2017-2018 Grant in Aid of Research

Theological Education in the Mission Field: Analysis of the Impact of Chinese Adventist Seminary on Church Leadership Renewal, Church Organization and Urban Mission in China

Gustavo Emanoel Pacheco Portes

Seventh-day Adventism had flourished in mainland China during the first half of 20th century. After the communist take-over event (1949), Seventh-day Adventism, along with all other Christian faiths, became a prohibited religion in the country. During this period, foreign missionaries were expelled from the country, national pastors and leaders were forced to renounce the faith or endure imprisonment, and many properties of the church were permanently confiscated. Later on, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (3PM) – the governmental department responsible for religious control – aimed to provide certain levels of religious liberty, although limited and controlled. The 3PM still rules over religion in the country up to the present by strictly attaching the self-governing, self-proclaming and self-sustaining principles designed by Rufus Anderson and Henry Venn (early 19th c.) to all Christian denominations, thus forbidding any kind of formal church organization that goes beyond a single independent church congregation. After signals of a slowly opening of the country to the international scenario, the Chinese Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventists (CHUM)  implemented a pioneer seminary. Nonetheless, the implications and impact of this pioneer training center is yet to be assessed and measured. Therefore, considering the potential of this theological center to Adventist church development and growth in the country, it is proper to investigate what has been the the impact of the Chinese Adventist Seminary (CAS) to leadership renewal, church organization structure and urban mission in mainland China.