Introduction
After
settling in its new headquarters at 191 Prince Edward Road West, Kowloon,
Hong Kong, in 1959, the Council soon published a pamphlet called Introducing
the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China. It covers briefly
the missionary work of Robert Morrison and the historical events leading
to the formation of the Church of Christ in China. It also includes
the then Constitution and organizational structure of the Council.
Commemorating
the Council's 50th anniversary in 1968, the Rev. Lau Shui-to wrote another
pamphlet called Knowing Our Church, He described the Council as a "Christ
Church, Uniting Church, and Indigenous Church." In the next two decades
following, several a rticles and annual reports appeared in the Council's
monthly magazine and other publications of the Council, detailing some
of the more important events, in chronological order, of the Council.
These articles provide precious information for composing this introduction.
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Historical
Prospective
The formation
of the Church of Christ in China can be traced back to 1918 when the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in China called a meeting
in Nanjing to look into the desirability of forming a union of churches.
Then the May 4 Movement (1919 ) aroused great passion for nationalism
among the youth in China and some even suspected that Christianity had
become a tool of cultural invasion by the imperialistic Western powers.
Chinese students everywhere organized Anti-Christian Federations, direct
ly challenging the roles and work of the churches. Some church leaders
realized that the Church must be indigenous to shed off the insulting
label of a "foreign religion." In other words, local churches must become
self-governing, self-supporting, and sel f-propagating in order to take
root in the country and minister to her people. Thus the representatives
from the Presbyterian Church, the London Missionary Society and the
Congregational Church agreed that they must stand united in order to
be a more effe ctive witness. The Church could only contribute to China
at a time when she was facing invasion from the outside and civil discontent
from the inside if the Church is united.
These
representatives met to draw up a scheme of union. Representatives from
other denominations soon joint in. Subsequently, the churches in Canton
declared in July 1919 the formation of The Guangdong Synod of the Church
of Christ in China. Joining the declaration were representatives from
the Swedish Missionary Society, the Congregational Church, the London
Missionary Society, the Presbyterian Church and the United Brethren.
In 1922, the Provisional General Assembly met in Shanghai and the unity
move ment gained further momentum. In 1927, the First General Assembly
of the newly formed Church of Christ in China, which was attended by
representatives from all over China, met in St. Mary's Hall, Shanghai.
In all, 88 commissioners attended, of whom 66 were Ch inese and 22 were
missionaries, representing 11 denominations and 53 District Associations.
This laid the foundation of unity on which the Church of Christ in China
was built. The newly formed Church adopted a four-tier system: on the
national level, the General Assembly; on the provincial level, the Synods;
on the district level, the Associations; and on the local level, the
churches.
The Second
General Assembly met in 1930 in Baihedong, Guangdong. The Third General
Assembly was held in Gulangyu, Xiamen, in 1933. And the Fourth General
Assembly was held in Qingdao in 1937. In a period of 10 years, five
synods and 34 associations were a dded to the union, making a total
of 16 synods, 85 associations, 2842 local churches, 454 ordained ministers
and approximately 130,000 communicants. Thereafter, World War II broke
out and general assembly meeting had to be suspended until the war was
over. There was an intention of calling a meeting of the Fifth General
Assembly after the war, but because of the chaotic aftermath of the
war and the poor conditions of the roads, the idea had not been materialized.
In October 1946, an extended joint meeting of the Board members and
deacons meeting was held in Nanjing, with 57 representatives attending.
At that time, nation-wide, there were 20 Synods, 105 associations and
170,000 communicants. Altogether 17 Mission Boards from the West covering
three contine nts were involved in the unity movement. They were the
United Church of Canada, Women Missionary Society of the United Church
of Canada, Presbyterian Church of Canada, Women Missionary Society of
the Presbyterian Church of Canada, Congregational Church of America,
Presbyterian Church in the United States (South), The Reformed Church
in America, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (North), Evangelical and
Reformed Church, United Brethren, London Missionary Society, British
Baptist Missionary Society, British Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian
Church in Ireland, Church of Scotland, Presbyterian Church of New Zealand,
and Presbyterian Church of Australia.
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The
Hong Kong Council
The predecessor
of The Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China was the Sixth
District Association of the Guangdong Synod of the Church of Christ
in China. Because of the political change in China in the late 40s',
the Sixth District Association was unable to maintain a normal relationship
with the Guangdong Synod. It became The Hong Kong Council of the Church
of Christ in China in 1953 in order to carry out its work independently.
It changed to a two-tier system, the council and the local churc hes,
which membership included the churches, schools, and agencies of the
Sixth District Association in Hong Kong, Kowloon, the New Territories
and Macau, also included in it were a handful of new churches of the
same background. However, these churches o perated independently. The
Council itself and some of the churches in the New Territories had to
depend on the financial assistance of foreign missions. In 1955, subsidized
by the mission boards, the Council was able to purchase an apartment
in Carnarvan Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, as its headquarters. Many programs
were still run by missionaries and financially supported by foreign
missions.
The Council
went through some fundamental restructuring in 1957. This included rewriting
its constitution, strengthening the roles of its executive committee
and employing more staff. In 1958, in order to expand its work, the
Council was incorporated and registered as a non-profit making charity
organization with the Hong Kong Government. In 1960, the new headquarters
at 191 Prince Edward Road West, Kowloon, was built. This allowed the
Council to further strengthen its operation. Between 1960 and 1965 the
Council launched two "million-dollar fund raising" campaigns to help
to build more churches and schools. In 1964, the Executive Committee
passed a resolution to have the Council become self-supporting in 10
years' time. In 1966, the Council called for a plan of "Consolidation
and Renewal in Four Years, and Strengthening Development in Ten Years."
The Council became totally self-supporting in 1974, and the constitution
was amended accordingly. In 1980, the Council formally announced herself
being a "three-self church" which means the church is now a self-governing,
self-supporting and self-propagating church. During this period of time
the Council became a member of the World Council of Churches, the East
Asian Christian Council (now the Ch ristian Conference of Asia), and
the Hong Kong Christian Council. In 1977 the Council also joined the
Council for World Mission (formerly the London Missionary Society),
sharing financial resources and manpower and participating in missionary
work around the world. By virtue of its historical affiliation, the
Council is a member of the World Methodist Council and the World Alliance
Reformed Church, and continues to maintain a close relations with a
number of other founding churches.
Due to
the need for development, the constitution that was adopted in 1957
was amended in 1974 and again in 1997. The second amendment clearly
defines three categories of membership: congregation, clergy and organization,
with detail outline of the respon sibil ities for each category. The
Annual General Assembly, which is the highest authority of the Council,
consists of all the ministers in office, representatives from the congregations,
directors of the Council's organizations, and delegates from affiliated
o rganizations. These members, together with 12 representatives elected
during the Annual General meeting, formed the Executive Committee and
manage the Council when the Assembly is not in session. The Executive
Committee is organized into six departments: the Church Administration
Department, the Social Services Department, the Lay Training Department,
the Mission Department, the Theological and Ministerial Department,
and the Education (School Management Committee) Department. Chairpersons
of these depar tments together with the chairperson, the vice-chairperson,
the Hon. Secretary, the Hon. Assistant Secretary, the Hon. Treasurer
and the Internal Auditor of the Executive Committee formed the Standing
Committee and plan all Council's business. The Council also employs
a General Secretary, an Associate General Secretary, and several Executive
Secretaries to execute assignments of the Executive Committee and Departments.
Until
December of 1997, the Council has within its organization some 48 churches
and preaching stations, 52 ordained pastors, 55 non-ordained pastors,
more than twenty-six thousand communicants and over 2000 Sunday school
students. The Council operates 25 secondary schools (including 6 related
schools), 32 primary schools, 5 evening schools, 3 kindergartens and
3 nurseries. Some churches also manage their own primary schools and
kindergartens. All in all there are over fifty-seven thousand students
and ab out two thousand six hundred teachers. (For exact figures please
refer to HKCCCC 's Annual Report).
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Common
Doctrine
HKCCCC
is an uniting church consisting mainly churches with Congregational
and Presbyterian traditions, including London Missionary Society, British
Baptist Missionary Society and others, they nevertheless share the same
beliefs:
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Basic
Direction
For the
last forty years, because of circumstantial needs, themes of work of
HKCCCC might appear to have changed from time to time. However, the
basic direction of thought and development remains pretty much within
its main frame of reference. Following t he divine guidance of the Holy
Spirit, HKCCCC embraces "Partnership in Mission," "Joint Action for
Mission," and "Sharing for Mission" which shows the Council's willingness
to share its manpower, financial resources, and vision with membership
churches to achieve its objective of mission and service. The development
of the Council can be described in three stages: Dependence, Independence,
and Interdependence. Regardless of which stage of development the Council
is in, its main goal is always trying to be the most worthy witness
for Christ and to give glory to God.
The Council
is a "three-self" church (self-support, self-governance, and self-propagation)
and will always be so. In the stage of dependence, the church built
its belief on the sufficient grace of God and was prudent in using its
resources. In the stage o f independence, the Council advocated a policy
of simplicity. This means not to spend too much time and resources and
money on matters such as organization, rites, church polities and public
relations. The emphasis is everything for Jesus, that is, to rai se
the quality of work of its employees, to strength the efficiency and
effectiveness of the Council, and to be ready for new involvement in
evangelical work. In the stage of interdependence, the Council is willing
to share the abundant gifts of God with those who are less fortunate.
The Council has been raising money for such causes as preaching good
news to the poor, caring for the weak, and serving the elderly. It also
shares its resources with organizations both in Hong Kong and overseas.
It encourage s its members to practise the spirit of sharing and caring,
and to generously support those projects that eventually lead to self-supporting
and other ground-breaking development.
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Council
Program
At different
times, the Council tries to launch projects that meet the needs of society.
In the early days of its settlement in Hong Kong, the Council emphasized
largely on work of welfare nature, such as setting up automobile services
program, health car e program, nursery, etc. And for years the Council
has been placing its emphasis on "mission and services through education,"
that is, in the training of personal characters of the youth and raising
the quality of education in Hong Kong. In any event, the Council has
contributed greatly to the society of Hong Kong.
In term
of training of laymen and youth of the churches, the Council has been
organizing retreats, training camps, and conferences. In recent years,
the Council has placed special emphasis on the quality of theological
education by supporting theological seminaries and the quality of church
leadership by holding conferences, meditation sessions, discussion groups
for ministers and preachers. The Council also designs an in-service
program for training deacons and church office staff.
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Conclusion
Upon
the return of Hong Kong to China, the Council again becomes part of
the Chinese church. Still believing in the absolute sovereignty and
abundant grace of God, the Council continues to march forward in faith.
The Council also hopes that all members of the Council will unite with
one heart to work for church renewal, to benefit the society of Hong
Kong and to give glory to God.
Complied
by Rev. C.C. Lee (9. 1994) and edited by Rev. S.K. Lee (2. 1998).
Translated
by Mr. Y.Y. Soo (1998).
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