The national symposium was more than a celebration. It instructed Christian pastors to hail in their sermons the recent Third Plenary Session of the CCP Central Committee.
by Wang Zhipeng
The Three-Self Church, the organization created by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to control all Protestants in China, was founded by the Beijing regime per the initiative of Chairman Mao in 1954.
On August 6, 2024, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement’s National Committee of the Protestant Churches in China commemorated the Three-Self’s 70th anniversary with a national symposium in Shanghai. Key bureaucrats from regional Three-Self churches and universities, leaders of the government-controlled YMCA and YWCA, and academic scholars convened. Officials from both national and Shanghai’s United Front Work Departments and the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau also attended. The symposium was an opportunity not only to celebrate the anniversary but to instruct religious leaders to preach the documents of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP held last July as part of their sermons and Bible studies.
At 9 a.m., the meeting opened with the solemn national anthem. Rev. Wu Wei, head of the China Christian Council, led the meeting and discussed the “historical” significance of establishing the Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee in 1954. He emphasized its role in ensuring “the strict alignment of Christianity with socialist society and the CCP.” Celebrating its 70th anniversary, Wu called for continuing this legacy, using the Three-Self Patriotic Organization as a tool to further integrate Christianity into China’s socialist framework.
In the meeting, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP was also presented. “A primary task today in Three-Self churches is to study and implement this Session’s spirit and align to its message,” Pastor Wu said. He stressed the need to support the core CCP principles and spread enthusiasm for the Party in all Christian communities.
Wang Jue, from Shanghai’s United Front Work Department and the Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, praised the opening of the conference in Shanghai, “a model of communism,” and expressed the hope that Three-Self churches will reinforce the unique “red” character of the city.
Reverend Xu Xiaohong, head of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, gave a speech titled “The Leading Role of the Three-Self Organizations in Advancing the Sinicization of Christianity.” He reflected on their 70-year history, noting the Three Self’s steadfast patriotism, exploration of paths suitable for a socialist society, and indefectible obedience to the CCP, its Central Committee, and President Xi Jinping.
Xu said that the “Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization” from the committee’s Third Plenary Session also emphasized the need for advancing the Sinicization of religion and “a stricter legal governance of religious affairs in our country.” Pastor Xu highlighted key steps for the journey ahead: improving political stance, embracing direction towards Sinicization, using sermons to make devotees familiar with the main documents by the Central Committee and President Xi Jinping.
Pastor Xu Yulan, Chairman of the Shanghai Christian Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee, Pastor Wu Weiqing, Chairman of the Beijing Christian Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee, Pastor Guo Yun, President of the Guangdong Christian Association, Pastor Bao Jiayuan, former Deputy Secretary-General of the China Christian Council, Professor Xu Yihua of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, and Zhang Zhongxin, a student of Jinling Union Theological Seminary, and others also spoke. They reviewed the 70-year commitment of the Christian Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee to both patriotism and the CCP, and offered perspectives from different regional committees.
Officials from the relevant departments of the Central United Front Work Department praised the 70th anniversary meeting and said that the Three Self Church exists to make sure that Christians embrace “socialist values,” continue the process of Sinicization, and engage in international exchanges with co-religionists abroad presenting the “Chinese narrative” and persuading them that Western charges that there is no religious liberty in China are false.
A final document asked pastors to make sure that their congregations “align with Xi Jinping’s ideology, implement the outcomes of recent Party sessions, and contribute to the nation-building efforts centered around the CCP led by Xi Jinping.”
Following the meeting, attendees paid a visit to the house-museum of Three Self Church’s co-founder Y.T. Wu, and explored the Memorial Hall of the League of Left-Wing Writers of China as part of a “patriotic educational trip.”
