Social Service in China

The recent announcement that the China Christian Council is establishing a Social Service Department marks a significant moment in the recent history of the church in China. While there has never been any doubt that service is a vital element in the calling of a Christian, and many Chinese Christians have been recognised for their service to their communities, it has not been so widely recognised that the church corporately has a calling to promote and engage in programmes of service. When Christians recovered their freedom to worship some twenty years ago, other aspects of church life were not encouraged. Members and leaders alike were nervous of embarking on any activity that might put in jeopardy their new-found freedom.

That is why the Amity Foundation, an independent NGO, quite distinct from the church, was created in 1986. It was an initiative of Chinese Christians, and some but not all of its board and its staff are Christians. It has received much financial support from Christians outside China. But it is not an explicitly Christian body. Its stated purpose is to promote health, education and welfare and it has developed a wide range of programmes operating in many parts of China, in collaboration with local people from all walks of life.

Over the last few years some congregations have started their own social service programmes, and these have been welcomed rather than forbidden. There is a handful of Christian hospitals and clinics, and rather more churches where medical consultations are held by Christian doctors and nurses on church premises after the Sunday morning service. Kindergartens, homes for the elderly and various poverty alleviation projects have been started. Amity set up a ‘Church-run Projects’ Department in order to encourage, advise and assist them. But as yet only a small proportion of the 48,000 congregations affiliated to the Christian Council has such activities.

The Social Service Department of the China Christian Council will play an important educational role, encouraging more and more churches to develop programmes that demonstrate Christian love in action. Its creation makes a strong theological statement about ‘Our Calling’. The Amity Foundation has welcomed it and will work in co-operation with it, while continuing to work at the same time with people of other faiths and those without a religious faith. The immense social challenges – schools for isolated villages, the needs of migrant workers and their children, and not least the inexorable spread of AIDS – call for a many-faceted approach. Chinese Christians are rising to the challenge.

John Pritchard

Chair of Friends of the Church in China