The China Christian Council (CCC; ) was founded in 1980 as an umbrella organization for all

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

churches in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

with Bishop K. H. Ting as its president. It works to provide theological education and the publication of Bibles (mostly in the

Chinese Union Version The ''Chinese Union Version'' (CUV) () is the predominant translation of the Bible into Chinese used by Chinese Protestants, first published in 1919. The text is now available online. The CUV is currently available in both traditional and sim ...

), hymnals (the Chinese New Hymnal mostly), and other religious literature. It encourages the exchange of information among local churches in evangelism, pastoral work and administration. It has formulated a church order for local churches, and seeks to continue to develop friendly relations with churches overseas.

History

In the spring of 1979, Chinese churches resumed worship after the Cultural Revolution. In order to revive the church, the China Christian Council was founded at the third national Christian conference in 1980, to unite and provide services for churches in China, formulating Church Order and encouraging theological education. Daniel Bays suggests that there is "a real desire for pastoral and congregational nurturing and spiritual development in the CCC, and perhaps a desire to separate from the direct political role of the TSPM." Together with the

Three-Self Patriotic Movement The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM; ) is the official government supervisory organ for Protestantism in the People's Republic of China. It is colloquially known as the Three-Self Church (). The National Committee of the Three-Self Patriot ...

, the organizations are known as the '' lianghui'' (), or "two organizations." Through the CCC, the registered Protestant church participates in the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

. The CCC serves to unite and provide services for churches in China by formulating Church Order, encouraging theological education through seminaries and Bible schools, such as

Nanjing Union Theological Seminary The Nanjing Union Theological Seminary () is the flagship theological seminary of Protestant Christianity in China today. It is managed by the China Christian Council. Prior to the founding of the People's Republic of China, the institution had ...

, publishing Bibles and other Christian materials, and coordinating training programs for churches. In the recent 30 years, Christianity in China has developed rapidly. It introduces the best developing period in Chinese Christian history. Incomplete statistics indicate that there may be over 23 million Christians throughout the country, 30 times more than in 1949. There may also be over 56,000 churches and meeting points, 70 percent of which are newly built. More than 55 million copies of the Bible have been printed, 3,500,000 copies per year in recent years. There are a total of 21 theological seminaries with more than 1900 students in China. The CCC/TSPM headquarters are No. 219, Jiujiang Road,

Huangpu District, Shanghai Huangpu District (), makes up the eastern part of Shanghai's traditional urban core and is today the most central of Shanghai's 16 districts. Huangpu district is the seat of municipal government, includes key attractions such as The Bund and the ...

(Postcode: 200002). The organizations jointly publish the ''

Tian Feng Tian Feng (died November 200), courtesy name Yuanhao, was a Chinese politician serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Eastern Han dynasty. Life There are two accounts of Tian Feng's origins: One said that he was from Julu Commande ...

'' magazine.

Leadership

The current leadership were elected at the tenth National Christian Conference held in November 2018. * President : Rev. Wu Wei * General Secretary : Rev. Shan Weixiang

Ministries

* The Ministry of Theological Renewal * Publication Ministry * Theological Education and Training Ministry * Social Service Ministry * Overseas Exchange Ministry

Departments

* Overseas Relations Department * Training Department * Publication Department * ''

'' Editorial Department * Social Service Department * Research Department * Administration Office

References

External links

*
Main Churches and Theological Seminaries Under China Christian Council

The Amity Foundation
{{Authority control Protestantism in China Members of the World Council of Churches Christian organizations established in 1980 Christian denominations in Asia Christian denominations established in the 20th century National councils of churches 1980 establishments in China