In April-May of 1982 a group of nine Australians, members of an Australian Council of Churches delegation visited China at the invitation of the China Christian Council.

The Team

The members of the team, while chosen by the leadership of their churches, comprised a unique mix of denominational background, age, sex and professional experience.

Of those taking part in this historic visit two were Anglicans and two were from the Uniting Church. Churches of Christ and the Society of Friends were represented by one delegate each. The remaining members of the team were Gabriel Gibran, Bishop of the Antiochan Church and President of the Australian Council of Churches, Miss Jean Skuse, General Secretary of the Australian Council of Churches and our official photographer, Miss Jean Gledhill. In age we ranged from the early 40's to the late 50's. The party included two bishops, a canon, a minister, a minister/administrator/social worker, an accountant/administrator, a general practitioner/presbytery chairperson, a senior lecturer in communication at Kuringai College in New South Wales and a senior lecturer in Chinese studies in the Department of History, Queensland University.

Negotiations

The visit, which followed two years of negotiations, was the result of joint initiatives on the part of Australian and Chinese churches. From the Australian side it was the fulfilment of the dream of the late Bishop Graham Delbridge. Dr. Joselyn Chey, Executive Director of the Australian China Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs, raised the matter with him in 1979, intimating that the Chinese would be open to a relationship with the Australian Council of Churches. An invitation was sent to the Three-Self Movement for a group of Chinese Christians to visit Australia in May 1980, at the time of the World Council of Churches Conference on Mission and Evangelism in Melbourne. In replying, the Chinese indicated that they preferred a group from Australia to visit their country first. In March 1981 the Christian Council of Asia organized a Conference in Hong Kong between leaders of the Chinese Church and those of other Asian countries. In September a group from Hong Kong visited Shanghai, Nanjing Beijing, and Guang Zhou. In October 1981 a Chinese delegation visited Canada. Representatives of the National Council of Churches in the U.S.A. and the British Council of Churches visited China. The visit of he Australian Council of Churches team is to be seen in this context.

Itinerary

Our group arrived in Hong Kong on the 18th of April. We were accommodated at the Tao Fong Shan Ecumenical Centre, where we were briefed before flying to Shanghai on the 20th. We spent four days in Shanghai before travelling by train to Nanjing. After a brief three-day stay in Nanjing, we flew to Beijing. Four days in Beijing were followed by three in Guang Zhou. We travelled the 80 miles from Guang Zhou to Hong Kong by train before boarding a plane for the return trip to Australia.

At each of these centres we spoke with the national and local leadership of the Three-Self Movement, of the China Christian Council and of local churches. We attended a midweek baptismal service in Shanghai, and an early-morning prayer meeting in Beijing, Sunday services in Nanjing and Guang Zhou and a Sunday afternoon baptism and communion service in Nanjing. We also visited the Theological College of the Chinese Church in Nanjing. It had been recently reopened after being closed for fifteen years.

Purpose

The purpose of the visit was to build relationships between churches in the two countries, to help Australian Christians interpret and understand the China situation and to provide a basis for ongoing dialogue.

Outline

Before proceeding to talk about the state of the Church in China it will be necessary to comment briefly on the way the Chinese perceive themselves, on recent Chinese history and to say something about the history of the Church in China. I would then like to talk to you of our impressions of the Chinese Church, to anticipate questions you may have and to comment briefly on the nature of the relationship the Chinese churches are seeking with the churches of the West.

Preliminary Comment

Before we proceed, one preliminary point needs to be noted. In talking about the Church in China, I will be referring to the Protestant Church. We visited several Catholic cathedrals, were entertained by a newly consecrated Chinese Catholic Bishop, one of 40 Chinese bishops not recognized by the Pope, who is not permitted to interfere with the internal organisation of the Catholic Church in China. The Protestant and orphaned Catholic Churches relate to each other warmly in China but they are separate bodies and are regarded by non-Christian Chinese as two different religions.

Background

To appreciate what is happening in the life of the Chinese Church today it is necessary to know something of the nature of Chinese society. For this reason I would like to make several preliminary comments.

The first is that the Chinese have for millennia regarded their country as the centre of the world. This should not surprise us when we consider that Chinese civilisation is older than that of Europe, In fact, the Xia Dynasty was firmly established in power in China when Abraham made his way into Palestine with his flocks and retainers. The intrusion of the West over the last 100 years threatened, but did not destroy, this conviction.

Second, the Chinese have only ever known totalitarian rule. The Emperors governed this way, as does the present leadership. Western notions of freedom, individualism and parliamentary democracy are foreign, even incomprehensible, to the Chinese who are comfortable under a benign dictatorship.

Third, Chinese culture is strongly Confucian. Confucianism; however, is more an ethical system than a religion. It was in the Confucian classics that Chinese administrators, the scholar gentry, were examined before they qualified.

Fourth, there are a number of religions in China. The religion that most influences Chinese thought and life is Buddhism. Islam accounts for 10,000,000 of the population, the majority of whom are to be found in autonomous regions. It is more than likely that one phrase in Article 35 of the New Draft Constitution, which states that "no organisation shall be permitted to compel citizens to believe in religion, is partially aimed at Islamic penalties against defection. Taoism, popular in the Jin Dynasty, is a spent force. Christianity, in its modern forms, is a relative newcomer.

Fifth, Communist Party members are a small percentage of the population. Furthermore, the communism they propagate owes as much, if not more, to Mao, his peasant-based revolution, and Confucian values, than it does to Marx.

It is an error to confuse Russian and Chinese Communism. The rhetoric of both groups sounds similar to the uninitiated, especially those burdened with a paranoid fear of world communism. The two groups differ in ideology and practice. An instance of the latter relates to the way the Chinese treat their dissidents, driving them from office by poster campaigns followed by house arrest or transfer to remote provinces. It is interesting that Lin Piao, and other of the "Gang of Four", who were responsible for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, which caused suffering to so many and put back Chinese development ten years, though under house arrest, are well looked after. In the past, many who have caused suffering, if and when they have confessed to their errors, have been received

back into the community and allowed to again take up positions of responsibility. Demotion and re-education are the Chinese way. The Russians deal with their political criminals and dissidents much more summarily.

Sixth, the concept of law in China is at variance with Western theories of jurisprudence. Law, for the Chinese, has traditionally meant criminal law, which provided harsh penalties to cope with bandits, murderers, thieves and swindlers. Civil law was customary. Disputes over contracts were dealt with by merchant guilds, or over land or water rights by village clan elders. Family jurisdiction coped with problems of marriage, legitimacy, divorce and inheritance. There were no lawyers and the people were anxious to exclude officials from such areas.

An incident that highlights the difference between Chinese and Western ideas of law and justice concerned Chinese students who demonstrated against the arrest of strikers from a Japanese mill. The students were fired on by police in the Nanking Road, when several were killed. The action of the police aroused the intense anger of the population. Westerners felt that, though the police may have acted hastily, they were legally in the right. Parades were forbidden and the students had been given the statuary warning. Fathers mourning the death of their sons should have restrained them from political involvement. To the Chinese, this was all "wind past the ear". They utterly ignored law and legalities. To them the basic issue was simple. Shanghai was a Chinese city, and in this city Chinese had been shot down by foreign-controlled police. Those dead and wounded were students, scholars, the educated elite, to whom no law applied except the Confucian ethical code of decorum and restraint. What is more, the students were patriots protesting against "Imperialist oppression". As law was equal to violent penalties meted out to criminals, to talk of legal justification for the police action was incomprehensible to the Chinese and further fuelled their hatred of Westerners and their determination to oust them.

Recent History

It is impossible to appreciate the values and outlook of the Church in China without some understanding of recent Chinese history, and particularly the relationship of China to the West over the past 100 years.

Since time immemorial the Chinese have regarded their land and culture as the hub of civilisation. Though conquered by the Mongols and Manchus, the national character and bureaucracy were preserved intact. The invaders were eventually absorbed.

The Western impingement was different, however. The wealth, and thus financial advantage, and the armaments of the West posed the sort of threat China had not previously encountered, These were not Northwestern or Northern neighbours, but strangers, foreign devils, who were savouring the commercial and political advantages of industrialisation. And it all happened at a time when the population of China, already enormous, was expanding, creating social distress on a large scale. An inflexible bureaucracy, trained on the Confucian classics, was beyond coping with either internal disorder or external threat, and those claiming the mandate of heaven to rule the land were weak and ineffectual.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to trade with China. They came at the end of the 18th Century. As other nations joined them, Chinese authorities sought to restrict contact between the ordinary Chinese and the European traders by directing that all trade be arranged through the Co-Hong, thirteen Cantonese merchants who were responsible for taxing the foreigners and for the latter's behaviour. The British, in particular, had difficulty supervising their trade with China as the Chinese would not recognize nor accommodate official representatives of the British Crown, whom the British were keen to have on the spot to protect their merchants against extortion and to negotiate treaties. However, while frustrated by the attitude of the Imperial Court, they were determined to hold China responsible for disorder and to use force to right wrongs suffered by British merchants.

The import by the British of Indian opium into China caused the first major confrontation. The Emperor had several times tried to ban this trade, which was encouraged by the British, who were anxious to further expand their China trade. In 1871, the East India Company began shipping opium to Canton to help pay for its purchases. With silver flowing out of the country, the Emperor decided to take strong action to bring the opium trade to an end. In 1839, a special Chinese commissioner seized the opium at Canton--£1,500,000 worth--destroyed it, and demanded a joint bond from the merchants that they would import no more, The situation degenerated and a war ensued in which Chinese war junks were no match for British naval vessels. The treaty of Nanking, which ended the fighting, left China humiliated and helpless. She paid an indemnity of £4,500,000, ceded Hong Kong to Britain and opened five

treaty ports to foreign merchants where consuls were permitted to reside to look after their interests. Disputes over legal jurisdiction led to further conflict and to the opening up of the interior.

With worsening social disintegration, banditry continued to grow, resulting in the Tai-Ping rebellion that was put down by the Manchus with the help of the British. The cost to the Chinese was a British assertion of extra-territorial rights and the growth of foreign settlements. Under the former, illegal disputes involving foreigners were heard by European and not Chinese courts. In addition, the British won the right to collect customs dues, which, while it brought efficiency to the system, meant that foreigners had the means of guaranteeing the payment of indemnities, and later, loans.

Further trade and investment in China, particularly in railway construction for which the Chinese needed to borrow, further increased Western influence.

At the turn of the century, the partition of the country was seriously considered. European powers, along with Japan, had their spheres of influence, That an "Open door" policy was eventually accepted was due largely to the influence of Britain and America.

The Chinese detested the foreigners. The peasants blamed missionaries for famine and floods. Their resentment and hostility boiled over in the Boxer Rebellion, which broke out in 1889. It was put down by an international force in 1900. Following on the heals of a defeat at the hands of the Japanese in 1895, the Chinese were again devastatingly humiliated. With the court increasingly unable to cope, disorder increased. Local landlords raised private armies. Reforms initiated by the Hzu-Hsi, the Dowager Empress, a self-willed conservative, came too late to save the situation. Peasant and provincial unrest led eventually, in 1912, to the setting up of a Republic under Yuan Shih Kai, which was inspired by the 'Western-educated Dr. Sun Yat Sen, a "Christian" with strong socialist leanings.

The Republic failed. It was stillborn. Civil war, Yuan Shih Yai's dictatorial rule, a foreign loan, and Japanese designs on China helped abort it.

The emergence of a new revolutionary party, the Kuo Ming Tang, raised hopes of an eventual solution. These soon faded, however. An early enthusiasm and puritan idealism gave way to a second dictatorship.

The K.M.T. was forced to fight on two fronts, against the Communists and the Japanese. While the Russian puppeteer, in the early years of an on/off relationship between the K.M.T., and the Chinese Communists, pulled most of the wrong strings, the Chinese Communists, eventually relying on their own initiative, keeping to the countryside and addressing themselves to the Japanese, which the K.M.T. failed to do, won over both the peasants and the scholars. The demoralised and defeated K.M.T, leadership followed their Generalissimo to Taiwan. The Communists established themselves in power, a new dynasty, in 1949.

The achievements of the People's Republic of China, considering the overwhelming odds they faced in 1949, are nothing short of miraculous. The opium dens, the prostitutes and the beggars are no longer in existence. The people are better housed. Economic, agricultural, industrial, educational and cultural development is obvious for all to see. The standard of living of the general population has risen and there is a commitment on the part of ordinary Chinese to the future of their country. It is a large country with an enormous population, but it is on the move.

Christian Beginnings

As early as the Tang Dynasty Christianity flourished in China and counted princes and Ministers of State among its adherents and benefactors. It was, however, a heretical Christianity associated with Nestorius. With the overthrow of the Tang Dynasty, its influence waned and by the 18th and 19th Centuries, apart from an ancient stele in Sian, the Tang capital, no evidence of its existence remained.

Eastern Orthodox Christianity went to China in 1685 with Cossacks serving in the Chinese Imperial Guard in Peking. There are still traces of Orthodox Christianity in Northeast China.

The Catholic missionaries of the 18th and 19th Centuries, following in the footsteps of Matteo Ricci, concentrated on Imperial circles, realizing that to convert the Emperor, the fount of Confucian orthodoxy, would lead to the

conversion of the Chinese people. They traded their scientific skill for influence. The Vatican, however, soon became alarmed at the degree to which the Jesuits, in particular, accommodated themselves to Chinese customs. Firing off crackers while celebrating Mass was felt to be taking compromise too far. The ready acceptance of Chinese customs and conformity to Confucian ideas led to the suspicion that the Christians were being Confucianized rather than the Chinese Christianized.

Protestant missionaries who entered China in the 19th Century, of whom Robert Morrisons was recognised as pioneer, had the way prepared for them by British military and naval power. The Chinese, who were forced to admit them and permit their teaching, resented their presence.

Instead of concentrating on the court, as the Catholics, who saw no point in Westernizing the Chinese, had done, the Protestants directed their effort towards the ordinary people, by translating the Scriptures into Chinese, by street-corner preaching and evangelistic tours. It was expected that what had worked in Europe would work in China.

While neither Catholic nor Protestant initiatives resulted in widespread acceptance of the Christian faith, an independent pseudo-Christian movement that arose from within the Chinese community held that potential. After reading the Gutzlaff translation of the Bible, Hung Hsiu Ch'uan, an educated Cantonese who failed the civil service examination, declared himself a religious leader, a divinely inspired prophet, and, as "the younger brother of Jesus Christ"--which said more about his designs on the Imperial throne than about any theological pretensions--raised a peasant revolt which almost put him on the throne. That his "great peaceful heavenly kingdom", which could in time have Christianized the masses, did not ultimately succeed was due to the fact that it was put down by the armies of the "Christian" nations of Europe.

The problem for Hung was that he was ostracised by both Catholics and Protestants. The Catholics regarded him as a Protestant and thus a heretic. The Protestants rejected him because he had never been baptised, had not been properly instructed by missionaries and held doctrines, some of which were defective and some inadmissible. Hung, for his part, was not going to submit to the missionaries. Probably what counted even more against him was the fact that the European powers would sooner deal with a weak Manchu Emperor than with what could have turned out to be a strong Protestant dynasty. Further, peasant uprisings were inimical to the faith. The Boxers fulminated against the "foreign devils" and the "secondary devils", their Chinese converts.

That Western missionaries were unsuccessful was due to a combination of factors, some related to the missionary work itself and others to distinctly Chinese attitudes.

Because their aims and methods differed, and even the Chinese characters they used to represent God, Catholics and Protestants were regarded as two different religions. It was also felt that to become a Christian meant renouncing one's culture, even citizenship. The Protestants lost out by spreading themselves thin in their preaching and through largely neglecting social work. Those who did build medical and educational institutions, by concentrating on individual salvation rather than the conversion of the masses, and bringing with them strong prejudices against drink and tobacco, severely restricted their impact. The Catholics, for their part, concentrated, not on individual conversion, but on developing Christian families. While adapting to Chinese culture, in so far as the latter could be embraced by Christians, they were hopeful that they could influence the Chinese community towards the acceptance of Christian values and faith. Such an approach was bound to be a long, slow process.

Both Protestant and Catholic missionaries were frustrated by the capacity of the Chinese to tolerate religious diversity and by their inability to appreciate the exclusive claims of Christianity. The Christian concept of salvation--individual and otherworldly--was also foreign to the Chinese, whose goal was the "good life", or moral excellence in the here and now. What was even more significant was the fact that Confucian scholars considered religion itself fit only for "stupid", uneducated people. Educated Chinese could not see why Christian missionaries, Catholic and Protestant, wanted to alter people's beliefs, if, irrespective of their beliefs, they acted in accordance with traditional Confucian values. Furthermore, the Chinese did not readily appreciate the concept of damnation, which motivated much Christian effort and interpreted the self-denial of the missionaries as evidence of the fact that they were agents of Western Imperialism.

Those Chinese embracing Christianity were drawn largely from the discontented and progressive elements in society. The former often became Christians for the wrong reasons, while the latter, largely drawn to Protestantism,

who felt that Christianity would improve the condition of the poor, became dissatisfied with evangelistic progress and eventually joined the ranks of the Communists.

While many felt that the Chinese revolution of 1911-12 would advance the cause of Christianity in China, the result was otherwise. While several of the leading figures of the Republic were professedly Christian, the acts of the regime were not always judged to be so. Chinese students, sent to study abroad, found that Christianity was regarded as a spent force in Europe and was not integrated with science and learning, and therefore hardly capable of developing a new China. The First World War further destroyed Christianity's credibility, as did the Russian Revolution, which overthrew the Christian Church in Russia. Russia, which had at the time renounced her "extra-territorial" rights, grew in favour in China as Christianity, further compromised by its association with the K.M.T, came under increasing suspicion and attack. This was especially the case with Catholics, who, as large land-holders and landlords, were treated as "class enemies". When the Japanese, avid Shintoists, invaded China in 1937, missionaries came under further attack. The situation altered slightly with the outbreak of the Second World War when Catholic missions run by neutral Spaniards and Axis Italians were left unmolested. This fact disadvantaged the latter after the Communists came to power, for the Spaniards and Italians were associated with Japanese atrocities.

After 1949

Then the Communists came to power in 1949 a number of missionaries, and other Christians, lost their lives. They were the victims of the anti-Imperialist ferocity of a newly liberated nation. But they were only a small percentage of the Christian presence. When the nation settled down, the new leadership informed Protestant missionaries, who wished to remain, that they could do so. However, if they left they could not return and no new missionaries would be accepted. While the Bureau of Religion later stated that China would receive missionaries from foreign lands on a pro-rata basis (they would accept as many as foreign powers would accept of their missionaries), because of the unwillingness of the Western nations to grant visas and evangelistic opportunities to Chinese Communist propagandists, the situation remained much as it had been. The one bright spot was that the Communist leadership, recognising that they could not immediately duplicate the work done by Christian educational and social institutions, encouraged the church to maintain welfare programmes. As a payoff, they turned a blind eye to their teaching and evangelising. They were not worried by what would happen, as they were convinced that, without missionary leadership and financial support from Western Christians, the Church in China would wither on the vine. It did not happen.

While many Western missionaries, and mission boards, lamented what happened in 1949, two of the classic missiology studies on China, those of Paton and Lutz, are strongly of the opinion that it represented the judgement of God on Western missionary endeavour in that land.

Recent Events

The years after 1949 were hardly auspicious for the Chinese Church. Bad feeling against foreigners, particularly Japanese, Europeans and Americans--the latter being seen to have taken over the Japanese empire--and the association of Christians with Western Imperialism, disadvantaged Christians in their evangelism and encouraged them to maintain a low profile. The first two years, 1949 and 1950, were the most difficult. Christians lived in fear and despair. Many pastors were executed and churches destroyed. Western financial assistance dried up and churchgoing fell off. During the same period the churches themselves were bitterly divided.

Church life was beginning to pick up when the Cultural Revolution was engineered by the Gang of Four. Between 1960 and 1976, church buildings were requisitioned as factories or for community use and pastors dismissed and sent to work in factories or on the land. Worship was forbidden. It continued, however, in homes. Home meetings, involving anything from 10 to 500 persons, blossomed all over the country. Hymns were sung in whispers, the communion was passed around, children were introduced to the faith and Christians offered each other what practical help they could. The latter, however, was not always straightforward. A group of Christians in one area heard that Christians in a nearby commune were suffering because of bad harvests. They collected money and foodstuffs for them. When what they had done became known, they were taken to task by other members of their own commune, who argued that their own indigent members had first call on their charity.

With the overthrow of the Gang of Four, Christians were again permitted to worship. On January 9, 1979, a meeting

of 800 religious leaders and municipal personnel denounced the persecution of religious groups and urged the re-establishment of patriotic religionists. In April, Protestants were informed that a number of church buildings were to be returned to them. This was put into effect in the Spring and Summer of 1979. Incidentally, the churches are being paid back rent by factories that used their buildings during the revolution. In October the People's Daily announced that religious believers were free, not only to express their belief's, but also to propagate religion. This new policy was, in a later article, justified on the grounds that religion was an objective fact that had to be respected and studied, that religious faith was an ideological problem that could not be dealt with by force and that religious believers "share the same basic goal of building a prosperous and powerful socialist motherland" as other Chinese, This is seen as a return to the position outlined in the 1954 constitution.

The Constitution of the People's Republic has continued to undergo revision. A draft of a revised Constitution was published while we were in China. Article 35 laid it down that

Citizens of the People's Republic in China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No organs of State, public institutions or individuals shall compel citizens to believe in religion or disbelieve in religion. Nor shall they discriminate against citizens who believe, or who do not believe, in religion.

This is a significant improvement on the present statement, which reads, "citizens enjoy the freedom to believe in religion, not to believe in religion, and to propagate atheism."

The news article went on to place limits on this freedom. It argued that religious freedom does not mean freedom to engage in subversive activity, whether the subversion originates locally or is orchestrated by a foreign country.

The State protects legitimate religious activities. No one may use religion to carry out counter-revolutionary activities or activities that disrupt public order, harm the health of citizens or obstruct the educational system of the State.

No religious affairs may be dominated by any foreign country.

The last sentence is aimed particularly at the Pope, Islamic nations and Western Christians who do not respect the sovereignty of China or the Chinese Church. Should there be no material alteration to this draft of the Revised Constitution it will mean a further gain for Christians.

What We Found

We were impressed and excited by what we saw of the Chinese Church. Given the continuance of present Government policies, we should witness the development of a new and unique style of Christianity that will take its place alongside Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Third World traditions.

The People

Full Churches

One of the things that we could not help noticing was that the churches were full. Despite the fact that, due to an accommodation shortage, a limited number of church buildings have been opened--300 to 400 throughout the country--this was impressive. In Shanghai there are several large churches the Quing Xin--the Community Church, the Mo Ann Church and the Grace Church. The latter, which was re-established in December 1980, has a membership of 6,200. They have three weekend services, with 1,500 attending on Saturday evening, 2,600 on Sunday morning and 2,100 on Sunday evening. While stationed in Shanghai, we visited a recently re-opened church in a commune occupying 26 square kilometres and boasting 15 to 20 thousand inhabitants. The church building, which seated 400, was too small for the numbers worshiping. In Nanjing we attended the Han Zhong Church for a Sunday morning service, at which 600 were present. Several of us returned in the afternoon for a baptismal and communion service, when 221 were baptised. This was the second baptismal service in that church since the beginning of the year. On the second Sunday we were in China, our party, dividing into three groups, attended three churches in Guang Zhou. In one of these, the Dong Shan Church, I preached, through an interpreter, to 1,000 people.

Young People

Another observation was that while a large number of those attending worship were in their middle and senior years, there were a good number of young people present. Young people were well represented in choirs that took part in services. One leader commented to me on the number of young people who were attending services and wanted to know what I felt should be done with them. There is a growing interest among young people in Western music and some attended to listen to choir pieces.

The question of why numbers attending church are growing is not easily answered, though many Chinese Christians attribute the growth to prayer. This is obviously a factor, but as a total explanation is too simplistic. Apart from the increase in the number of Christians during the Cultural Revolution, who are now coming out of the woodwork, other factors are also involved. Some suggest that, in periods of crisis and change, the Chinese traditionally look to heaven for answers, security and help and that the church, newly emerged from obscurity and gorged with vitality, is the other-worldly object to which they are drawn. It could also be that the Communist Party is suffering a minor crisis of confidence and that some are looking elsewhere for their inspiration. Disillusioned Christians turned to Marxism in 1949. Perhaps many Chinese, while continuing to look to socialism for the social salvation of the country, are no longer drawn to Marxism as a surrogate religion. Some may be attracted to Christianity, particularly as it is no longer regarded as a wholly Western religion, at least in China. But these are only conjectures.

Enthusiasm--Sincerity

We found the Christians we met, leaders and ordinary people, sincere and enthusiastic. Their enthusiasm, however, was restrained. The Chinese are not naturally ebullient. They are quiet and self-effacing, rather than brash and boisterous. It also needs to be remembered that Chinese Christians have just emerged into the daylight after ten years of repression, They are inwardly excited about what is happening but outwardly cautious. Their sincerity is seen in their wholehearted participation in worship. They carefully follow the lesson and sermon in their Bibles and sing feelingly the great hymns of the faith. Their genuineness is evident in the fact that by attending church, being baptised or registering as Christians, they are putting themselves at risk. Their enthusiasm, their joy at having their pastors back with them and their buildings returned to them, is reflected in their affection for the former, excepting those few who turned their congregations in during the Revolution. It is also evident in the speed with which they have renovated and beautified their church buildings, structures which suffered considerable damage through the destructive enthusiasm of over-zealous Red Guards and the disregard of those who used them as factories.

Bible Teaching

We also discovered that the people were hungering for basic Bible teaching. This is what they had missed out on for ten years. In the absence of trained pastors, the people had to make do themselves. Lay people arose who gave leadership in home meetings. Bibles were scarce and the leaders often had little knowledge of basic biblical understandings. The seriousness of this situation is reflected in two facts. First, the theological college at Nanjing is having to structure the first year of its theological course to ground new students in basic Bible knowledge to equip them to proceed to serious biblical and theological work. Second, in various parts of the country, mostly outlying areas, groups have surfaced, who hold quite unusual and heretical beliefs. One such group only accepts the gospels as authoritative--shades of Marcion!

Educated Leaders

Another of the things that impressed us was the fact that the bulk of those in positions of leadership in the church were among the most highly educated people in China, graduates of universities that were the equivalent of Oxford and Cambridge, Harvard and Yale. And a number had studied overseas.

Dearth of Pastors

Despite this plus, however, the churches are suffering a dearth of pastors. None were trained during the Cultural Revolution. The youngest pastors are in their early 50's. The average age of Nanjing students is 25. Candidates between 18 and 35 are accepted at the college, which was reopened in February, 1981, with 49 students, 18 of these women. A major building program is underway to provide accommodation for students and staff. It is hoped to

build the student body to 200. Short courses are being conducted for lay leaders and potential theologs in different parts of the country. The Beijing leadership is hopeful of establishing a theological college in the capital. They have a number of retired theological lecturers in their churches. The Tian Feng or Syllabus, began to be republished two years ago, under the editorship of one of lecturers, to help inform the emerging leadership. It has a large readership in home groups and outlying areas, where it is welcomed like much-needed rain. Its influence reaches as far as Taiwan and Tibet.

Women

Another interesting observation was the number of women involved in the administrative leadership of the Church. There was one woman among a recent group of ordinands. In traditional Chinese society women's place was in the home and they were subservient to their fathers, husbands, and later, sons. They couldn't work in the churches nor make any offering. Since liberation, in 1949, the situation has changed. Women have entered the workforce on an equal-pay basis with men. Housework is shared and opportunities equal.

The Church

Post-Denominational

The Cultural Revolution

Protestant church leaders in China described their church as post-denominational. By this they meant that, while the Church is no longer divided into separate denominations, real unity, expressed in theology, order and organisation, is a goal towards which they are striving rather than an achievement on they can congratulate themselves. Their aim is to fine-tune the unity in diversity that was forced on them by the Cultural Revolution.

While the Japanese conquest of China, the Communist victory in 1949 and the Korean War effectively severed relationships with churches in the West, it was not until the Cultural Revolution that the Chinese churches shook themselves free of denominationalism. The Gang of Four, and the young revolutionaries whose support they enlisted, by closing the churches and putting the pastors to work in factories and on farms, and forcing Christians to meet secretly in homes, drew together Christians of diverse denominational traditions, who discovered, some for the first time, the deep affinity they had in Christ. These found an inner oneness and comradeship that took little account of denominational boundaries and encouraged innovation in matters of order and worship. In retrospect, the Revolution can be seen to have enormously benefited the church by forcing Christians into an experiment in ecumenism on which they would not have otherwise have ventured.

When at the restrictions placed on Christian worship, and the punitive measures taken against the leadership of the Church, began to be relaxed, following the downfall of the Gang of Four, there was little or no desire on the part of Christians to return to the denominationalism of the past. Denominationalism was not native to China. It was imposed by the West. Furthermore, the spirit of philosophic individualism, which helped splinter Western Christianity, was not only foreign to the Chinese, but also incomprehensible to them. It was also opposed to Confucian values that were considered by the Chinese to reflect the order of nature. These values emphasised a sense of belonging together and the importance of working together for a common goal, of helping rather than being in competition with one another. While the pastors, who had strong personal and theological ties with the West, felt the call of denominational loyalty, the bulk of the people were little concerned with denominational differences.

Mutual Respect

In the West, unity discussions have bogged down over property matters and theological differences. The Chinese Church is not concerned about the former, and in connection with the latter they practice mutual respect. This does not mean, however, that they are not wrestling with theological differences. They are, but they are wanting to recognize that their oneness in Christ is more important than doctrinal niceties that have divided them in the past and they are concerned to lay an adequate enough basis of mutual acceptance to ensure that issues are thrashed out without division being threatened. The Chinese genius for accommodation and responsible compromise, and the

concern of Christian leaders that the least numerous groups do not lose face, is helping this process.

Ministry

The manner in which theological accommodations, or at least practical accommodations that are theologically significant, are being made, is interesting. The issue of ministry illustrates this. The churches we visited were serviced by ministry teams drawn from a mixture of denominational traditions. These teams, excluding lay workers, usually included six or more pastors. A typical mix would include individuals formerly pastoring Baptist, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Little Flock, Pentecostal and Seventh Day Adventist Churches. When I spoke in Guang Zhou, a Seventh Day Adventist pastor interpreted for me. While there is a practical working together, however, many questions still need to be worked through, such as the question of whether or not they will have bishops. Forms of ministry are still under debate, but the debate itself is being conducted in an atmosphere of expressed togetherness.

Communion

Accommodations are also being made in an area in which unity discussions in the West have frequently foundered, i.e., the question of the sacraments or ordinances.

The present situation of the Grace Church in Shanghai illustrates the sort of attempts being made to accommodate Eucharistic traditions. One group, now part of the church, were formerly members of the "Little Flock"--an exclusive, deeply conservative group akin to the Closed Brethren. It had been their custom to eat from a single loaf and drink from one cup. To accommodate them, the church bakes a huge loaf--a necessity with 2000 at each of its three services--and fills a large chalice with wine. The loaf is cut into smaller pieces and taken round. Similarly, the wine is poured into smaller glasses, then into individual cups. A further compromise concerns the name of the ordinance. "Holy Communion", the Anglican term, and "The Breaking of Bread", the expression used by the Little Flock, are both avoided, The term used, because it meets with general acceptance, is "The Last Supper".

Baptism

Similar accommodations are made with the practice of baptism, which, in the reconstituted Church in China, has involved responsible youths and adults. While no babies have been baptised, or christened, the issue is under discussion. Those responsible persons who are baptised are baptised either by pouring, sprinkling or immersion. The variety in the methods used is designed to accommodate different theological positions and climatic conditions. Immersions are usually practiced in summer.

Worship

The care taken by the leadership of the Chinese Church to cater for the theological predilections of the different groups making up the membership of local churches is also evident in the mix of elements in service formats and times.

Forms of worship differed from church to church. There were, however, certain common features. The Sunday services we attended focussed on the preaching. While a little formal liturgy was included in some services, and a number of the pastors were Anglicans, the services were reminiscent of lower-case Protestant traditions with which we are familiar--Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Churches of Christ, etc.

Not all Chinese have Sunday off. The weekly rest-day is staggered to meet the needs of agriculture, industry and to avoid congested streets, especially in shopping areas. To accommodate those unable to worship on Sundays, and others, former S.D.A.'s, who feel more comfortable worshipping on Saturday, services are held on Saturday evenings. In larger churches Saturday evening services also help leaders cope with overflow congregations on Sundays.

Theological College

The theological college at Nanjing is representative of the unity in diversity towards which the post-Revolutionary

Chinese Church is aiming and one of the most effective agents in promoting it. Its staff is drawn from many traditions and represents the full spectrum of theological opinion from men whose background is Evangelical to others trained in the historico-critical approach to biblical scholarship. Symbolic of its role in fostering unity is the fact that the present generation of students is without denominational affiliation, many being the products of home meetings. Furthermore, a critical role is, and will continue to be played by Tian Feng, the re-published nation-wide journal.

A Chinese Church Style

Chinese Christians want their theology, their worship, their buildings and local church organisation to reflect Chinese attitudes, values and folkways. They do not want to present a Western Christ to their people, but a Christ of the Chinese road, a Christ who would be understood in the streets of Shanghai and in a commune work-party.

In the early years, Christianity was associated with European colonialism, with opium wars, unequal treaties, foreign concessions and gunboat diplomacy. Some of the unequal treaties were drawn up by missionaries. The Chinese had difficulty distinguishing missionary endeavour from Western Imperialism. It used to be said that if the Church gains a member, China loses a citizen.

It is little wonder that the Chinese want to develop a Church style that is peculiarly Chinese. They have much work ahead of them. Many of the outward marks of the church continue to be distinctly Western. The buildings are Western, most of the hymns are Western. If and when Chinese Christians are able to construct new church buildings, they will be in the Chinese style. Christian composers have been commissioned to work on new hymns in which the music will reflect Chinese rhythms and the words the way of thinking and speaking of the Chinese people. Work on a new translation of the Bible is also underway. We were also interested to discover that the theological college is accepting and tutoring art and music students and encouraging them to express their faith through these artistic media. Chinese Christians want to say to their fellow countrymen and women--"We present you with a Christ who will appeal to you, who speaks your language, feels your hurts and is in touch with your dreams".

Organisation

Chinese Christians also want us to understand that they are running their own show. This is also a message that they have needed to get through to the leaders of their country.

The indigenisation of Western missionary endeavour in many countries of the world was a belated development forced on missionary societies by circumstances, like the rising tide of nationalism, that convinced the foreigners that their days were numbered. The reason the need to indigenise was not recognized earlier was that missionaries, and missionary societies, like other Westerners, were blinded by an exaggerated view they had of the superiority of Western civilisation and the corresponding low view they entertained of the cultures of other nations. Carried along by this assumption, they patronised "native" Christians, keeping them in tutelage. This was resented, though the resentment was usually concealed from the missionaries.

China was no exception. Recognising too late that the end was near for Western missionary organisations, some among the latter attempted to rapidly indigenise the Chinese leadership. Out of this the Three-Self Movement immerged, with its emphasis on self-government, self-support and self-propagation.

Following the Cultural Revolution, the Three-Self Movement, which is now 30 years old, was reconstituted. Its leaders had gained respect because they had not complained when harassed by the Gang of Four and because they did all they could to preserve Bibles.

It is through this body that Christians participate in socialist reconstruction, assist in the implementing of the policy of religious freedom and foster love of country and respect for the law. In October 1980, largely through the initiative of the Three-Self Movement, the China Christian Council was organized to arrange for the practical needs of the churches, in such areas as ministry, training, publication and service.

Two other organisations that have been and will continue to be a unifying and strengthening force in the life of the Church in China are the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A. In the West, these organisations are more secular than

religious. It is otherwise in China. Their leadership is integrated with the leadership of local congregations, and of municipal, provincial and national Three-Self and China Christian Council committees.

Christians in China are striving to develop a church that will be Chinese in spirit and organisation. That they are partially succeeding in both is evident from the fact that the local and higher leadership has been successfully bureaucratised in the traditional Chinese pattern--with most in any way connected with various of the organisations associated with the church holding some office or other.

The State Patriotic

The Chinese love their country. It is like a benign maternal figure that inspires effort and affords emotional security. They also realise that all citizens must cooperate to build a strong China, able to take its place, with dignity and strength, alongside America, Russia, Europe, Africa and the Arab block, as a world power.

Christians are no less patriotic than other Chinese. While in China I asked one of the church leaders what happened to him during the Cultural Revolution. A graduate of one of the most prestigious universities in pre-Communist China, he had been forced, during the Cultural Revolution, to work barren land. He was given sufficient to feed but not to clothe his family. However, it was not about personal injustices that he spoke. What really hurt him was that he had been denied the opportunity to contribute to the building of the new China during his most productive years. Sharing this agony brought this deeply spiritual Christian to the verge of tears.

Not only do Chinese Christians love their country; they are also at pains to point out to the Government that this is so. This is understandable, given their previous Western connection. They are dependent upon the Government, not only for practical necessities, but also for the occupancy of buildings and the freedoms they enjoy. It is in their interests, both as citizens and Christians, to emphasise their patriotism.

Government Bodies

The Church in China is represented on national, provincial, municipal and local Governmental bodies. There are religious believers who are deputies of the National Peoples Congress.

The Chinese Church, along with other bodies, is represented on the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference. The Three-Self Movement liaises with the Religious Affairs Bureau, though it is not part of it. The R.A.B. was set up by the State Council to handle religious affairs and represent the State and Government in the implementation of the policy of religious freedom. It is through this body that the reopening of buildings is negotiated. The Bureau also helps arrange for specific needs, like the supply of special paper for the printing of Bibles.

It is also interesting to note that certain pastors and administrators are elected members of local Government organisations. They were elected by constituents, the bulk of whom were not Christians.

It is also noteworthy that some church members are prominent in academic and municipal bodies. Several illustrations will suffice here. First, one of the foremost intellectuals in the Chinese Church, Zhao Fu San, is head of the Religious Studies Department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. One of the lay workers of the Community Church in Shanghai, with whom I conversed, is Assistant City Engineer, responsible, among other things, for reducing the pollution in that highly industrialised city.

Also of interest is the fact that several lecturers at the Nanjing Theological College lecture at the Centre for Religious Studies at Nanjing University, where their public lectures have sometimes drawn in excess of 1,000 students, They also run postgraduate course for university graduates. Their aim is to prepare seminarians and other Christian students to dialogue with the People's intellectuals.

The Communist Party

The Christian Church enjoys reasonable, and in some cases, good relationships with the Communist Party, though political comment is avoided in the worship services of local congregations. Among the leadership of both groups

are intellectuals who were class-mates at university. The Y.M.C.A., particularly the Shanghai Y.M.C.A., was a refuge for hunted communists in the K.M.T. era. The social aims of both, a fair deal for the peasants and workers, are identical. Furthermore, while most Christians remained on the sidelines at the time of liberation, there were a number who were in the vanguard of the Revolution that liberated the country from the landlords, from the West and from Japanese occupation. The experience of the Cultural Revolution reinforced old loyalties.

The Community

In the Western era in China, Christians were suspected, but privileged, minority. After liberation they found themselves on the same footing with all other groups. The Cultural Revolution brought social cohesion on an even broader scale. Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists, Islamic communities, intellectuals, workers, peasants, higher Communist officials and lower-class cadres all suffered. They suffered together. The experience brought them close, developing among them mutual respect and a sense of camaraderie. That the Government is atheistic is a further advantage. If other of the religious groups predominated, notably Islam, there would be much more discrimination against the others.

Questions

There are a number of questions that need to be asked relative to this assessment.

An Official View Only?

First, was our party presented with the official view only? Was the real condition of the Church kept from us?

Everywhere we went the same basic facts were emphasised, in speeches in which the same expressions were used. This could be taken to be contrived. There were times, early in the tour, when we suspected this may have been so, particularly when love of and loyalty to the country appeared to be over-stressed, which was most evident in constant references to the achievements of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

The reiteration of the essentials of the story is explainable on the basis of the fact that, unlike Western Countries, sermons and speeches are public statements of social significance.

The set phrases, such as "The overthrow of the Gang of Four", can be readily accounted for on the basis of a Chinese literary idiom. The Chinese are fond of pictorial, stereotypical phrases, which are also helpful in communicating with the illiterate.

It also became obvious that the patriotism was real.

Furthermore, while we were treated royally--and there was purpose as well as courtesy in this--there was no intention to deceive. Those accompanying us on tours, mostly local pastors, were warm, spiritually committed and humble. Some of them were beautiful people.

It has to be admitted that we didn't talk to a large number of ordinary church people. But our time was limited and to converse we needed interpreters. Additionally, many of those with whom we would have wished to speak would have shyly or cautiously avoided conversation, particularly the penetrating questions we would like to have asked. We were convinced that what we saw and heard was real, even if the presentations sometimes appeared rehearsed to Western ears.

The Real Church?

There are those who will argue that we weren't in touch with the real church, but with a Government sponsored pseudo-church. The real church is to be found in the home meetings.

Unfortunately, we in Australia have been fed an unbalanced, and not altogether healthy, diet of Bro. Andrew and Underground Evangelism. There is another side to Russian and Eastern European Christianity. Furthermore, we have assumed that the situation in China parallels the Russian experience and that of other Eastern European

countries. In fact, the situation is otherwise in China, and far more complex than the simple dichotomy suggested.

It cannot be denied that there are those in China who consider that the Three-Self Movement compromises itself in associating with the State. But surely this is no different to the Australian situation. The Chinese Church, like the Australian Church, runs the gamut, sociologically, from State-associated churches to sects. Sectarians, whether Australians or Chinese, reject the State as anti-God.

In China, others, less sectarian, are afraid to surface. Others again, prefer to continue worshipping in home meetings in preference to public worship. Among these are the aged. Bishop Ting commented that when he visits Shanghai, where his mother lives, he worships, not in any of the large churches, but with the home meeting with which his mother is associated. Then again, there are many areas, particularly the more isolated, where no churches have been reopened. In these areas the work of pastors is largely itinerant. They spend the bulk of their time visiting house meetings.

It needs also to be emphasised that the question of home meetings and public worship is not merely a matter of the either/or. Most who worship in public buildings continue to worship mid-week in home meetings. One lady, who, in the early stages of the Cultural Revolution, kept to herself, after a time, began tentatively searching out Christian neighbours. She eventually gathered a group around her and became one of the most effective leaders in the Church. She is now on the staff of the theological college.

Ties with the Government

Third, it is argued that because of its ties with, and dependence on, the government, the Church is bound. To a degree this is so. It is dependent upon the government for its freedoms; but then so are we, though our position is not as precarious. While the Church's ministry is self-supporting, allowing for assistance from rents, it relies on the government for the supply of building materials, paper for Bibles and hymnbooks. But then, there are no private suppliers and it is hard to see how it could be otherwise. That such a dependency evokes criticism is to be expected. It does in Australia!

It is argued that because Chinese Christians are dependent on the Government, they are less free to criticize. There is a degree of truth in this. Nevertheless, it must be added that Chinese Christians, and the Church, are free to criticize the Government, like other individuals and organisations. That this criticism is limited, more limited than in Western democracies, is admitted. However, two things need to be said about this. First, the Chinese have known nothing but totalitarianism, and, had it been otherwise, they may still prefer their system to the stultifying chaos we seem to be developing, in which inordinate political influence is being exercised by plutocratic elites, mostly multinationals, that are not accountable to the electorate. Second, if we, as some argue Chinese Christians ought to do, criticize, not only the workings of our system, but its basic philosophy, we are no more popular in our country than we imagine our Chinese opposites to be in theirs. We often forget that we are also "brainwashed", the subjects of political propaganda. Of course, we enjoy different, and more attractive, freedoms. But then, some of these are more chimerical than real.

Contact with the West

The Church in China, having convinced the nation's leaders that it is Chinese in organisation, support and operation, and that Christians are no less patriotic than other Chinese citizens, is wanting to reach out and make contact with churches in other parts of the world, particularly the West.

However, it wants others to respect the sovereignty of the People' s Republic of China. While the Chinese Church recognises that it has benefited from Western missionary endeavour, it does not want missionaries, or missionary societies re-establishing themselves in China. Chinese Christians want to look after their own affairs and are capable of doing so. And besides, to interfere, to re-establish our denominational rivalries, would abort an ecumenical experiment born out of the experience of persecution. Chinese Christians are keen to establish relationships with Christians from other parts of the world, but only on the basis of mutual respect. They want Western Christians, in particular, to understand their situation, their preferences and their dreams.

At this stage, initiatives are tentative. The Chinese Church has not sought membership with the Christian Council of

Asia or the World Council of Churches. They want to move cautiously, avoid bureaucratic entanglements and husband their limited financial and human resources.

With regard to the relationship of the Chinese Church to the West, it should be pointed out that Western economic and political measures designed to embarrass China are resented. So too is misleading information regarding China circulated by Western Christians, illegal radio broadcasting and the deceit involved in surreptitious efforts at evangelism attempted by guests of the country. This involves individuals who enter the country to work at secular vocations, associated with aid programmes or business ventures, who use their position to evangelise, often without making contact with local Christians. It is the deceit involved that is at issue, for foreign visitors and temporary residences are warmly welcomed by local congregations.

And sometimes the old Imperialism shows through. An American, handing out tracts in Guang Zhou, drew the attention of the police. He became angry, protesting that China had no religious freedom, and threatened to telegraph President-elect Regan to ask that America cut off financial aid to China.

Bible Smuggling

Nothing angers Chinese Christians more than Bible smuggling. This is seen as a denial of their sovereignty and that of their nation. It is illegal and the propaganda used to boost the funds of many organisations involved in this illicit trade is blatantly inaccurate and hostile. Such initiatives imperial the freedom Chinese Christians enjoy and is viewed, not only by non-Christian Chinese but also by many Chinese Christians themselves, as the spearhead of a new Imperialism. Furthermore, the deceit involved brings Christian morality into question, It is not that the Chinese Church leaders are opposed to individuals entering China with a Bible or two and distributing these to those with whom they share some sort of relationship. It is wholesale smuggling operations that are opposed.

The leaders of the Church in China realise that they cannot immediately provide all their people with Bibles. They much prefer, for personal and political reasons, to service their own churches. They are coping adequately with production and distribution. In 1980 they published 50,000 New Testaments and 85,000 Bibles. To date, 400,000 Bibles and New Testaments have been distributed. They argue that in two years they will have sufficient New Testaments to go round, and, in five years, sufficient Bibles. The Bible being published is the 1919 Union Version. The Government is giving them every assistance. The major cities are well supplied. It is in the country areas that shortages exist, though it needs to be emphasised that most country people are illiterate. Chinese scholars are working on a new translation, though when this will be ready is not certain.

Financial Assistance

Concerning financial assistance, the Chinese argue that they prefer to be self-sufficient. If Christians friendly to China give to the work in China, such gifts must have no strings attached. If the amounts are small, there is no harm in them being given to local churches. If they are large, it is preferred that they be routed through the China Christian Council to avoid inequalities among congregations. In no sense are such gifts to be regarded as "saving" the Church in China.

General Comment

However enthusiastic we might be about the fact that China is again gospel territory, let us respect the sovereignty, maturity and the wishes of the leaders of the Chinese Church.. I wonder how we would react if Brazilian Christians came to our country, interfered with the management of our affairs, conducting themselves as if we did not exist and filling the coffers of their missionary societies by deliberately misinformed propaganda which gave a grossly distorted impression of ourselves and our Government?

The Future?

Like the Chinese nation itself, the Protestant Church in China is in a period of transition and many issues need to be thought through.

The nation is large and there are still some church groups that need to be drawn into the ambit of the China Christian

Council. In some areas, Bibles posted to Christians have been confiscated by local authorities, who seem unaware that the Cultural Revolution is over. Theological issues also need to be thought through. To date, little beyond practical accommodations have been made. And the vexed question of the relationship of the Church to the State needs to be more thoroughly considered. Leaders and pastors concentrate in their preaching on strictly spiritual issues and urge worshippers, by way of social commitment, to witness by exemplary conduct in the workplace and by conscientious political involvement. Their message has been unfairly described as "a gospel without social implications". This issue, however, must at some stage be more squarely faced.

It is unlikely that the Cultural Revolution will be repeated. Leaders do not want to further retard the development of their country and the present generation of students is not being fed on the impassioned idealism that was the staple diet of the Red Guards. To predict the future, however, is a hazardous business. There are, nevertheless, at least four factors that will be of crucial significance to the future. These are an increasingly affluence, the continuance or otherwise of Western influences, the capacity of the nation to absorb the Church--to Confucianize it to the extent that it loses its distinctiveness, its cutting edge--and the capacity of the Church to resist this and to exert its own influence.

The Christians of China ask us to pray for them, and have, for their part, committed themselves to pray for us in Australia.