Chinese house church

Chinese house churches are a religious movement of unregistered assemblies of Christians in the People's Republic of China, which operate independently of the government-run Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and China Christian Council (CCC) for Protestant groups and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CCPA) and the Chinese Catholic Bishops Council (CCBC) for Catholics. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (officially zh-cn 中国基督教三自爱国运动委员会 National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China See also Protestantism in China The China Christian Council (zh-cn 中国基督教协会 or CCC was founded in 1980 as an umbrella organization for all The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association ( Chinese: 中国天主教爱国会 Pinyin: Zhōngguó Tiānzhǔjiào Àiguó Huì) abbreviated They are also known as the "Underground" Church or the "Unofficial" Church, although this is somewhat of a misnomer as they are collections of unrelated individual churches rather than a single unified church. They are called "house churches" because as they are not officially registered organizations, they cannot independently own property and hence they meet in private houses, often in secret for fear of arrest or imprisonment.

The Chinese house church movement developed after 1949 as a result of the Communist government policy which requires the registration of all religious organizations. This registration policy requires churches to become part of the TSPM/CCC set-up, which may involve interference in the church's internal affairs either by government officials or by TSPM/CCC officials, who are approved by the Communist Party of China's United Front Work Department. The Communist Party of China ( CPC) ( also known as the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of the The United Front in the People's Republic of China is a Popular front led by the Communist Party of China. During the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976 all Christian worship was forced underground, even the official churches were closed, and the house church movement was solidified as an ongoing phenomenon. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China was a struggle for power within the Communist Party of China that manifested into

Because house churches operate outside government regulations and restrictions, their members and leaders are sometimes harassed by local government officials^[1]. This persecution may take the form of a prison sentence or, more commonly, reeducation through labour. Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual/group by another group Reeducation through labor ( laodong jiaoyang 劳动教养 abbreviated láojiào 劳教 is a system of administrative detentions in the People's Republic Heavy fines also are not uncommon, with personal effects being confiscated in lieu of payment if this is refused or unavailable. House churches have not officially been outlawed, and since the 1990s, there has been cases of increasing official tolerance of house churches in various regions. Most observers believe that the opposition of house churches by government officials arises less from an ideological opposition to religion and support of atheism than out of fears of a center of popular mobilization outside the control of the Communist Party of China. Atheism The Communist Party of China ( CPC) ( also known as the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of the

Protestant house churches are indigenous to mainland China and are usually not under foreign control; some groups welcome help from abroad as long as it does not compromise their independence. This assertion of strictly native support is important in the PRC political discourse, since Christian churches and missionaries have sometimes historically been seen as tools of imperialism. Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude In addition, at least with the Protestant churches there is no central church hierarchy, a fact that is commonly cited as a reason why house churches are seen as less threatening and subject to less overt opposition by the Communist officials.

Chinese house churches have indigenous forms of worship and usually use their own songs. One collection of Chinese house church worship songs, Jiānán Shīxuăn; "Songs from Canaan") has been made into a book, with audio of some of the songs available. Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement.

Chinese Roman Catholic house churches generally recognize the authority of the Pope in contrast to the official Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association which does not. History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association ( Chinese: 中国天主教爱国会 Pinyin: Zhōngguó Tiānzhǔjiào Àiguó Huì) abbreviated The role of Catholic house churches is one of the major barriers to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China. The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent Episcopal see of the Roman Catholic

In the past two decades, a number of house church networks have developed, headquartered mainly in Henan and Zhejiang provinces. Henan ( is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country Zhejiang ( is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. These networks have sent missionaries all over the country and have even started sending them abroad to neighboring states. See also Evangelism, Christianization A Christian mission has been widely defined since the Lausanne Congress of 1974 as that which

In 2008, twenty-one pastors of house churches in Shandong Province have been sent to labour camps, which was the largest sentencing house church leaders in a quarter of a century^[2]. By some estimations, Chinese authorities are trying to restrict activities of house churches before the Beijing Olympics^[2].

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Wu Hao (born 1972 Chinese name 吴皓 is a documentary maker and blogger known as Tian Yi. Religion in China has been characterized by Pluralism since the beginning of Chinese history. The persecution of Christians refers to the Religious persecution of Christians both historically and in the current era Christianity in China is a growing minority religion that comprises Protestants (called 基督教 Jī dū jiào or Christ Religion) Catholics The Back To Jerusalem movement (Chinese传回耶路撒冷运动 is a Christian evangelistic campaign begun in China by Chinese believers to send Born again (disambiguationThe Born Again Movement (BAM or All Ranges Church or Total Scope Church of China is a Christian religious movement Freedom of religion is the freedom of an individual or community in public or private to manifest religion or belief in teaching practice worship and observance Forum 18 is a Norwegian Human rights organization that promotes Religious freedom.

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