Christian History Home > Issue 98 > Worshiping Under the Communist Eye
Worshiping Under the Communist Eye
The birth of an "official" Chinese church helped Christianity thrive in public under political constraints.
Ryan Dunch | posted 8/08/2008 07:43AM
The former Anglican cathedral in a provincial capital is jammed to the rafters. Dressed in a simple black robe and white surplice, the old deacon leads the congregation through the hymns, liturgy, and announcements that take up the first hour of the service. A thousand voices echo from the unadorned brick walls as they recite the Apostles' Creed, and the elderly blind pianist, raised in a Christian orphanage until the Communist victory in 1949, leads her small choir through a lovely rendition of "Alas, and did my Savior bleed?" The young pastor Lin [a pseudonym] is preaching today, and the congregation knows his worth—he would have been ordained two years earlier but for objecting to government interference in a church election. The young family struggled financially as a result, but the damage to his standing with the Religious Affairs officials also raised his credibility with the believers.
Lin's sermon is short today, by Chinese standards: an exposition of Deuteronomy 33:27, "The ... To view this item, you must be a member of ChristianHistory.net.
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