Being a Chinese Christian in the UK: a personal reflection

Yu Wai Chen In this article, I shall describe what it is like to be a Chinese Christian(1) in the UK. By Chinese, I refer to those who have significant attachment to the Chinese culture and community, and not to their nationality or ethnicity. Just like all other Christians, a Chinese Christians religious experience is largely centred on their own local Chinese church, if there is one. It is important to understand the nature of Chinese churches in order to grasp the meaning of being a Chinese Christian in the UK. To many, the church is their family. In May 2007, the Cambridge Chinese Christian Church (CCCC) (2) celebrated its tenth anniversary. The CCCC has 200 registered members and is considered to be a medium-sized Chinese church in the UK. It is enlightening to briefly review the history and development of this church. While it is impossible to make generalisations, the CCCC is a good representative example of how a Chinese church came into existence and how it operates. Brief history of a Chinese Church Many Chinese churches in the UK started out as Christian student groups in higher education institutes, usually universities. Established in the 70s, the Cambridge Chinese Christian Fellowship (CCCF) has a much longer history than the CCCC. Its members were Chinese Christian students of Cambridge University, mainly from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. More than twenty years ago, these students felt the urge to reach out to local Chinese people who were somewhat out of touch with English parish churches because of their deficiency in English and the cultural barrier. Despite settling here, some of the early Chinese immigrants were inclined to preserve their original way of life as much as possible and reluctant to accept Westerners. In 1994, the CCCF gathered a small group of local Chinese Christians and began to hold a weekly Sunday service under the roof of the Eden Chapel in Cambridge (3), with a mission to preach the Christian gospel to the local Chinese community. In 1997, the CCCC was established serving mainly students and local Chinese who speak Cantonese, the dialect spoken mainly by people from Hong Kong and Canton, China. Within two years a Mandarin-speaking congregation was beginning to grow and soon it proved necessary to provide a separate service to cater for this group. In 2000, the CCCC moved to St Columbas Church (4) in Cambridge city centre. As the congregation continued to grow, there was a need to provide an English service for the second generation and young professionals who were more comfortable with English. At present, the CCCC is a tri-lingual Church with three congregations living in parallel. In addition to Sunday service, there are more than twenty other meetings in the form of Bible study groups or fellowships to promote social and religious interaction among people of similar background. The development of many of todays Chinese churches in the UK follows a similar pattern and so they tend to build up in cities where there are universities and where Chinese student populations are high. For example, there is no Chinese church in Peterborough probably because of its lack of a university. In the whole of the UK there are about 70 Chinese

churches (5). Among these many are independent and without affiliation. A number of churches are associated with the Chinese Overseas Christian Mission (COCM) (6). Denominations like the Baptist, Methodist, Alliance (Christian and Missionary Alliance), Lutheran, etc, also planted churches in major cities. In London alone, there are more than twenty Chinese Christian congregations. Theology, tradition and culture The CCCC is an interdenominational church. However, throughout its history, the CCCC has strongly favoured the Baptist tradition. The church accepts the Christian faith as set forth in the Bible and as summarised in the Apostles Creed (7). The doctrinal basis of the church is the fundamental truths of Christianity including: the sovereignty of the Trinity, of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit; that humankind is sinful in nature and that the only means of restoring a relationship with God is to confess their sins, repent and accept Jesus Christ, who was crucified and has risen from the dead, as saviour. The Holy Spirit resides in the believers, enlightens and provides guidance. The mission of the church is the Great Commission as set out by Jesus: to spread the gospel to all nations, to baptise believers and to build up Christians (Matthew 28:19, 20, The Bible). The CCCC Sunday service follows a rather liberal format which is largely in common with the practice of many Christian churches. It consists of these conventional elements of worship: hymns, prayer, reading the Apostles Creed, choir anthem, offering, Bible reading and sermon. Once every month, the Sunday service incorporates the Holy Communion. As discussed above, the theology, ritual and traditions in an average Chinese Christian church closely resemble those of any Protestant church, only everything is translated into Chinese. The church also has a social aspect that is more reflective of the Chinese culture: e.g. special celebration events during important festivals like mid-Autumn festival and Chinese New Year. Congregation and language From whatever background a Chinese church is established, its primary concerns for the communities it serves are two fold: to support and provide pastoral care for its congregation and to preach Christianity to its local Chinese community. Where a Chinese church has a close link with student groups, a major ministry is to support these students during their studies. This is characteristic of many Chinese churches in the UK, as overseas students usually have a big emotional need for care and support. For the past six to seven years, the UK has seen a substantial increase in the number of students from China, mainly from the Peoples Republic of China, whereas ten years ago most Chinese churches in the UK were dominated by Cantonese-speaking congregations. Many Chinese churches have acknowledged this dramatic change in the UK Chinese population and responded by introducing Mandarin-speaking church activities. As individuals, many Chinese Christians also share in these ministries of the Chinese churches. Supporting newcomers to the local Chinese communities, for work, for study or for settlement, has become an integral part of a Chinese Christians daily life. In the CCCC, the two Chinese congregations have different programmes but they worship and meet under one roof. They interact with each other via joint meetings and services, as well as social functions such as feasts and outings.

Every Christian family that immigrates to the UK has to make a decision whether to attach themselves to a Chinese church where they can be more comfortable in communication or to join a local English church where they can integrate better with society. The outcome of this decision is usually determined by the impression the younger generation have of the local Chinese church. Among singles there is more flexibility and there are many who find themselves at home in English churches. Roles in UK society Chinese churches in the UK have not been playing a very active role in relation to social concerns. The Chinese communities in the UK have always been quiet and a bit isolated. Many Chinese Christians keep their voices low when facing controversial social issues, especially anything involving politics. This attitude may be deeply rooted in the Chinese culture. As a result, one rarely finds Chinese churches voicing their stand or views on social issues. However, many Chinese Christians do have concerns about the society in which they live and fulfil their responsibilities by taking part in events as individuals. On a local scale, Chinese Christians see the social care of Chinese people within their neighbourhood as one of their missions. Social services are supplied where possible to fellow Chinese people in need. For example, at a personal level some people voluntarily offer Chinese interpretation for medical visits. Some churches offer visitation to illegal immigrants in refugee camps (e.g. the pastor of the CCCC pays occasional visits to the Oakington Detention Centre). During Christmas, the CCCC sends carol singing teams to wards in Addenbrookes hospital and also to care homes around Cambridge. The cultural background It must be emphasised that this personal account is written from the point of view of a Hong Kong Chinese Christian. Because of the link with colonial Britain, Christianity was introduced into Hong Kong very early and without any restriction. The people of Hong Kong enjoy high degrees of religious freedom. The Christian community accounts for about 4% of its total population of 7 million (8). All major Christian denominations are well represented. Christian influences on the society are immense. Some of the best schools are run by the Christian churches; two of the eight universities have Christian backgrounds; and many of the government officials are Christians. A Christian in Hong Kong would live a very similar life to a Chinese Christian in the UK. Their faith is identical and they have very similar styles of worship, group meetings and activities. One major difference may be that in Hong Kong one is spoiled for choice as there are churches of every flavour, from orthodox to liberal; whereas in the UK, usually there is only one Chinese church per city, except for London and Manchester. The sizes (in terms of membership) of Chinese churches in the UK are on average smaller than an average-sized church in Hong Kong. There are two consequences. First, one can have a more intimate relationship with the church pastors. The care and support can be tailor-fitted to meet personal needs. In very general terms, individual Chinese Christians in the UK share bigger responsibilities in running the church than they do in a Hong Kong church. For both reasons, Christians in the UK are usually more emotionally attached to and feel more at home with their local Chinese churches. The sense of belonging is stronger and the various contributions one can make to ones own church are bigger. The situation can be very different in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). PRC is a huge country and religious practices are widely diversified geographically. In recent years, the

development of Christian communities has undergone many changes at varying speeds in different parts of the nation. It would be a gross misconception to try to extrapolate what is presented here to any part of China. Post Script Christianity is a global faith. Chinese Christians are Christians with a Chinese cultural background. We share the entirety of our faith in common with that of the global community of followers of Jesus Christ, i.e. we are all parts of the single body of Christ the universal Church. As the Bible says: there are many parts, but one body (I Corinthians 12:20); one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:5, 6) We read the Chinese translation of the same Bible. Our ethnicity and culture confer upon us unique opportunities and responsibilities towards caring for the Chinese in UK, especially those who are restricted by their language ability. Chinese Christian churches are by no means exclusive; anybody who is attracted to our Lord Jesus will be warmly welcomed in our communities. Notes (1) In this article, the term Christians is used interchangeably with Protestants and does not include Catholics. (2) The web site of the CCCC is http://www.cccc.org.uk (3) http://www.eden-cambridge.org (4) http://www.stcolumbaschurch.org (5) For a directory of UK Chinese churches, see http://www.cocm.org.uk/chinesechurch/chinesechurch_UK.html (6) http://www.cocm.org.uk (7) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles'_Creed (8) For an overview see http://www.answers.com/topic/religion-in-hong-kong Yu Wai Chen came to the UK in 1987 for undergraduate and Ph.D studies and is presently a Lecturer in Biochemistry at the Kings College London. He went to a primary school associated with the Chinese Methodist Church, North Point, Hong Kong, of which he has been a member for more than 25 years. In 1990/91, he was a Council Member of the London Chinese Alliance Church. Since 1998 he has been a member of the Cambridge Chinese Christian Church (CCCC) and he was a member of the Church Council in 19981999. A note about copyright Requests for use or re-publication of this article should be made (via Shap if necessary) to the writer, who retains copyright. If re-published in part or full elsewhere, the articles publication in World Religions in Education 2007 should be acknowledged. The transliteration of specialist terms and the opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, not of the Shap Working Party.