The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (officially 中国基督教三自爱国运动委员会, National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China; colloquially 三自教会, the Three-Self Church) or TSPM is the government-sanctioned ("patriotic") Christian organizations in the People's Republic of China. Known in combination with the China Christian Council as the lianghui, they form the only legal ("registered") Protestant church in mainland China.
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History
The three principles of self-governance, self-support (i.e., financial independence from foreigners) and self-propagation (i.e., indigenous missionary work) were first articulated by Henry Venn, General Secretary of the Church Missionary Society from 1841–73, and Rufus Anderson, foreign secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions[1][2]. The principles were drafted formally during an 1892 conference in Shanghai of Christian missions reflecting an almost unilateral agreement that the future of the Chinese church depended on the indigenization of the leadership, and the finding of sufficiently Chinese modes of worship[3]. Dixon Edward Hoste, head of the China Inland Mission was known for putting the same principles into practice in the effort of assisting the Chinese to esablish their own indigenous churches during the early 20th Century. In 1951, a Cantonese Christian named Y. T. Wu (吴耀宗, 1893–1979) initiated the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, which promoted a strategy of 'self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation' in order to remove foreign influences from the Chinese churches. This was to assure the communist government that the churches would be patriotic to the newly-established People's Republic of China. The 'Three-Self' is a characteristically Chinese way of abbreviating 'self-governance, self-support, self-propagation' (自治、自养、自传). The movement began formally in 1954. From 1966 to 1976 the Cultural Revolution stopped the expression of religious life in China. In 1979 the church was restored, and in 1980 the CCC was formed.
Standing Committee of the TSPM
- Chairperson & Acting Secretary General
- Presbyter Ji Jianhong
- Residential Vice Chairperson
- Rev Deng Fucun
- Associate Secretary General
- Rev Mei Kangjun
References
- ^ Christianity Today Library: Marking Time in the Middle Kingdom, Madison Trammel (URL last accessed on May 1, 2007)
- ^ Warren M (Ed.), To Apply the Gospel: Selections from the Writings of Henry Venn, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971
- ^ Grant, Paul: The Three Self Church, NSM, January 1, 2007 (URL last accessed on May 1, 2007)
See also
- Lianghui
- Religion in mainland China
- Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association
- Chinese house church
- Christianity in China
- Protestantism in China
