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Pastors and theologians respond to opportunities and challenges in new study on explosive growth from Hong Kong immigration.
For many Hong Kong immigrants to Britain, a church is their first point of connection.
Chinese pastors in the UK report their congregations have doubled or tripled in size. One church in Manchester has multiplied from less than 200 attendees to 1,200 due to the recent influx of immigrants from Hong Kong.
The impact of all these worshipers is shown in a new report on Chinese Christianity in Britain, the first systematic study of its kind. Led by Yinxuan Huang, a research fellow at London School of Theology (LST), its findings were released October 8 at a seminary symposium.
The study concluded that Chinese non-Christian immigrants are open to Christianity and ready to hear the gospel. But its data also suggests several obstacles to faith remain.
Though they are slowly becoming more outward-looking, Chinese churches have long been insular. And if Chinese Christians don’t mobilize fast enough, they risk missing a key evangelism window, as the study found British-born Chinese to be less receptive to the faith.
“The study is correct to say that children and youth ministries [in Chinese churches] are booming,” said Alexander Chow, a Chinese American lecturer in theology and World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh.
“But what happens beyond that? That’s quite a critical question, not only for British-born Chinese but for the 1.5-generation Hong Kong migrant now.”
Church growth spurt
Billed as the “largest study of its kind in Europe,” the Bible and the Chinese Community in Britain (BCCB) research project is a joint initiative between LST and the British and Foreign Bible Society.
It seeks to develop an “expansive understanding” of the Chinese Christian community’s ...
from Christianity Today Magazine
Umn ministry
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