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Autumn 2023
As I read through the various submissions [in the summer 2023 CSQ], I realized that the topic of the Pentecostal church in China cannot be ignored, should be explored and could be instructive.
Timothy Keller’s passing is a cause for mourning. The Christian community has lost a champion of the faith, but I cannot help but feel joy and hope as I watched him from afar; as he faced the news of cancer, struggled through treatment, and never let go of the gospel even to the end. His testimony of a life well-lived . . . fills me with hope.
From the desk of the guest editor.
The author delves into the history of how Pentecostalism came to China in the late nineteenth century. He introduces us to early missionaries—including women—Chinese leaders, and revivals.
Balcombe brings us into the present by telling us about the Pentecostal church at the end of the Cultural Revolution and on through the years to its present situation.
Prior to 1949, while some of the independent, indigenous Chinese churches were not Pentecostal, the larger church networks had Pentecostal roots. Pentecostal beliefs and practices continue to define a large segment of Chinese churches today.
The religious passion of Christian peasants encouraged them to rethink traditional understandings of Christian life and ministry. Before 2000, house churches focused their mission primarily on domestic China, but after 2000, this focus shifted from China to other countries resulting in two international mission movements.
Liu tells us about Mission China 2030, revival, spiritual gifts, Chinese houses of prayer, and persecution among China’s urban house churches during recent years.
New religious regulations implemented in 2018 have caused churches to be shut down and foreign workers to leave. The author addresses developments in church networks and the emergence of churches with a Pentecostal identity.
Menzies discusses his belief that the Pentecostal churches in China have an important contribution to make to the larger, global body of Christ, and that the Pentecostal movement, in China and globally, need the larger body of Christ.