History of Baptist Christianity in Sichuan

Last updated

The history of Baptist Christianity in Sichuan (or "West China") [lower-alpha 1] began in 1890 when missionaries began arriving from the United States. Baptist missionaries in Sichuan were organized under the American Baptist Missionary Union, later renamed American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. Missionary activity in China generated controversy among many native Chinese and faced armed opposition during both the Boxer Rebellion and the later Communist movement in China. Although the former did not affect Sichuan so much as some other parts of China, the province was one of the hotbeds of anti-missionary riots throughout its ecclesiastical history. [1]

Contents

Numerous mission properties and native church leaders in Sichuan were respectively destroyed and killed by communists in the mid-1930s. [2] Missionary activity ceased after the communist take over of China in 1949. Under government oppression in the 1950s, Baptist congregations and other Protestant churches across China severed their ties with overseas churches, and their congregations subsequently merged into the Three-Self Patriotic Church. Since 1980, their services have been provided by the China Christian Council.

History

Map of Sichuan showing American Baptist Mission stations: Chengdu (Chengtu), Yazhou (Yachow), Jiading (Kiatingfu), Ningyuan (Ningyuanfu), and Xuzhou (Suifu). American Baptist Mission in Szchuan.png
Map of Sichuan showing American Baptist Mission stations: Chengdu (Chengtu), Yazhou (Yachow), Jiading (Kiatingfu), Ningyuan (Ningyuanfu), and Xuzhou (Suifu).

Baptist Christianity was introduced into Sichuan by the American Baptist Missionary Union (ABMU, belonging to the American Baptist Churches USA). The first missionaries to reach the province were Rev. William M. Upcraft and Rev. George Warner, who sailed in 1889. The journey required many weeks before their arrival in Xuzhou the following year, [3] [4] where they established the mission's first station. [5] Medical work was started by Rev. C. H. Finch in 1891, [6] in the same year Rev. Robert Wellwood and his wife joined the mission. [3]

At the end of 1892, the ABMU was represented by nine missionaries, with medical work, two preaching places, women's classes, a boys' school, a Sunday school and eleven converts. In 1893, twelve new workers joined the mission, and subsequently the opening of a new station in Jiading in 1894. [7] At that time, the number of missionaries connected with the West China Mission was twenty-two. A small church had been gathered at Xuzhou. The remote character of the province and its need of Christian missionary labors lent a romantic and unusual interest to the work of the West China Mission, especially since that was the nearest approach of American Baptists to reaching the people of an unevangelized country, Tibet. [6]

American Baptist church at Yazhou, 1920. Baptist Church at Yachow.png
American Baptist church at Yazhou, 1920.

That same year (1894), Upcraft and H. J. Openshaw traveled to Yazhou and tried to rent some permanent quarters. According to Missionary Cameralogs: West China, "this stirred up opposition and vile placards were posted abusing the foreigners. However, the tide was turned in favor of the missionaries after successfully treating the servant of an official bitten by a snake, they were allowed to stay." [8]

In 1895, a serious outbreak of anti-foreign agitation began in the capital Chengdu, and thence spread throughout the province. The missionaries had no choice but to temporarily leave their posts. Work was resumed after their return in the spring of 1896. By the middle of the year 1900, the Church had 68 converts with some 200 names on the enquirers' roll. The year 1900 was marked by the anti-Christian uprising known as Boxer Rebellion. Although this unrest did not affect Sichuan so much as some other parts of China, missionaries were obliged by consular orders to retire to the coast. During their absence, the local converts defended their faith and carried on all the regular services. Two new stations were opened at Ningyuan and Chengdu in 1905 and 1909 respectively; while Rev. Joseph Taylor and his wife were transferred from Yazhou to Chengdu. [9]

Van Dernan Hall, or the Baptist College at West China Union University, Chengdu, 1920. Van Dernan Hall, Baptist Mission, West China Union University.jpg
Van Dernan Hall, or the Baptist College at West China Union University, Chengdu, 1920.

In 1910, the ABMU changed its name to American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABFMS), [10] and became one of the four founding societies of the West China Union University, together with American Methodist Episcopal Mission (Methodist Episcopal Church), Canadian Methodist Mission (Methodist Church of Canada), and Friends' Foreign Mission Association (British Quakers). [11] Dr. William Reginald Morse helped found a medical school at the university. He later became dean of the medical school and also held positions at the university's Baptist College. [12]

During the 1911 Revolution which overthrew the Qing dynasty, Openshaw took care of the wounded, with his wife as auxiliary. The local Christians later told of Mrs. Openshaw's bravery during the siege of Yazhou, how she would play the organ and sing while bullets whizzed about the house. [13]

David Crockett Graham during a meeting of the Executive Committee of the West China Border Research Society in Chengdu, 1935. David Crockett Graham.png
David Crockett Graham during a meeting of the Executive Committee of the West China Border Research Society in Chengdu, 1935.

In 1919, the ABFMS celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of its West China Mission. [14] In 1920, Rev. A. G. Adams assumed responsibility for the work of the evangelistic field, which had been for several years under the direction of Rev. David Crockett Graham, [15] a polymath Baptist minister who was ordained at the First Baptist Church of Fairport, New York, in 1911, and spent nearly forty years in Sichuan Province, arriving shortly after his ordination. [16] [17] [18] He was also one of the key figures in the discovery of the archaeological site now known as Sanxingdui, when a collection of jade pieces contributed to the Museum of Art, Archaeology and Ethnology at the West China Union University by an English Anglican missionary, Vyvyan Donnithorne, in 1931, drew his attention, subsequently leading to an archaeological excavation in 1934. [19]

By 1913, the American Baptists had 793 church members; [20] and by the end of 1921, 1,263 members. [21]

In 1924, a Swedish American missionary Esther Nelson was sent to Sichuan by the First Swedish Baptist Church of Minneapolis. Between 1924 and 1945, she worked primarily as a nurse and medical educator in various Baptist hospitals. She applied to become a full-time evangelist after the formation of the Baptist General Conference's Foreign Mission Board in 1945. This led her to the city of Huili in southwestern Sichuan at the end of 1947, where she worked until 1950, when foreign missionaries were driven out of China by the newly established communist government. [22]

In 1938, Alfred James Broomhall, an English Baptist missionary, entered China through the China Inland Mission. In 1946, he entered the territory of the Independent Nosu (Nosuland) in southwestern Sichuan, with a team to establish a sustained Christian witness among them. He traveled to Zhaojue (Chaokioh) at first, and then to Xichang (Sichang), which were at the time part of "West" Kham Province. He was only able to live among the Nosu people from 1947 to 1951, and spent his last few months under house arrest before being expelled from China by communist regime; but his team was able to plant seeds that were going to bear fruit in coming decades. [23] [24]

Since 1949

After the communist takeover of China in 1949, Protestant Churches in the country were forced to sever their ties with respective overseas Churches, which then led to the merging of all the denominations into the communist-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Church. [25] The China Christian Council was founded at the third national Christian conference in 1980 to unite and provide services for Protestant churches, formulating Church Order and encouraging theological education. [26] In 2018, the detention of 100 Christians in Sichuan, including their pastor Wang Yi, raised concerns about religious crackdown in China. [27]

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) and Hua Mei International (a non-profit Chinese Christian organization) provided critical relief supplies such as food, blankets and other necessities after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Two CBF field personnel Bill and Michelle Cayard also helped three pastors at a Protestant church in Bazhong with its growing congregation, which was ill-equipped to meet the needs of an increasing number of converts. [28] The Cayards are planters of a congregation in Chengdu known as Thanksgiving Church. This congregation was founded in 2007 with support from the CBF Offering for Global Missions, its membership had increased from 30 in 2007 to 600 in 2017. Pastor and lay leader training programs were carried out under the guidance of the Cayards. The lack of well-trained pastors and church leaders has been a continuing problem in the Church in Sichuan. [29]

Surveys published in 1913

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Sichuan, formerly romanized as Szchuan, Szechuan, or Szechwan; also referred to as "West China".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mianyang</span> Prefecture-level city in Sichuan, Peoples Republic of China

Mianyang is the second largest prefecture-level city of Sichuan province in Southwestern China. Located in north-central Sichuan covering an area of 20,281 square kilometres (7,831 sq mi) consisting of Jiangyou, a county-level city, five counties, and three urban districts. Its total population was 4,868,243 people at the 2020 Chinese census, of whom 2,232,865 live in its built-up area made of three urban districts.

OMF International is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It was founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestant missions in China</span> Christian missions in China

In the early 19th century, Western colonial expansion occurred at the same time as an evangelical revival – the Second Great Awakening – throughout the English-speaking world, leading to more overseas missionary activity. The nineteenth century became known as the Great Century of modern religious missions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West China Union University</span> Private university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China

The West China Union University, also called West China University or Huaxi University, was a private university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. It was the product of the collective efforts of four Protestant, denominational, missionary boards — American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, American Methodist Episcopal Mission, Friends' Foreign Mission Association and Canadian Methodist Mission — and eventually became a division of the West China Educational Union, which was created in 1906. The Church Missionary Society became a partner in the university in 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Cassels</span> Anglican missionary bishop

William Wharton Cassels was an Anglican missionary bishop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in Sichuan</span> History of Christianity in Sichuan province

Christianity is a minority religion in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan. The Eastern Lipo, Kadu people and A-Hmao are ethnic groups present in the province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Crockett Graham</span> American polymath (1884 – 1961)

David Crockett Graham was a polymath American Baptist minister and missionary, educator, author, archaeologist, anthropologist, naturalist and field collector in the Province of Sichuan during the Chinese Republican Era, from 1911 to 1948. He was a 32nd degree Mason, and a past master of the Szechwan Lodge No. 112. From 1921 to 1942, Graham collected and sent to the Smithsonian Institution nearly 400,000 zoological specimens, including more than 230 new species and 9 new genera, of which 29 were named after him. From 1932 to 1942 he was curator of the Museum of Art, Archaeology and Ethnology at the West China Union University, which still stands as part of Sichuan University, in Chengdu. There, he taught comparative religions at the Theological College, and archaeology and anthropology at the University. He wrote extensively and spent his retirement years, from 1950 to 1961, in Englewood, Colorado compiling his writings and research into three books that were published by the Smithsonian Institution. A fourth manuscript lay in the Whitman College and Northwest Archives until it was discovered by Hartmut Walravens, who edited it and published it in 2018. McKhann refers to Graham as "One of a handful of Western missionaries whose scientific work was respected by other scientists—and of even fewer scientists whose religious work was respected by other missionaries."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Torrance</span> Scottish missionary to China

Thomas Torrance (1871–1959) was a Scottish Presbyterian minister and Protestant missionary to Sichuan, western China. He was first sent there by the China Inland Mission (CIM), and later by The American Bible Society. He married Annie Elizabeth Sharp (1883–1980) of the CIM in 1911. He was the father of the 20th century theologian, Thomas F. Torrance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gospel Church, Mianyang</span> Church in Sichuan, China

Gospel Church is a Protestant church building situated on Jiefang Street in Fucheng District, Mianyang. It was first built in 1895, or 1885 according to Annals of Religion in Mianyang, by Alfred Arthur Phillips and Gertrude Emma Wells, missionaries of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) under the jurisdiction of the Church of England. The church has been subjected to the control of the communist-established 'Three-Self Patriotic Church' since 1954. It was rebuilt in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St John's Church, Chengdu</span> Church in Sichuan, China

St John's Church, today known as Shangxiang Christian Church, is a Protestant church situated on Shangxiang Street in the city of Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Founded in 1909, the church had been the seat of the Anglican Bishop of West Szechwan, practically making it the cathedral of this bishopric. It has been subjected to the control of the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Church since 1954.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Anglicanism in Sichuan</span> History and status of the Anglican Church in Sichuan

The history of Anglicanism in Sichuan began in 1887 when Anglican missionaries working with the China Inland Mission began to arrive from the United Kingdom. These were later joined by missionaries from the Church Missionary Society and Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society. Or according to Annals of Religion in Mianyang, in 1885, a small mission church was already founded in Mianyang by Alfred Arthur Phillips and Gertrude Emma Wells of the Church Missionary Society. Missionaries built churches, founded schools, and distributed Chinese translations of Anglican religious texts. These efforts were relatively successful and Anglicanism grew to become one of the two largest denominations of Protestant Christianity in the province, alongside Methodism.

Holy Cross Church is a Protestant church situated on Tianlong Road in Wanzhou District, Chongqing. It was founded in 1923 by an American Lutheran missionary, Rev George Oliver Lillegard (1888–1965). It has been subjected to the control of the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Church since 1954.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestantism in Sichuan</span> History and status of Protestantism in Sichuan

The Protestant mission began in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan in 1877, when premises were rented by the China Inland Mission in Chungking. However, compared with Catholicism, which had been spread throughout the province for over two centuries at the time, it grew rather slowly, it was not until the late 1980s that Protestantism experienced rapid growth. The two largest denominations in the province before 1950 were Anglicanism and Methodism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in Sichuan</span> History and status of the Catholic Church in Sichuan

The presence of the Catholic Church in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan and city of Chongqing dates back to 1640, when two missionaries, Lodovico Buglio and Gabriel de Magalhães, through Jesuit missions in China, entered the province and spent much of the 1640s evangelizing in Chengdu and its surrounding areas.

The history of Methodism in Sichuan began in 1882 when missionaries began to arrive from the United States. Methodists founded or helped found several colleges, schools, and hospitals to aid in modernization and conversion efforts. Later, American Methodists were joined by missionaries from Canada. Methodism grew to become one of the two largest denominations of Protestant Christianity in the province by 1922, along with Anglicanism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quakerism in Sichuan</span> History and implantation of Quakerism in Sichuan

The history of Quakerism in Sichuan began in 1887 when missionaries began to arrive from the United Kingdom. Missionaries founded schools and established meeting groups. Nonetheless, missionary activity in China generated controversy among many native Chinese and faced armed opposition during both the Boxer Rebellion and the later Chinese Communist Revolution. Although the former did not affect Sichuan so much as some other parts of China, the province was one of the hotbeds of anti-missionary riots throughout its ecclesiastical history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sï-Shen-Tsï Methodist Church</span> Church in Sichuan, China

Sï-Shen-Tsï Methodist Church is a Protestant church situated on Sishengci North Street in the city of Chengdu, Sichuan Province. It is the first church in Chengdu built by the Canadian Methodist Mission. It has been subjected to the control of the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Church since 1954.

<i>The West China Missionary News</i> Monthly Protestant news magazine published in Sichuan, West China

The West China Missionary News (WCMN) was a monthly news magazine published in Chengdu (Chengtu) from 1899 to 1943 by the West China Missions Advisory Board, and printed by Canadian Methodist Mission Press. It was aimed at Protestant missionaries working in Sichuan, and was the first and longest-running English-language newspaper in that province.

The history of Adventism in Sichuan began in 1914 when American and Chinese missionaries arrived in Chongqing. Adventist missionaries in Sichuan were organized under the Szechwan Mission, later split into the East Szechwan, West Szechwan, and Tibetan Missions. Missionary activity in China generated controversy among many native Chinese and faced opposition from popular riots and the later Communist movement in China. Numerous mission properties and native Church leaders in Sichuan were respectively destroyed and killed by communists in the mid-1930s. Missionary activity ceased after the communist take over of China in 1949. Under government oppression in the 1950s, Adventist congregations and other Protestant Churches across China severed their ties with overseas Churches, and their congregations subsequently merged into the Three-Self Patriotic Church. Since 1980, their services have been provided by the China Christian Council.

References

  1. ↑ Lü 1976, p. 282.
  2. ↑ Plewman 1936, pp. 11–18.
  3. 1 2 ABFMS 1920, p. 18.
  4. ↑ Lü 1976, p. 269.
  5. ↑ Merriam 1894, p. 21.
  6. 1 2 Merriam 1894, p. 22.
  7. ↑ ABFMS 1920, pp. 18–19.
  8. ↑ ABFMS 1920, pp. 19–20.
  9. ↑ ABFMS 1920, pp. 20–21.
  10. ↑ Tiedemann, R. G. (1 July 2016). Reference Guide to Christian Missionary Societies in China: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century. Milton Park: Routledge. p. 112. ISBN   9781315497310.
  11. ↑ "West China Union University". library.vicu.utoronto.ca . Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Morse Family Papers: William Reginald and Anne Crosse Morse". archives.yale.edu . Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  13. ↑ ABFMS 1920, p. 22.
  14. ↑ ABFMS 1920, p. 23.
  15. ↑ ABFMS 1920, p. 32.
  16. ↑ Flower, John (2002). "D.C. Graham's Portrait of Belief in Sichuan". sichuanvillage.org. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  17. ↑ "David Crockett Graham - Diary no. 10, July 1930 - December 1930". transcription.si.edu . Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  18. ↑ "David Crockett Graham Papers, 1923-1936". siarchives.si.edu . Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  19. ↑ Xu, Jay (2011). "Lithic Artifacts from Yueliangwan: Research Notes on an Early Discovery at the Sanxingdui Site". In Silbergeld, Jerome; Ching, Dora C. Y.; Smith, Judith G.; Merck, Alfreda (eds.). Bridges to Heaven: Essays on East Asian Art in Honor of Professor Wen C. Fong, Volume I. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN   978-0-691-15298-1.
  20. ↑ Salquist, Anna M. (1914). "Statistical Report: West China Baptist Mission, Year 1913" (PDF). Report of the West China Baptist Conference: Tenth Annual Conference: 13. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  21. ↑ Stauffer 1922, p. 228.
  22. ↑ Piper, Noël (November 17, 2018). "She Sailed with Christ to China: Esther Nelson (1890–1974)". desiringgod.org. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  23. ↑ Roberts, Neel (2020). "A. J. Broomhall: A Missiological Practitioner". Mission Round Table. 15 (1): 26–33. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Pioneering in Nosuland by A. J. Broomhall". omf.org . May 22, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  25. ↑ Ferris, Helen (1956). The Christian Church in Communist China, to 1952. Montgomery, AL: Air Force Personnel and Training Research Center. p. 8. OCLC   5542137.
  26. ↑ Bays, Daniel H. (2012). A New History of Christianity in China. Chichester, West Sussex; Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 189. ISBN   9781405159548.
  27. ↑ Berlinger, Joshua (17 December 2018). "Detention of 100 Christians raises concerns about religious crackdown in China". edition.cnn.com . Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  28. ↑ Davis, Carla Wynn (2009). "God's Work in Sichuan" (PDF). Florida Fellowship News. Lakeland, FL. pp. 1 & 3. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  29. ↑ Tommey, Blake (February 15, 2017). "Ministers in high demand in China, where Christianity has outpaced Communism". Baptist News Global . Jacksonville, FL. Retrieved November 13, 2023.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.