Holy Dormition Church in Beijing
The third goal for my journey through China was to understand better the state of the Christian church in China. Part of that goal was to find Orthodox Christians.
Kallistos Ware in his book The Orthodox Way provides a list of how many Orthodox Christians there are in different nations of the world. His entry for China is curious.
10,000-30,000(?)
Well that is strange. Why do we not know with any certainty? I asked the priest at St Matthew the Apostle Orthodox Church here in Baton Rouge about this. Interestingly he also has wondered about this figure. Why the question mark? He did not have any information about Orthodox Christians in China and could not offer any leads.
From “Church of China” at OrthodoxWiki:
Several Orthodox congregations, mainly of elderly individuals, continue to meet in Beijing and northeast China (including Heilongjiang), with, apparently, the tacit consent of the government. As of 2005 there was one priest; however, a number of Chinese nationals are currently studying in Orthodox seminaries in Russia, with the intent of returning to China to serve in priestly ministry.
Although there were not many Orthodox Christians in China to begin with the Cultural Revolution “destroyed the young Chinese Orthodox Church almost totally”.
On several occasions I asked my Chinese Christian friends about this. None of them had any knowledge of Orthodox Christian churches in Beijing. However they did report that they knew of some that were related to people of Russian descent particularly in northern China such as in Heilongjiang. It was not clear if they meant these are Russian people living in China or Chinese citizens with Russian ancestry.
The bottom line is this. I could not find or meet any Orthodox Christians during my journey through China. And my Chinese Christian friends did not seem to know much if anything either.
Let me cut to the chase. This surprises me. Why? Because I think Orthodox Christianity might be well suited to the Chinese people and their culture.
Before I elaborate yes that is a problematic statement. Because it implies that Orthodox Christianity fits some cultures better than others.
Let me mention a few reasons I think this.
- Importance of tradition in Chinese culture ~ tradition in Orthodox Christianity.
- Importance of ancestors ~ (similar to although not the same as) reverence for the saints.
- One of the difficulties that Christianity faces in China is the perception that it is “Western”. Orthodox Christianity is not Western. This does not entirely solve the problem because the Chinese government would still be concerned about the extent to which other nations – especially Russia – might attempt to influence China through Orthodoxy.
- An important principle of Orthodox missiology is to form local churches that reflect the local people and their culture.
- An important principle of Orthodox theology is the unity of heaven and earth – that we live in a “one story universe”. When I brought up this idea my Chinese friends in Shanghai said Chinese tradition holds to the same view. Western Christianity tends to emphasize more of a break(?) between heaven and earth.
These are preliminary thoughts that need to be developed more. But often during my journey through China I thought “the more I understand Chinese people and Chinese culture the more it seems that Orthodox Christianity should be thriving here”.
Addendum:
Well shucks. Turns out I was in Beijing when special celebrations took place at Holy Dormitian Church of Beijing on May 18 2010. Unfortunately I did not come across the Orthodoxy in China website until after returning to the United States. So one can find Orthodox Christians in Beijing and other cities. But most often in association with the Russian embassy.
