regular checkups, causing further serious damages to his health. The prison won’t allow him the fundamental human rights; they also deprive his right to know about his illness condition. The prison as law enforcement agency behaves illegally. Effectively, they are directly pushing my gravely ill father to dead end street of death.

       I appeal to the international communities concerning my father’s health and human rights conditions. Please join us to rally for my father and our family’s rights to medical records and the right to know the situation of my father’s sickness; also his right to have regular medical treatments, thereby saving his life and protect his fundamental rights!!

 

Pastor Shengliang Gong’s daughter: Huali Gong

June 30th 2014

Cell Phone: 13241248388

Han Kou prison department phone number: 027-83556018

Instructor Hanwen Wang: 15327298562

 

 

三化異象
中國福音化
  五十年來,中國大陸的信徒從不到100萬(1949)遽增到八千萬(2000),這是中國五千年來難得的宣教黃金時期;在中國教會裡,也普遍呈現「羊在找牧人」的現象,上帝為中國敞開了大門!現在就是「中國福音化」的關鍵時刻!
教會國度化
  教會是基督榮耀的身體,是一切事工的根柢。今日世界各地的基督教宗派都去中國宣教,如何促使海外教會超越宗派主義,中國教會突破山頭主義,共同營造具有「國度觀」的宣教事工,將是中國教會拓展生根的關鍵時刻!
文化基督化
  1989年「六四」之後,大批的中國知識分子信主,他們承認了理性的局限性,也不再提「反宗教、反帝國主義」,轉而思考基督教對中國現代化有何貢獻?如今正是因勢利導,以基督思想來影響中國文化,以聖經真理來更新中國文化的關鍵時刻!

Persecution Blog

Missionary Pilot Shares The Rest of the Auca Martyrs' Story

Growing up the home of missionary parents in Ecuador, Gene Jordan has always known the story of five men—Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian—who gave their lives in the jungle to reach an isolated Indian...

After Arrest, "I Was Terrified"

“Dr. Andrew” is working to share the gospel in the Middle East, but he hasn’t always had a heart to share Christ’s love with Muslims. Growing up in a nominal Christian family, Andrew was harassed by Muslims his whole life....

Being a True Vessel for God's Use

“Brother Matthew” is a pastor and church planter in South Asia, working among Muslims to share the gospel. After threats against his life and an attack on his brother, he was encouraged by family members to leave his country. He...

VOM Radio in Central Asia

"Tanya" is a Christian worker in Central Asia, living and ministering in a country where she must always be cautious about what she says openly and who she says it around. Listen to hear how Christians in the former Soviet...

Nate Saint Memorial School: End of an Era

The end of an era comes next month. In August 1985, I clutched my mom’s hand and squeaked my rubber flip-flopped way down the gravel path from the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) “base” to the cinderblock Nate Saint Memorial school....

© 2024   Created by China Ministries International.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service