A Protestant church in communist China
Subtitle: Moore Memorial Church Shanghai, 1949-1989
By: John Craig William Keating
Publisher: Lehigh University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Bethlehem
Language: eng
Number of pages: 303
ISBN-13: 9781611460902; 9781611460919
Copyright date: 2010
Subjects: Church and state; Protestant churches; Moore Memorial Church (Shanghai, China); History
Description: Freedom of religious belief is guaranteed under the constitution of the People's Republic of China, but the degree to which this freedom is able to be exercised remains a highly controversial issue. Much scholarly attention has been given to persecuted underground groups such as Falungong, but one area that remains largely unexplored is the relationship between officially registered churches and the communist government. This study investigates the history of one such official church, Moore Memorial Church in Shanghai. This church was founded by American Methodist missionaries. By the time of the 1949 revolution, it was the largest Protestant church in East Asia, running seven day a week programs. As a case study of one individual church, operating from an historical (rather than theological) perspective, this study examines the experience of people at this church against the backdrop of the turbulent politics of the Mao and Deng eras.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p.         ) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: The pre-communist era (1887-1949); title: Adjusting to the new regime (1949-51); title: The call to re-align (1950-58); title: A church under pressure (1958-66); title: A church closed (1966-79); title: Re-opening (1979-89); title: The church today (1989- ); title: Conclusions.