Christianity 'Rooted in the Soil' of China, Says Kobia

By Ethan Cole, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, November 18, 2006

The Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia commented how Christianity has taken root in the soil of China during his first visit to the country as head of the World Council of Churches.

Kobia is currently leading an ecumenical delegation to China from Nov. 15 to 22. In Shanghai, the WCC general secretary met with local pastors and the leadership and staff of the Shanghai Christian Council. Christian leaders in the area credited the remarkable growth of the church in China to its close identification with the Chinese people.

“The church is now rooted in Chinese history,” said the Rev. Cao Shengjie, president of the China Christian Council (CCC), according to a WCC report. The CCC has been a member of the WCC since 1991.

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In response, the Kobia commented, “In many part of the world, the roots of Christianity haven’t gone down deep enough. We are learning, here, what it means for Christianity to be rooted in the soil rather than in a clay pot. You have broken the clay pot and now the roots of Christianity are really deeply planted in the soil.”

According to the WCC report, there were 700,000 Christians in China in 1949. Presently, the CCC reports its members to be consisting of 16 million and belonging to more than 55,000 local churches, with 18 officially recognized seminaries and Bible schools.

However, most organizations report a significantly higher number of Christians in China who belong to house churches that are not recognized by the Chinese government.

Kobia, along with the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams who visited China last month, foresee great opportunities for the Christian community in China.

“This phenomenal growth is observable to the whole world, because China is developing into a major global power,” said Kobia. “How will that shape the challenge of the churches’ witness?”

In October, the Archbishop of Canterbury had completed his first-ever visit to China during a two-week, five city tour of the country. The archbishop had said to a crowd of 700 people during a Sunday service in Beijing that he saw a “great opportunity” for Christians to be involved in social issues in China such as the environment, censorship and the death penalty.

On the first day of his visit, the WCC general secretary praised the Chinese church for its “unique” contribution to the ecumenical movement as a post-denominational church and said WCC wanted to learn more from the Chinese church.

The ecumenical delegation will visit the cities of Nanjing, Beijing, and Xi’an before they conclude their visit next Wednesday.