Church of Christ in China
The Church of Christ in China was a coalition of churches in mainland China, established in the early half of the twentieth century. After missionaries were expelled from China in the 1950s, it would continue to exist primarily in the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China.
History
The Church of Christ in China held its first general assembly in Shanghai in October 1927 with Cheng Jingyi as its first moderator, serving two terms. It was initially known as the Presbyterian Church of China since it brought together a number of Presbyterian and Reformed churches. However, it was renamed after it invited other church bodies in China to join the union. At the first general assembly in 1927, the following groups joined the union:- American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
- Baptist Missionary Society
- Church of Scotland
- London Missionary Society
- Presbyterian Church in Korea
- Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
- Presbyterian Church in the United States
- Presbyterian Church of England
- Presbyterian Church of Ireland
- Presbyterian Church of New Zealand
- Reformed Church in America
- Reformed Church in the United States
- South Fujian Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
- United Brethren in Christ
- United Church of Canada.
Ecumenical Relations
The establishment of the Church of Christ in China was seen as an extension of the modern ecumenical movement, related to the 1910 World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh. But it also wrestled with different understandings of ecumenism and ecclesiology, which would have lasting effects on questions of church unity in mainland China until the present day.As the last remaining part of the Church of Christ in China still in operation, the Hong Kong Council is a member of the Christian Conference of Asia.