Beijing to build two new Christian churches

People's Daily ^ | February 03, 2004

[Between the Lines]

For the first time in more than half a century, two Christian churches will be built in the capital city.

At the same time, plans to renovate two ancient temples for Buddhist and Taoist religious rites are in the works.

It is the first time churches are going up in the city since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

One of them will be located in Chaoyang District, the other in Fengtai District in southwestern Beijing, said Hou Xiaoming, an official with the Beijing Religious Bureau.

He said construction started in mid-December. Both churches are 1,500 square metres each and will be finished by Christmas.

The projects follow a proposal put forward by Na Cang, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Beijing Committee, the city's top advisory body.

Na said during the frist session of the 10th CPPCC Beijing Committee early last year that the city seriously lacks ritual places and the current distribution of religious sites is unbalanced.

He pointed out that Beijing has only five temples for Buddhist rituals, and only one of them - the Lama Temple - performs the rites of Tibetan Buddhism or Lamaism.

Na said thousands of lamaists and visitors visit the Lama Temple every day during Spring Festival, overcrowding the space and creating a high risk of accidents.

Other than the two churches under construction, the Tianning Temple, one of the oldest temples in the capital, built during the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534), will get a facelift and will be opened to Buddhist rites, said Hou.

And the 1,371-year-old Huoshen Temple will also start holding Taoist rituals after restoration work is completed, Hou said.

Na's proposal was one of the more than 1,200 motions put forward by CPPCC members.

Non-Communist parties such as the China Democratic League and the Jiu San Society have also put forward proposals.

"More than 70 per cent of the proposals have been adopted or partly accepted by government organs in decision making," said Ren Yingying, vice-director of the office which handles proposals under the CPPCC Beijing Committee.

Ren said criticism and suggestions of CPPCC members are welcomed by government organs.

The municipal Public Security Bureau even opened a "through train" for members to submit their opinions through the Internet.

The second session of the 10th CPPCC Beijing Committee is scheduled to be held between February 15 and 19 before the national CPPCC session in March.

So far, the committee has received nearly 100 proposals, said Ren.

She said the proposals covered a wide range of issues, including regional economic development, traffic, health care, environmental protection, social security, employment and social credibility.

"The development of the non-State economy is one of the key issues for the session this year, and most of the democratic parties have put forward special proposals on the topic," said Ren.

By pointing out social problems, conveying public complaints and submitting suggestions, the CPPCC Beijing Committee, a watchdog over the city government, is playing a big role in decision making, Ren added.

[george wythe]

I wonder what the requirements are for worshippers who want to join this church.

Do future worshippers have to believe that Jesus was a communist? Or will it be enough to believe that Jesus was a leftist liberal?

[My2Cents]

Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power
Aikman, David

You won't hear about it from Dan Rather or the New York Times, but there's a new revolutionary movement sweeping China. This movement could, within just a few years, transform China and alter the political alliances and balances of the entire world. It's called Christianity.

Christianity, explains David Aikman in Jesus in Beijing, is growing so fast that by 2050 or even earlier, China could be one of the largest Christian nations in the world. Nor is Christianity's growth unanimously resisted by China's authoritarian top brass. Aikman, Time magazine's former bureau chief in Beijing, reveals that even top Chinese officials -- including former President Jiang Zemin -- have identified Christianity as the secret of the West's success, and want to bring that success to China.

Those officials, of course, want to bring Christianity's economic and social benefits to China, without allowing it to become in any real sense a Christian nation. But Jesus in Beijing provides provocative evidence that those officials may be powerless to halt Christianity's spread, and that both Protestant and Catholic groups are flowering today despite the continuing threat of persecution. Aikman traverses China to interview rank-and-file Chinese Christians and their leaders, establishing beyond any doubt that Christianity is already growing in numbers far beyond the minuscule figures recognized by Chinese officialdom -- and that with those numbers goes influence. He also places Christianity's recent growth in context by recounting absorbing and revealing facts about how Christianity began in China many centuries ago, the bloody anti-Christian persecutions led by the Communists and others, and how Christianity was revived underground in the Communist regime by men and women who were unafraid to risk their lives for their faith.

David Aikman demonstrates that what is happening in China today is what happened to the Roman Empire nearly two thousand years ago -- nothing less than the Christianization of one of the greatest nations in the world. The results could change the face of geopolitics forever. A few of the startling revelations of Jesus in Beijing:

America's greatest potential ally against radical Islam: a Christianized China

Why so many Chinese, even at the highest levels of government, believe that Christianity was the cause of the rise of the West -- and that it could do the same for China

Why fierce anti-Christian persecution and covert government encouragement of Christianity exist side by side in China

How the Christian underground has won over key members of the Chinese Communist Party

China's unregistered house churches: how they preserved Christianity and helped it grow even during the darkest days of the Cultural Revolution

How Christianity could help China evolve into a stable democracy

The remarkable doctrinal accords Chinese Christians have developed in order to maintain unity in the face of persecution

Why, despite signs of an official thaw towards Christians, the harsh punishments given to practitioners of Falungong meditation techniques boded ill for the safety of Christians in China

How a Christian China could transform not only global Christendom, but long-standing international political alignments

[maestro]

ping

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[NewLand]

Praise The Lord BUMP!