Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
The 5 Most Pressing Needs of the Chinese Church

The 5 Most Pressing Needs of the Chinese Church

Last updated on: July 3, 2019 at 12:27 am by Brad Vaughn

The 5 Most Pressing Needs of the Chinese Church 2019-04-26T09:38:35-07:00 Brad Vaughn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The most pressing needs of the Chinese church are theological, missiological, and familial.

Public Domain

The church in China is well equipped for evangelism. Let’s not forget–– the church in Chinese is huge. That did not get that way merely by outsiders alone doing evangelism. So, what does Chinese Christians need most? How might outsiders contribute to the well being of the Chinese church?

Believers outside China should consider ways to support Chinese Christians who are ready to take a leadership role in the global work of the gospel. Maturity and equipping are needed in several areas.

Five Immediate Needs of the Chinese Church

1. Theological Training

First, Chinese believers need theological training. While various local training centers exist around the country, most of them lack academically qualified teachers that can provide them with advanced training needed to interact with difficult passages, issues, and worldviews relevant to their ministry.

In addition, there is little quality control. Students routinely listen to basic lectures with only a test at the end of a course and with little or no assignments that help them to internalize and apply the material. At most, pastors memorize standard formulations without understanding how to interpret the Bible for themselves. Many materials found online or used by missionaries are merely translated from Western resources without any regard for an Asian context.

Here are some suggestions for teaching theology in Chinese.

2. Biblical Studies

Second, the Chinese church needs more resources in the field of biblical studies. While pastoral and devotional guides are abundant, far fewer commentaries, monographs, lexicons, and the like are translated into Mandarin. These materials will assist Mainland Chinese leaders to develop more indigenous materials in the future. We cannot expect Chinese church leaders to develop contextualized tools and theological insights if they do not have access to foundational knowledge and resources related to biblical studies.

3. Cross-cultural Training

Third, Chinese believers need substantial training to serve as cross-cultural missionaries. The failure rate of Chinese missionaries is high. Most have little experience living among people who are not Han Chinese. Furthermore, many Chinese struggle to work in teams while serving in a second-culture environment. Of course, we could also mention the need for missionaries to receive theological training.

4. Marriage and Family Ministry

Fourth, Chinese Christians across the country are desperate to receive assistance in having healthier marriages and families. A majority of believers will readily admit that they are unsure how exactly to be a “Christian” husband/wife, how to lead a church and a family, and raise children who genuinely love Christ.

5. Children’s Education

Finally, a related need concerns the education of children. Chinese children are required to receive a 9-years of public education (grades 1-9). This period enables the government to sufficiently indoctrinate all kids with an atheistic, socialistic worldview that celebrate the current political regime. Christian parents understandably are concerned that their children will reject Christianity, especially given increased restrictions by the government on the participation of children in church worship services.

While many parents have an interest in homeschooling, they confront several problems with this option. For one, homeschooling is illegal (though some officials turn a blind eye in some places). In addition, kids who are not enrolled within the government education system are excluded from taking the gaokao, the test that determines whether they can attend a Chinese university. Also, many parents either do not know how to educate their children at home or need the income that the teaching parent would otherwise earn if they worked a full-time job.

A topic that spans several of the above needs is contextualization. Here a few related posts:

Recent ChinaSource Quarterly focuses on contextualization in China

The Yin-Yang of Contextualization

Why Chinese Don’t Contextualize Theology

Chinese Church

Chinese church

Previous Post

June 27, 2019

Infographic for Honor and Shame in Romans

Next Post

July 10, 2019 Tight versus Loose? The cultural distinction missionaries aren’t talking about

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement Biblical Theology Book Reviews China Chinese Church Chinese Culture Chinese Language Collectivism Contextualization Culture (General) Ecclesiology Evangelism Gospel Honor & Shame (Face) Interpretation/Exegesis Justification/Righteousness Missiology Mission Methods One Gospel for All Nations Other Practical Contextualization Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes Resources Romans Salvation (General) Saving God's Face Seeking God's Face The Cross in Context Theological Contextualization Theological Education Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What practice did Ezra enforce upon discovering intermarriage with pagans?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Fast for months Worship at home Ignore the issue Divorce foreign wives

Books by This Author Books by Brad Vaughn

See All Titles »