Protestant and Catholic Missions in South China: 1911-1986

News and Notes, October 1985, p. 6). World: Council on Evangelism Official Papers and Reports (Springfield, 23. Corum, Like as of Fire, P: 6. Readers are also encouraged to review Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1968). articles by Cheryl Johns (Summer 1985) and Carolyn Dirksen (Winter 32. Read, New Patterns of Church Growth in Brazil, pp. 219-21. 1984) in the Pentecostal Minister. Historical material on pentecostal 33. Donald A. McGavran, "Impressions of the Christian Cause in women in mission is also available from Clyde Root (Pentecostal Re India: 1978," Church Growth Bulletin, third consolidated volume, p. search Center, P.O. Box 3448, Cleveland, Tenn. 37311); Wayne War 247. See also B. E. Underwood, comp., "Self-Study Report: World ner, ed. Assemblies ofGodHeritage (1445Boonville Avenue, Springfield, Missions Department of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church Mo. 65802-1894); Karen Robinson (Holy Spirit Research Center, Oral (Oklahoma City, Okla., 1984). Underwood, executive director of Pen Roberts University, Tulsa, Okla. 74171);Edith Blumhofer (Assemblies tecostal Holiness World Missions, also writes of the urban challenge of God Theological Seminary, 1445 Boonville Avenue, Springfield, in a special issue of the Pentecostal Minister given completely to the Mo. 65802). subject of world evangelization (Winter 1987--88). 24. See Paul Yonggi Cho, Successful Home Cell Groups (South Plainfield, 34. Nichol, Pentecostalism, pp. 60-61. N.J.: Bridge Publishing, 1981), and More Than Numbers (Waco, Tex.: 35. Read, New Patterns of Church Growth in Brazil, pp. 167~8. Word Books, 1984). 36. Wagner, Foreword, in McClung, Azusa Streetand Beyond. 25. See a more complete exposition in L. Grant McClung, [r., "Spon 37. See the following for incidents on the power of the movement's dis taneous Strategy of the Spirit: Pentecostal Missionary Practices," World semination through the printed page: Corum, Likeas of Fire, pp. 1 Pentecost (March 1985): 19. 2; Ingram, Around theWorldwith theGospel Light, pp. 11-12; Frodsham, 26. See J. Philip Hogan's response to Ralph Winter at Lausanne 1974, in With Signs Following, p. 171. J. D. Douglas, ed., Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis, Minn.: 38. In addition to denominational papers, the reader may want to inquire World-Wide Publications, 1975), p. 244. into Pneuma (the journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies), ed. 27. Hodges, "A Pentecostal's View of Mission Strategy," in Donald Cecil M. Robeck, 135 N. Oakland Avenue, Pasadena, Calif. 91182. A. McGavran, ed., TheConciliar-Evangelical Debate (South Pasadena, EPTA Bulletin (the journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Cal.: William Carey Library, 1977), p. 143. Association), ed. Donald Smeeton, Chausse de Waterloo, 45, Rhode 28. See Arno Enns, Man, Milieu and Mission in Argentina (Grand Rapids, Saint-Genese, Brussels, Belgium; and World Pentecost (journal of the Mich.: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971), p. 236; and, Paul Pomerville, World Conference of Pentecostal Churches), ed. Jakob Zopfi, P.O. TheThird Force inMissions, on African independent pentecostal churches. Box 44, CH~376 Emmetten, Switzerland. 39. Those interested in publishing on the theme of pentecostal missiology 29. See also Gary B. McGee's discussion of Hodges's contribution, may wish to write to Dr. L. Grant McClung, Jr., P.O. Box 3330, "Assemblies of God Mission Theology," p. 168. Cleveland, Tenn. 37320-3330. 30. Read, New Patterns of Church Growth in Brazil, p. 12. 40. McCracken, Historyof Church ofGodMissions (Cleveland, Tenn.: Path 31. Mitchell, Heritage and Horizons: The History of the Open Bible Standard way Press, 1943), p. 8. Churches (Des Moines, Iowa: Open Bible Publishers, 1982), p. 371. 41. Mountain Movers magazine (from the Assemblies of God Division of See also Pomerville, The Third Force in Missions; F. J. May, "Planting Foreign Missions), January 1984. New Churches," Pentecostal Minister (Fall 1983); Richard Champion, Edward S. Caldwell, and Gary Leggett, eds., Our Mission in Today's Protestant and Catholic Missions in South China: 1911-1986 Donald MacInnis Why South China? he geographical focus of this paper is a corner of south in 1860. Over the next hundred years these three mission societies T China-the northern two-thirds of Guangdong Province, shared the field in comity arrangements, establishing churches and particularly the northeast region centering on the Shantou and opening schools, hospitals, and other projects in the region. and Meixian sectors. But the larger focus is China itself. This brief When China entered the Korean War in 1950, the work of the study of Protestant and Catholic missions in one small part of missionaries was restricted, and by 1952 all but a handful had China may offer insights on the relationships among missionaries, left. No missionaries, Catholic or Protestant, are serving the Chinese their home churches, and the churches they helped to found churches today. throughout China. By comparing Catholic and Protestant mission The first Catholic missionaries in China, Matteo Ricci and methods, goals and assumptions in the earlier years of this cen Michael Ruggerius, began their work in 1583'fn Chao-ch'ing, near tury, we may better understand the nature of these two churches Canton, moving on to Ch'aochou, near Shantou, in 1589. Two as they develop on their own today after three and a half decades years later Ricci moved to Nanking and then to Peking, but the without missionaries. mission in Gtiangdong carried on until the expulsion of all mis Shantou is a major port city near the Fujian border, one of sionaries by the Yung-cheng emperor in 1732 following the Rites the first treaty ports opened by the treaties following the first Controversy. By then Catholic missions had spread to fifteen Opium War. Protestant missionaries, members of the German provinces; of a total of 131 churches, 26 were in Guangdong. In Basel Mission, first entered the Shantou region in 1848.They were the following century, deprived of missionary priests, the number followed by English Presbyterians in 1856 and American Baptists of Christians in the province fell from about 30,000 in 1732 to 7,000 in 1844. There were no missionaries and only five Chinese priests ministering to these Catholics when the Treaty of Nanking (1842) opened China once again to foreign missionaries. Donald MacInnis is Coordinator of theChina Research and Liaison Group, Mary In 1848 the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the knoll Fathers and Brothers, Maryknoll, New York. 6 International Bulletin of Missionary Research Faith placed the Guangdong mission territory under the Societe China began to reopen. According to official statistics there are des Missions Etrangeres de Paris (MEP). In contrast to the Prot now more than 4,000 Protestant churches and 30,000 meeting estants, who stayed close to the cities and county (xian) seats, points open in China, with at least 4 million members-more than the MEP Fathers expanded their work into every part of the prov four times as many members as in 1950. The Catholic church has ince. The Catholics had the advantage of working with remnant 900 churches with resident priests, 200 more being renovated, Catholic communities who had survived the "century of cat and over a thousand meeting points, with a total membership of acombs." When Rome assigned portions of Guangdong to the 3.4 million, a fraction more than the 3.2 million on record in 1950. Maryknoll Fathers in 1918, there were vital, well-establishedCath But what lies behind the statistics? Why have the churches olic churches in many towns and villages. not only survived official and unofficial repression, but emerged stronger than before? Chinese Christians themselves will have to The Historical Context provide the answer, but judging by their own frequent testimony, it has much to do with their buoyant sense of selfhood. Chris This paper covers the period from 1911 to the present. Why 1911? tianity is no longer seen as a "foreign religion" (yang jiao). In that year the revolution led by Sun Yat-sen ended the rule of Today both Catholic and Protestant churches in China func the moribund Manchu Dynasty and launched China into the tion without missionary help. In numerous addresses and reports modern era. The new republic soon foundered under corrupt and given while visiting abroad in recent years, church leaders, Prot inept leaders, resulting first in a period of semi-anarchy when estantand Catholic, have reiterated their conviction that the Chinese petty warlords struggled with each other for control of provinces church must stand on its own feet. Fu Tieshan, Catholic bishop and regions, then the early years of the civil war, the Anti-Jap of Beijing, said this in Montreal in 1981: anese War, and the final stage of the civil war. The whole period was a kind of interregnum between two authoritarian central Because old China was a semi-colonial country, for a long time governments-the Manchu rulers and the leaders of the People's Church leadership was in the hands of foreign missionaries who Republic of China. This was a period of rising nationalism, ac represented colonial power, and the Church became a tool of co companied at tiines with outbursts of antiforeignism that im lonial aggressions.... After the establishment of New China, the pacted the missionaries for brief periods. But the missionaries Chinese clergy and laity stood up like the rest of the Chinese were virtually ignored by successive governments, free to come people. From the bitter lessons of history we had learned that we and go and to carry on their work, even in the first year of the must purify the Church, change the colonial status of the Church of Old China, and walk on the path of autonomy, independence communist regime. With the advent of the Korean War the mis 1 and self-administration. sionaries had to go. The Chinese Christians, together with ad herents of all religions, struggled and coped with cycles of reli Bishop K.

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