China to build first new churches in 50 years

BEIJING, China — Two new churches are being built in Beijing, the first in more than 50 years. A spokesman for the National Christian Council, the country’s official Protestant denomination, said the communist government is contributing $3.5 million toward construction of the two Protestant sanctuaries, each of which will accommodate 1,500 worshippers. Construction began in December and is scheduled to be completed by this Christmas.

The number of Protestants in the Chinese capital is increasing rapidly, the NCC spokesman said.

Two temples, one Tao and one Buddhist, also are being restored and reopened with the regime’s help to serve members of those religions.

Christianity, Buddhism and other faiths were severely persecuted after the communist capture of Beijing in 1949. Unofficial “house churches,” to which most Chinese Christians belong, are still subject to persecution and harassment. Asia News said that in the past few months, house churches have increasingly been demolished in areas around Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang.

Even so, house churches are growing rapidly. A survey conducted last year by the communist-controlled Religious Affairs Bureau and various leaders of China’s state-controlled Three Self Patriotic Movement found that there are more than 3,000 unregistered house churches in Beijing with a total attendance of 90,000, according to Compass Direct. About 30,000 Protestants attend the eight large registered Three Self Patriotic Movement churches in Beijing, bringing the number of Christians in the city of 13.2 million to 120,000.

Construction of the new churches, in addition to attempts to restore ancient buildings and redistribute the religious population, is part of Beijing’s urban-planning project in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, according to Asia News. “The proposal is a sign of economic and political concern, more than that of religious freedom,” the publication said.

Religion Journal News
Published by Keener Communications Group, March 2004

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