Some argue that Christianity will help bridge the great divide between East and West. Judging from the report, there certainly is resistance. Shouwang Church, 1000 members strong denies its outdoor service is a form of political protest. On the other hand, the Chinese are holding back about ‘two dozen’ pastors and elders from attending the outdoor Sunday service. Without the primacy of first-hand knowledge, this all remains speculation on my part; but one thing’s for sure: Jesus has arrived in China -
Shouwang is ‘…one of the largest house churches in Beijing, Shouwang is unique in insisting on meeting together rather than splitting the congregation into smaller groups meeting in several locations…
“This is based on the founding fathers’ vision for Shouwang Church to be a ‘city on a hill,’” as stated in the Bible in Matthew chapter five, Fu explained. “So they’ve made a conscious decision not to go back to the small-group model. Either the government gives them the keys to their building or gives them written permission to worship in another location, or they will continue meeting in the open.”
For some insight into the Church inner workings – A Letter to the Congregation: Beijing Shouwang Church (China Source, November 12, 2009). For more on the source that the pastors and elders have held – go to the China Aid Association (coincidentally, its motto – expose, encourage, equip).
China Keeps Church Leaders from Public Worship Attempt
Police put pastors under house arrest over weekend, before detaining at least 160 on Sunday.
Source – Compass Direct News, published April 11, 2011
DUBLIN, April 11 (CDN) — Police in China held “about two dozen” pastors and elders of Beijing’s Shouwang Church under house arrest or at police stations over the weekend to keep them from attending a Sunday worship service in a public location, according to Bob Fu of the China Aid Association.
Three top leaders of the church remain in jail and several others are under strict surveillance after hundreds of Chinese police yesterday cordoned off the walkway to a third-floor outdoor meeting area adjacent to a property purchased by the church in Haidian district, Beijing, and arrested at least 160 members of the 1,000-strong church as they tried to assemble.
The church members were bundled into waiting vans and buses to prevent them from meeting as planned in the public space, Reuters and The Associated Press (AP) reported, and most had been released by today. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, Compass Direct News, Culture, Democracy, Education, Environment, Human Rights, Influence, People, Politics, Population, Public Diplomacy, Reform, Religion, Social, The Chinese Identity, The construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese identities
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