Delegation of Chinese Protestants Attends International Mission Conference

For the first time, a Chinese delegation attended a World Council of Churches Conference on World Mission and Evangelism. Speaking in Athens on May 11, Rev. Cao Shengjie, General Secretary of the China Christian Council (the state-approved Protestant church), addressed the theme of "Common Witness in China." According to Ekklesia, a British news service, Rev. Cao said that Christianity is often seen as a "foreign" religion in China, and that the challenge for Chinese believers is to discover a distinctly Chinese perspective on mission and evangelism. She also said that the next phase of the development of the Protestant church will be marked by the extension of grassroots education, social witness, personal evangelism, and the renewal of theological thinking. Responding to questions about the Chinese government’s regulation of religion, she said that religious freedom requires a legal framework to guarantee security and stability.

Rev. Cao’s comments reflect certain aspects of the Chinese government’s policy on religion: its effort to reshape Chinese Protestantism and Protestant theology so that it conforms to state policy and priorities, and its willingness to support some work by the churches in providing social services and education.