at the turn of the century: astudy of the china centenary Missionary conference of 1907 Kevin Xiyi Yao he year 2007 marked the two-hundredth anniversary byterian Mission, in introducing the resolution draft on behalf of tof robert Morrison’s arrival in china.1 anumber of the committee on the chinese church, pointed out that William events wereheld in mainland china, hong Kong, Macau, and Milne, Morrison’s coworker,in1820 had written “retrospect taiwan to commemorate this historic event. it is worth noting of the first tenyears of the Protestant Mission to china.” in it that one hundred years ago Western missionaries in china also Milne predicted that at the current growth rate, the total number marked the day by holding acentenary missionary conference of chinese believers would reach one thousand, including their to celebrate the first century of Protestant missionary presence children, by 1907. “now at the end of the century,” Gibson said, and labor in that ancient land. “we count achurch of at least 180,000 communicants, which in the tradition of the great missionary conferences of 1877 implies achristian community of some 630,000 souls ...besides and 1890, the china centenary Missionary conference (hereafter some 120,000 children and young people. ...—this is the won- centenary conference) convened in shanghai from april 25 to derful fruit which one hundred years have left in our hands. ... May 8, 1907, and was attended by 1,170 missionary delegates, our first thoughts in this centenary conference may well be representatives of home boards, and visitors. among all the those of profound thankfulness to God for what he has done” attendees, fewer than ten chinese can be identified.2 twelve (pp. 1–2). overall, asense of pride, gratitude, and celebration is subjects wereselected for discussion, and twelve program com- evident throughout the conference reports. mittees wereformed to draft resolutions on these subjects. in addition, anumber of resolutions and open letters (memorials) Manifestation of Church Union wereeventually adopted by the conference and implemented by twenty-four committees after the conference ended.3 comparingthe 1907 conference with the china Missionary the centenary conference of 1907, alandmark event in the conference held seventeenyears earlier, in 1890, many par- history of Protestant missions in china, was “a celebration of the ticipants singled out harmony and cooperation as highlights of close of the first century of Protestant missionary work in china” the centenary gathering (p. 690). “comity and federation” was and the ushering in of the second century (p. ii; page numbers actually listed as one of the twelve conference subjects. confer- in text refer to Records, China Centenary Missionary Conference). ence participants seem to have been quite united on this issue. looked at today,the discussions and resolutions of the confer- Going beyond fostering aunified spirit, the conference began to ence yield insights into the issues the missionaries faced and take concrete measures towardalarger church union, adopting their mentality,permit evaluation of their decisions in the light resolutions that recommended formation of afederal union to be of later developments, and offer lessons pertinent to challenges titled the christian federation of china (pp. 719–20). the vision facing the Protestant movement as it enters its thirdcentury in embraced by the conference clearly foreshadowed the birth of the country.rather than examining each of the twelve conference the national christian council in the 1920s. subjects, ishall focus on five main themes shaping the conference aspirit of unity also permeated other resolutions and dis- agenda and discussions. cussions.acknowledging the divisions and confusion caused by Protestant denominationalism, conference participants through Retrospect of the First Century resolutions on the chinese church offered ajoint statement of faith that stressed the basic doctrinal consensus of the Protes- atthetimeofthecentenaryconferenceinshanghai,themission- tant china missionaries (pp. 437–38). consensus on the nature aries and church in china wereenjoying remarkable social favor. and tasks of mission was expressed as well in “Memorial to the in the wake of the disastrous Boxer rebellion, the Qing Dynasty home church.” Preaching or spreading the Gospel was clearly initiated aseries of economic, governmental, educational, and emphasized as the coreofmission, but christian social respon- military reforms. at the same time, chinese society showed un- sibility was also considered to be indispensable (p. 364; see also precedentedopennesstowardWesterninfluences.consequently, pp. 548, 550, 656–59). the fact that the conference delegates the intense hostility that the church had constantly faced in the wereable to reach consensus on fundamental doctrines and previous hundred years ebbed considerably,ifitdid not vanish missionary tasks is aclear indication of the continuing existence completely.insuchanenvironmentthechurchandthemissionary and influence of the so-called Protestant missionary consensus movement experienced rapid recovery and expansion. within the Protestant missionary community in china in the not surprisingly,the conference participants wereover- early twentieth century.4 whelmingly upbeat in their comments on past missionary work signs of the coming collapse of missionary unity,however, and the current situation. first, the considerable change of social began to emerge during the conference. therewereintense circumstance was amatter frequently noted. second, reports debates on chinese ancestor worship, the relationship between highlighted and praised the tremendous missionary progress preaching and social involvement, and the value and necessity made since Morrison’s days. John c. Gibson of the english Pres- of church union, among other subjects (pp. 486–88, 540, 614). inroads made by higher criticism in china werealready causing Kevin Xiyi Yao, associate Professor in Theological Studies, China Graduate concern in some sectors of the missionary community (p. 66). School of Theology,Hong Kong, is the author of the fundamentalist Move- Gradual intensification of these debates and concerns eventually ment among Protestant Missionaries in china, 1920–1937 (Univ.Press led to the demise of the consensus in the modernist-fundamen- of america, 2003). talist controversy in the 1920s and 1930s. the conference of 1907 april 2008 65 can thereforebeconsidered the last major manifestation of the the education committee, “our great ideal is the establishment Protestant missionary consensus in china.5 But in 1907 ideas of of the kingdom of God on earth. We aim at influencing all the unionandcooperationwerestillsodominantthatonemissionary strata of society.christianity is to save the world and to bring all couldpredictthat“‘together’isthetwentiethcenturywatchword” human relationship, political, social, commercial, and industrial (p. 597). ironically,within less than two decades the national into harmony with laws of God” (p. 68). akingdom-centered christian council that had been envisioned by the conference theology clearly exerted ashaping influence on the missionaries’ proved unable to unify missions and churches across the country thought and practice. in the manner that the conference of 1907 had done. the strong missionary emphasis on forming achristian civilization in china, in combination with the new openness to Gospel and Civilization christianity on the part of chinese society,led to agrowing call for providing futuregenerations of chinese church workers with the notion of christian civilization was very much taken for much moreadvanced skills and moresophisticated education. granted in the centenary conference. few of the missionaries the conference’s “Memorial to the home church” declared: “We would have doubted that the Gospel was the spiritual founda- want to train preachers who can appeal not only to the poor and tion and power source of modern Western civilization, the latter the illiterate, but to the thoughtful” (p. 380). in his report to the being the fruit of the former.their calling was to bring to the conference, Pott argued that “it is not sufficient to give those chinese people the Gospel of Jesus christ, as well as its fruit. as who aretobeemployed as pastors or evangelists, asuperficial aresult, spreading the Gospel, planting churches, and reforming theological education, but we must first give them an education society and culturealways went together in chinese missions of that is liberal in the true sense of the word” (p. 66). the nineteenth century. it is no surprise, then, that the 1907 conference called for in looking back at the first one hundred years, the mission- mission schools to be expanded and upgraded. the conference aries felt proud not just of the growth of the church but also of resolutions on education asked the home churches and mission their role in introducing modern civilization and stimulating boards to increase considerably their investment in education in china. they also appealed for better and moreprofession- ally trained missionaries, closer cooperation between different The overwhelming support missions in education, and establishment of aunion christian universityofferinginstructionofthehighestacademicstandards. for expansion of in addition to educational endeavors, the “Memorial to the educational and medical home church” urged great expansion of the missions’ medical work (p. 380). work exposed tensions theoverwhelmingsupportforexpansionofeducationaland