PC(USA) Educates Potential Seminary Professors of China
LOUISVILLE — For he growth of Chinese ministries and to prevent further clergy shortage, the Presbyterian Churches (USA) is putting more efforts in educating future leaders of Chinese ministries, PC(USA) reported.
Currently three Chinese students, who wish to become seminary professors in China, are studying in American seminaries receiving scholarships from the PC(USA)’s the Global Education and International Leadership Development Office of the Worldwide Ministries Division.
Jie Jiao, a student at nearby San Francisco Theological Seminary and two other students, Manhong Lin, a student at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, and Jian-Guo Wang, a student at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, are interested in developing a theology that is distinctively Chinese.
“Since I came here, I have learned a lot from scholarly professors and seminarians and sisters and brothers in First Presbyterian Church in San Anselmo (CA)," said Jiao, who also served as a part of staff member at China Christian Council. She hopes to “play a cross-pollinating role in the reconstruction of theology in China and contribute to Chinese theological education.”
A deeper theological perspective based on a better understanding of Chinese culture is sorely needed in China, said Lin, who also worked at the CCC before coming to the U.S. “Further study at the doctoral level will enable me to make better contributions to both theological education and the ecumenical understanding of the church in the Chinese cultural context,” Lin said.
Wang agrees that developing an indigenous Chinese theology is crucial for the Chinese church. “The more I experience, the more I become convinced that the church in China needs to develop its own identity and its own distinctive way in the sharing of the gospel with its own people,” he said.
