Garden of Earthly Delights

Last week on Wednesday the kids and I attended an event at the Bookworm that was unlike any other we have been to there. It was titled "Is Beijing the Garden of Earthly Delights?" and co-sponsored by Charitarian Magazine. The talk was about Protestant Christianity in China, both in the Three-Self-Patriotic Churches and the much larger House Church movement. I have had limited exposure to Chinese Protestants in Beijing and their stories (I knew many in Shenzhen, but that is a different world), so I was keen to hear some first-hand accounts at the Bookworm.

Prior to the start, we were given handouts with some notes, including the request that all reporting hold to the "Chatham House Rules." I had to google this to see what it meant; we were permitted to describe what was said, but without attribution. I can definitely hold to that, freed from the responsibility of getting the names spelled correctly. I consulted Brigid's notes, too, to make sure I got everything down.




More after the jump



What follows are some bullet points from the talk and discussion afterwards, leaving out the bits of who said what.

• When discussing Christians in China, everyone wants to know the numbers. One participant noted that the best count is multiplying the government numbers by three. 
• The House Church movement is very strong among Chinese Protestants. Currently, it is estimated that 90% of Protestants worship in a House Church rather than a Three-Self Church. Before 2001, the year the Olympics were awarded to Beijing, the policing of House Churches was diligent, and the fine was five times the offering box. A change began at that time, with 2008 definitely being considered another turning point of the attitude of the government towards the House Churches. 
• And on the changes in China--as recently as ten years ago, foreigners were more likely to profess openly that they were Christians, while local Chinese would be more reticent. Now Chinese Christians are more forthcoming, and foreigners tend to keep their faith quieter. 
• One of the reasons House Churches persist despite a somewhat better climate for Christians in China is that pastors who used to be imprisoned don't trust the government. Further, the government doesn't trust the pastors that they had imprisoned. So currently there is an impasse there.
• Another problem the House Church movement faces in China is that they have no way to train their pastors. They have an informal apprenticeships, but not much in the way of seminaries. For the government-recognized Three-Self Protestants, there are seminaries, but there are other problems with the formation at them. Often a student is directed toward the seminary because they are obedient, and not necessarily because they have a calling. (A few years ago when I read Decades of Vacillation, I was struck by Lam's quoting a Religious Affairs Bureau report lamenting the drop-out rate at China's seminaries. Did not fit at all with my assumptions. I don't know how our own seminarians fare, by the way, as many of them are not from Beijing and return home for their parish work and ordinations.) 
• There are clear differences between the rural and urban House Churches. The attraction to join a House Church in a rural area has more to do with seeking healing and miracles. Urban House Church membership is driven by family involvement. The city churches, though, are much more influential.
• The regions that are expecting to see the most growth in Christianity in China are
• Anhui/Henan Provinces
• Wenzhou-Shanghai region
• Dongbei (Northeast), somewhat due to Korean missionaries
• Yunnan and Chengdu in the southwest, mostly due to Christians working in the area after the earthquakes.

This gives an overview of some of what was discussed that night at The Bookworm. It was a fascinating time, with anecdotes and information I don't normally get to hear in Beijing. This piece on the Telegraph's website includes some more information that was talked about then, including some additional reporting from Wenzhou where the Christians are involved in a dispute with local government.