| LOUISVILLE —
As Chinese Christians grapple with a clergy shortage, the Presbyterian
Church (USA) is helping educate future teachers of Chinese ministers.
Three Chinese students are studying in American seminaries,
thanks in part to scholarships offered through the Global Education
and International Leadership Development Office of the Worldwide
Ministries Division here. All hope to be seminary professors in
China.
“Since I came here, I have learned a lot from scholarly
professors and seminarians and sisters and brothers in First Presbyterian
Church in San Anselmo (CA)," said Jie Jiao, a student at
nearby San Francisco Theological Seminary.
Jiao and two other students, Manhong Lin, a student at the Graduate
Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, and Jian-Guo Wang, a student
at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, are interested
in helping Chinese Christians develop a theology that is distinctively
Chinese.
Jiao, a former staff member for the China Christian Council
(CCC), said she hopes to “play a cross-pollinating role
in the reconstruction of theology in China and contribute to Chinese
theological education.”
A deeper theological perspective based on a better understanding
of Chinese culture is sorely needed in China, said Lin, who also
worked at the CCC before coming to the U.S. “Further study
at the doctoral level will enable me to make better contributions
to both theological education and the ecumenical understanding
of the church in the Chinese cultural context,” Lin said.
Wang agrees that developing an indigenous Chinese theology is
crucial for the Chinese church. “The more I experience,
the more I become convinced that the church in China needs to
develop its own identity and its own distinctive way in the sharing
of the gospel with its own people,” he said. |
