The Future of the Church in China: Why China’s House Churches will Prevail
[2] Carey Lodge, “Is Religious Freedom in China Really About to Get Worse,” accessed at http://www.christiantoday.com/article/is.religious.freedom.in.china.really.about.to.get.worse/972 96.htm on January 7, 2017.
[3] Of course there are always exceptions to the rule. I have found that rural churches, even those associated with the TSPM, are often quite independent and appear to experience more freedom. This is especially true of churches comprised of minority (i.e., not Han) believers in remote regions.
[4] In his book on the Charismatic movement in Britain, Nigel Scotland chronicles a litany of problems related to authoritarian tendencies in church leadership. Although past extremes appear to have sobered the movement and much progress has been made, the abuse of “apostolic” authoritarianism is clearly a key concern for the future (Charismatics and the Next Millennium: Do They Have a Future? [London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995], see chapters 4 and 5). I understand why many might see the house church movement in China as susceptible to the same kind of problem.
[5] “China plans its own ‘Christian Theology’,” accessed at http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-28687520 on January 9, 2017.
[6] Lu Xiaomin, Sounds of the Heart, 455 (Song #404).
[7] Lu Xiaomin, Sounds of the Heart, 585 (Song #524).
[8] Robert Menzies, “Pentecostals in China,” in Vinson Synan and Amos Yong, eds., Global Renewal Christianity: Spirit-Empowered Movements Past, Present, and Future, Volume 1: Asia and Oceania (Lake Mary, Fla.: Charisma House Publishers, 2015), 67-90. See also Menzies, Making Pentecost Your Story: 50 Days of Reflection and Prayer – A Devotional Companion to Pentecost: This Story is Our Story Inspired by the Church in China (Springfield, MO: The Asian Center for Pentecostal Theology Press, 2016).
Category: Ministry, Winter 2017
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