The Registered Church in China by Wayne Ten Harmsel;

Author:Wayne Ten Harmsel; [TenHarmsel, Wayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781725286245
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 3)
Published: 2021-03-15T17:34:28+00:00

Reactions to the New Regulations

How then will the registered churches react? Most pastors seem to be accepting of the new status quo. The attitude of those I interviewed was mostly a tentative wait-and-see. They all acknowledged that things were tightening up and that ministry was more difficult, but their first response was that it might be temporary and that the best approach was to ignore things as much as possible. Correctly reading the actions and intentions of the government will be a major task for the church in the coming months and years.

As I write this, the new religious regulations have been in force for a little over a year, since the spring of 2018. Some pastors seem predictably adaptable in their reactions. “The church is still functioning normally” and, “ministries go on as usual,” and, “up until now we have not noticed any effects.” Many pastors mentioned that they have been ordered to fly national flags in their courtyards, and they comply without attaching much significance to it. One pastor calls it, “just a symbol of patriotism.” (I might add, however, that he does not raise the flag unless a government official is coming to see it.) More seriously, pastors must deal with the outlawing of Sunday schools. Again, I’ve seen some clever circumvention techniques as pastors have simply changed the name of their Sunday school to a label that the government does not red-flag. Yesterday’s Sunday schools have become today’s “tuoersuo,” or nursery schools.

Regarding flags and Sunday school, we must keep in mind the backstory. Neither of these issues came out of nowhere. National flags have always flown in the courtyards and offices of many Chinese churches, just as they do in many American churches. Likewise, Sunday school has always been illegal in the People’s Republic of China, and churches have always found ways around this prohibition. Of course, we feel concern for our brothers and sisters in China, but rather than panicking, we may do well to adopt the attitude of most Chinese Christians with whom I’ve had contact: “We’ve dealt with such things before, and we’ll figure out a way around them.”

One of the new regulations requires that pastors take classes that explain religious regulations, taught by State Administration of Religious Affairs personnel. One pastor just shrugged and said that it’s all part of improving rule by law. Another said that if the government wants to issue rules and regulations, there is not much you can do about it. This is just another indication that pastors generally try to avoid the government as much as possible. One Beijing pastor somewhat more hopefully concluded that “The government cannot dictate to churches what to believe or what to do. That would be illegal.” He is hopeful that the constitution carries some weight.

Not surprisingly, still others felt that the new restrictions were positive and advantageous for the churches. One pastor offered this well-nuanced opinion:

I have been studying the new regulations. On one level, the new policies indicate that the government recognizes the existence of the church.

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