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A Protestant Church in Communist China
Moore Memorial Church Shanghai 1949–1989
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2012
Summary
Freedom of religious belief is guaranteed under the constitution of the People’s Republic of China, but the degree to which this freedom is able to be exercised remains a highly controversial issue. Much scholarly attention has been given to persecuted underground groups such as Falungong, but one area that remains largely unexplored is the relationship between officially registered churches and the communist government. This study investigates the history of one such official church, Moore Memorial Church in Shanghai. This church was founded by American Methodist missionaries. By the time of the 1949 revolution, it was the largest Protestant church in East Asia, running seven day a week programs.
As a case study of one individual church, operating from an historical (rather than theological) perspective, this study examines the experience of people at this church against the backdrop of the turbulent politics of the Mao and Deng eras. It asks and seeks to answer questions such as: were the people at the church pleased to see the foreign missionaries leave? Were people forced to sign the so-called “Christian manifesto”"? Once the church doors were closed in 1966, did worshippers go underground? Why was this particular church especially chosen to be the first re-opened in Shanghai in 1979? What explanations are there for its phenomenal growth since then?
A considerable proportion of the data for this study is drawn from Chinese language sources, including interviews, personal correspondence, statistics, internal church documents and archives, many of which have never previously been published or accessed by foreign researchers.
The main focus of this study is on the period from 1949 to 1989, a period in which the church experienced many ups and downs, restrictions and limitations. The Mao era, in particular, remains one of the least understood and seldom written about periods in the history of Christianity in China. This study therefore makes a significant contribution to our evolving understanding of the delicate balancing act between compromise, co-operation and compliance that categorises church-state relations in modern China.
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Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2012
ISBN-Print
978-1-61146-090-2
ISBN-Online
978-1-61146-091-9
Publisher
Lexington, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
306
Product type
Book Titles
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
Acknowledgements No access
Spelling and Terminology No access
Chapter 1. Introduction No access Pages 1 - 24
Chapter 2. The Pre-Communist Era (1887–1949) No access Pages 25 - 58
Chapter 3. Adjusting to the New Regime (1949–51) No access Pages 59 - 88
Chapter 4. The Call to Re-Align (1950–58) No access Pages 89 - 114
Chapter 5. A Church Under Pressure (1958–66) No access Pages 115 - 138
Photospread No access Pages B - L
Chapter 6. A Church Closed (1966–79) No access Pages 139 - 166
Chapter 7. Re-Opening (1979–89) No access Pages 167 - 198
Chapter 8. The Church Today (1989– ) No access Pages 199 - 224
Chapter 9. Conclusions No access Pages 225 - 250
Bibliography No access Pages 251 - 278
Appendix 1: Timeline of Major Events Relevant to MMC No access Pages 279 - 282
Appendix 2: Biographies of Key People Connected to MMC No access Pages 283 - 288
Appendix 3: Glossary of Chinese Names and Terms No access Pages 289 - 296
