On the afternoon of September 23, 2021, CCC&TSPM and World Federation of Chinese Methodist Churches (WFCMC) held a virtual meeting. Vice President of CCC Rev. Shen Xuebin and 10 staff members participated in the meeting. The two sides had an in-depth exchange and discussion on sticking to the path of the Indigenization and Contextualization of Christianity in China, and on the dialogue between Bible studies and Chinese studies.  

Rev. Shen Xuebin hosted the virtual meeting, and Rev. Geng Weizhong, associate general secretary of CCC and president of Shanghai CC, led the prayer.

In the chairperson’s speech, Rev. Lam Chun, Tim, introduced that WFCMC serves the purposes of promoting the connection and mutual care among the Chinese Methodist churches, building collaborative ministries, discussing the coordination of ministry resources and personnel exchange, conducting cooperation with other Christian denominations, etc.

Rev. Lam said, despite the lack of face-to-face interactions impeded by the pandemic, he expected to further understand the Indigenization and Contextualization of Christianity in China via Zoom, and facilitate cooperation with each other.

During the virtual meeting, Rev. Chen Yilu, vice president of CCC and executive vice president of Nanjing Union Theological Seminary (NJUTS), and Rev. Pan Xingwang, vice chairperson of National TSPM, chairperson of Zhejiang TSPM and president of Zhejiang Theological Seminary, shared the practices of the Indigenization and Contextualization of Christianity in China in the  theological education ministry and in the evangelism of grass-root churches.

Rev. Dr. Lin Manhong, associate general secretary of CCC and academic dean of NJUTS, Rev. Dr. Wen Ge, associate general secretary of CCC and chief of NJUTS’ Office of Academic Affairs, and Rev. Su Zhiming, teacher at East China Theological Seminary, replied to the questions on the Indigenization and Contextualization of Christianity in China raised by WFCMC.

Rev. Shen Xuebin said that we all cherished this online “gathering” via video conferencing and hoped that the two sides would maintain a good partnership and seek more cooperation, given that we both have a shared Chinese cultural background with the common Christian belief.

The virtual meeting was ended by the prayer by Rev. James Kwang, bishop emeritus of Annual Conference of the Chinese Methodist Church in Australia.

Translated and edited By Bei Sang.