Along with the massive urbanization that has forever reshaped the social and cultural landscape of China, the church in China has itself undergone a major transformation. From a largely rural, peasant-led movement in the 1980s the church is now very much an urban phenomenon.
The church demolitions continue in Zhejiang, as does the commentary trying to make sense of it all. Two articles this week contributed to the conversation.
I am not a regular reader of Daedalus (although I probably should be), but a few weeks back I downloaded the Spring 2014 edition of the journal Daedalus onto my kindle because the cover caught my eye: "Growing Pains in a Rising China."
Jeffrey Towson and Jonathan Woetzel, both professors at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management in Beijing, claim you can understand China in an hour. An excerpt from their new book on the McKinsey and Company website says getting a handle on China is a lot less about politics and a lot more about a handful of major economic and social trends that are shaping the country's future.
History in the making and forgotten history were in the news this week along with Chinese-style self-help and the extension of Chinese consumerism to the US.
Yesterday I highlighted some of the key points of the first of two panel discussions hosted by the Brookings Institute last week. The specific topic of that panel was the political and social status of Christianity in China.
Is Christianity transforming Chinese society? The Brookings Institute China Center recently hosted two panel discussions exploring that question.
The 2006 China Church Leadership Study, conducted jointly by ChinaSource and Geneva Global Research, identified seven types of Christian leaders in China. While three of these are in traditional church roles at various levels, the other four function largely outside the bounds of the local church and represent the growing role of Christians in China's larger society.
There was really only ONE story out of China this week, namely the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Incident. We could have devoted the entirety of ZGBriefs to the marking of that event, but we narrowed it down to a handful. Two of those articles are highlighted here. In addition, we couldn't pass up two articles about the hazards for foreigners who live and work in China.
The Mainland site Gospel Times recently published an article about the poor living conditions of preachers in the countryside. The article contains stories and photos of preachers in three different counties in southwest China. Below is a translation of one of those stories. The article is set within the context of the Sanjiang Church, an unusually expensive and ornate church in Wenzhou that was demolished last month.
I have been involved actively in China ministry since 1996. I often tell people that those years have been some of the most exciting times for China, her government and her church. Just as I was actively getting involved, the Chinese government was beginning to wrestle with what place people of faith could have in Chinese society. It seems clear that they are still wrestling with that question today!
Urbanization has irreversibly changed the landscape of Chinademographically, socially, geographically, and economically.