When I wrote China’s Urban Christians: A Light that Cannot be Hidden, it was with the conviction that massive urbanization in China had significant implications for China’s church. The emergence of a new kind of church in the city was not merely an extension of the experience of China’s primarily rural house church movements or of churches affiliated with the TSPM. Rather, a fresh set of dynamics was impacting the development of China’s newly forming urban Christian communities.
The latest issue of ChinaSource Quarterly, with its theme of urban church theology, delves into these dynamics. Guest editors Mary Ma and LI Jin have pulled together an impressively well-rounded look at the increasingly complex urban church environment.
Brent Fulton
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June 26, 2017
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Scholarship
Family needs, particularly the needs of the spouse and children, are among the causes of the high attrition rate among Chinese long-term missionaries.
Si Shi (四石)
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June 23, 2017
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Stories
The Chinese church passionately desires participation in missionary sending to unreached peoples. Field research findings with Chinese missionaries and with prospective Chinese medical missionaries highlight issues related to the needs of the Chinese missionary’s nuclear family. Although mission-sending organizations can help, much of the impetus for resolving difficulties faced by the Chinese missionary’s spouse and children must come from the Chinese missionaries themselves.
GJ, Si Shi (四石)
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June 22, 2017
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Ideas
Reflecting on the deaths of two Chinese missionaries to Pakistan.
Steve Schirmer
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June 21, 2017
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Stories
News of two Chinese Christians killed in Pakistan last week by ISIS shocked many Chinese Christians. On Chinese social media channels, bloggers have offered their prayers for the two martyrs and have tried to piece together exactly what happened. Lots of confusion surrounded the events. Details are still forthcoming.
ChinaSource Team
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June 20, 2017
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Stories
After having been the only child for many years, my parents finally brought home a tiny bundle—my very own baby sibling. While many would celebrate the arrival of another member to the family, that special day was instead laced with disappointment for my father. I found out much later that my mother went into labor before my father got to the hospital. When he finally arrived, he took a look at the baby, uttered in dismay, “Another girl,” and walked off.
I’Ching Thomas
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June 19, 2017
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Stories
The guest editors' point of view . . .
LI Jin, Mary Li Ma
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Scholarship
China’s Urban Christians: A Light that Cannot Be Hidden by Brent Fulton
Reviewed by Li Jin
Due to urbanization and social change, China’s churches look different today than they did a number of years ago. Urban churches, with unusual diversity, now comprise a major part of Chinese Christianity. Fulton identifies many of the changes the church has experienced that now characterize it and discusses challenges it faces in current society.
LI Jin
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Scholarship
An interview by Dr. Mary Ma with the minister of a migrant worker’s urban church which identifies a number of issues characteristic of urban churches comprised of migrant workers from rural areas. These concerns include living conditions, economic status, long work hours, mobility, and other factors that all contribute to the church’s spiritual health and stability.
Mary Li Ma
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Scholarship
Pastor Cui shares how his church has dealt with a growing congregation and the need for room by adopting a “big church, small congregations” model. He explains this concept and details the benefits this model has brought to the church, the pastors, and the congregations.
CUI Quan
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Scholarship
After defining “new media” and what it encompasses, An looks at the various ways the church in China views it, what it means for the church, and how it can affect the church. He then gives some thoughts on how the church should deal with it—not only the challenges it brings, but how it can be used positively.
Jerry An
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Ideas
As China becomes increasingly urbanized, an urban theology for ministry is needed. As modern man finds himself slowly enmeshed in urban living, he experiences materialism, relativism, and an increasingly segmented society. He questions what is real and true, and who God is. These questions can become points of contact for urban ministry. Dr. Ma provides some guidelines for forming an urban theology for ministry in urban China.
Mary Li Ma
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Scholarship