The first time Christianity came into China was in 635AD, arriving as a Nestorian Church, but it survived only briefly. In the 1800s, Christianity reentered China from the West, but unfortunately this religion was linked with colonialism. Later, in order to break away from the old image of "foreign religion", Chinese Protestant Christians initiated the Three-Self Patriotic Movement in 1950, and set up the National Committee of Three-Self Patriotic Movement of Protestant Churches in China. The Three-Self Patriotic Movement has achieved much. Churches in China have realized the principles of self-governance, self-support and self-propagation. In Chinese we deem this moving from "Three-Selves to Three-Wells").
Under the guidance of Three-Self principles, Chinese churches have entered into a post-denominational period: institutional Protestant denominations do not exist any longer. In 1958, unified worship services were initiated. In the spirit of mutual respect, Christians with different faiths and liturgical backgrounds now worship God together. From 1966 to 1976, under the influence of ultra-leftist thought during the Culture Revolution, Christian churches were closed. In 1979 they began reopening, and in 1980 the China Christian Council (CCC) was established. From that time onward both the national church organizations, the CCC and the TSPM, have complemented each other and built up the body of Christ together.
To date, there are 16 million believers in China, more than 55 thousand churches and meeting points, approximately 2,700 pastors (associate pastors included), 27 thousand pastoral personnel (pastors, associate pastors, elders and preachers), 18 seminaries and Bible schools, and several training centers.
There are several churches within Beijing, including the Eastern Church (Wangfujing Catholic Church), Western Church (Xizhimen Church), Southern Church (Xuanwumen Catholic Church), Northern Church (Xishiku Catholic Church), St. Michael's Church, Nangangzi Church, Pingfang Church and Dongguantou Church. There are also many miscelaneous churches located in Beijing's suburbs.
(www.chineseprotestantchurch.org, china.org.cn August 27, 2007)
