Three-Self Patriotic Movement

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The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (officially 中国基督教三自爱国运动委员会, China Christian Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee; colloquially 三自教会, the Three-Self Church) and the China Christian Council (中国基督教协会) are two pro-government ("patriotic") Christian organizations in the People's Republic of China. These together form the only government-sanctioned ("registered") Protestant church in mainland China. They are usually referred to as the 'two associations' (两会). There are large numbers of house churches in China which are outside of the registered organizations.

1 History
2 Origin of the Three-Self principles
3 References
4 See also
5 External link

[edit] History

In 1951, a Cantonese Christian named Y. T. Wu (吴耀宗, 1893-1979) initiated the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, which promoted a strategy of 'self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation' in order to remove foreign influences from the Chinese churches. This was to assure the communist government that the churches would be patriotic to the newly-established People's Republic of China. The strange-sounding name 'Three-Self' is a characteristically Chinese way of abbreviating 'self-governance, self-support, self-propagation' (自治、自养、自传). The movement began formally in 1954.

From 1966 to 1976 the Cultural Revolution stopped the expression of religious life for Christians in China. In 1979 the church was restored, and in 1980 the China Christian Council was formed. Through the council, the registered Protestant church participates in the World Council of Churches.

The two associations claim that Christianity in China is 'post-denominational': Protestant denominations prevalent in other parts of the world have no place in China. Christians are said to congregate on Sunday each week in service, implementing the principle of mutual respect. The public representation of the two associations is usually carried out by Bishop K. H. Ting (丁光訓, 1915-), an Anglican (or post-Anglican) bishop.

[edit] Origin of the Three-Self principles

The three principles of self-governance, self-support (i.e., financial support) and self-propagation (i.e., indigenous missionary work) were first put forward by the Henry Venn the younger, General Secretary of the English Church Missionary Society in 1841.