Since the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy in 1980, which reinstated the foundational principle of religious freedom, Christianity in China has journeyed through phases of restoration, growth, and eventual revival. Over this time, the Chinese church has undergone several distinct transitions, such as the shift from rural to urban churches, from house gatherings to congregational worship in formal church settings, and from loosely organized structures to more pastoring-centered approaches.
In 2018, the implementation of the new "Regulations on Religious Affairs," coupled with factors such as the midpoint of urbanization, ushered the Chinese church into a new period of transition. This need for transformation was further amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022.
The year 2023 marked the first year of comprehensive recovery for societal production and daily life after three years of the pandemic. Like other sectors, churches experienced a resurgence in physical gatherings and the resumption of various ministries. By the end of 2023, the Christian Times noted that, while some characteristics of the past persisted, Chinese Christianity was beginning to exhibit significant differences compared to the pre-COVID period — with profound changes already taking place.
In 2024, Christianity in China continues along this transitional trajectory, with emerging development trends becoming increasingly evident. Together, these trends are shaping new church models and forging a new ecosystem for Chinese Christianity.
Below are five key trends that Christian Times has identified in Chinese Christianity in 2024:
1. From Extensive to Refined Pastoring: Deep Pastoral Care as Today’s Greatest Need
In recent years, the term "refined pastoring" has been increasingly emphasized by grassroots churches that prioritize pastoral care, standing in stark contrast to the previously dominant model of "extensive pastoring."
Over the past few decades, China’s economic growth has transitioned from an extensive and external growth model to an intensive and internal one. Extensive growth relied heavily on increasing production inputs—such as higher investments, expanded facilities, and additional labor—to drive output. While initially effective, this model was associated with high costs, low efficiency, and challenges in improving product quality. Conversely, intensive growth focuses on optimizing resources through new technologies, improved processes, and advanced equipment, achieving greater efficiency and better results without necessarily expanding production scales.
To a certain extent, the development of Christianity in China parallels this economic trajectory. Between 1980 and 2010, the Chinese church underwent an initial growth and accumulation. During the rural church revival and the emergence of urban churches, congregations flourished as long as two basic requirements were met: a gathering place and regular meetings. However, as both churches and society have evolved, this growth model has become less effective since 2010.
Pastor Chunlei, who has ministered in a city in eastern China for many years, analyzed the opportunities of previous decades and the severe challenges currently facing the Chinese church. He noted that over the past 20 years, God blessed the church in China with growth simply through the establishment of churches and evangelistic efforts. Today, however, most churches—regardless of their size—function mainly as Sunday or occasional meeting spaces. Once the sermon ends, attendees go their separate ways, leaving a significant gap in genuine shepherding. Consequently, many believers face unresolved spiritual and practical issues, leading to feelings of apathy and hopelessness toward God, truth, and life itself.
In contrast, Western churches often provide comprehensive pastoral care, addressing various aspects of believers' lives—including work, relationships, family, education, and even financial investments. Pastor Chunlei characterized the past two decades of pastoral care in China as largely a "force-fed teaching style." He stressed that the current opportunity for growth lies in deep, refined shepherding—a development path that God is offering to the Chinese Church.
In summary, the two major needs and challenges in pastoral care currently facing Chinese Christianity are:
· Providing systematic care for the congregation as a whole
· Customizing refined pastoral care for specific groups (e.g., singles, families, and professionals)
2. Highlighting the Potential of Workplace Christians: Today’s Greatest Mission Field
Since 1974, the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization has been striving to guide the global Evangelical community in mission development. The Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, held in Incheon, South Korea, in September 2024, emphasized two key shifts in mission strategy: collaboration in lieu of competition and recognition of the potential of workplace Christians. Dr. Michael Oh, global executive director of the Lausanne, Movement, pointed out that workplace Christians make up 99% of the body of Christ, yet the church has long neglected to commission, train, bless, and equip this overwhelming majority. He stressed that if the potential of workplace Christians were fully harnessed, the impact could be 99 times greater than what we currently achieve.
This insight is not entirely new. Over the past decade, with the progress of urbanization, the Chinese church has increasingly recognized the importance of workplace Christians, as they comprise the majority of those being shepherded.
Under the influence of fundamentalism and dualism, the Chinese church once maintained a strict division between the sacred and the secular, often overlooking both the community and the workplace. A common belief was, “If you truly love the Lord, you must quit your job to serve him; otherwise, you are loving the world, not the Lord.” However, urban churches have found through their ministries that this perspective needs to be changed.
A pastor in Guangdong, who served as a full-time senior pastor leading a church of several hundred for over a decade, came to this realization after returning to the workplace. From his perspective, today’s Chinese church must redefine the mission field, recognizing the workplace as an indispensable mission field of our time.
Brother Paul, a pastor from a city in eastern China, also highlighted that the modern-day ministry lies in the workplace. He emphasized that pastors—not just believers—must step outside the church walls to gain credibility in the eyes of the world. From a contextual perspective, Paul suggested that the church and certain charity-oriented services need to operate separately and independently, as intertwining them can be detrimental to both. This aligns with the model of missional churches, which integrate faith into life through a community-engaged approach. The Bible says that God was manifested in the flesh, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, and believed in the world. Jesus appeared in the flesh, not with the majesty of God, demonstrating sacrifice and love in a way that made people believe from the bottom of their hearts. Paul emphasized, "It is important for pastors to become trustworthy people. They should do well to win people’s respect and trust. To gain their trust, we must use approaches they can accept, rather than sticking to our traditional methods."
3. More Localized Theological Practices: Exploring Pastoral Ministry and Theological Education
Over the past 40 years, the Chinese church has gradually developed a relatively comprehensive theological education system, starting from simple training programs such as Bible classes and theology workshops. In the past two decades, the dominant model has been to learn from and replicate Western academic-style theological education.
However, many Chinese churches have discovered through frontline pastoral work and church planting that the Western academic approach often fails to fully adapt to the unique context of the Chinese church. It primarily emphasizes the acquisition of knowledge and theories, which can result in a disconnect between theological understanding and spiritual life, as well as between theoretical learning and practical ministry. In recent years, efforts to explore and implement localized theological practices have begun to emerge, which can be categorized into two main approaches.
On the one hand, frontline pastors are striving to integrate theology into daily pastoral care. Brother Han, a church planter in a major city in central China, believes that theology is not the exclusive domain of pastors and preachers. He emphasizes that all Christians need theology and should develop their own theological framework, especially in today’s context, where heresies are widespread. He observes that most churches offer fragmented and unsystematic pastoral care for believers. Furthermore, to appeal to a broader audience, Sunday sermons often exclude theological content. As a result, theological education for the congregation has become a void.
To address this, Brother Han introduced theological courses in his church to help young people systematically study theology. He also integrates theology and scripture analysis into Bible study sessions and promotes theological education among older believers.
On the other hand, theological educators are exploring ways to localize seminary education and development. Pastor Hu, from a city in eastern China, graduated from a denominational seminary and has worked in theological education for many years. He has been actively pursuing localized practices in theological education with his team. For instance, he requires the dozens of theology students under his guidance to engage in hands-on pastoral work at churches while attending seminary, ensuring they don’t become mere bookworms. He also established small care groups where teachers can interact with students and provide tailored care for individuals.
Spiritual formation is another focus. Drawing inspiration from traditional Chinese spiritual retreats, Pastor Hu encourages students to practice foundational spiritual disciplines such as morning and evening prayers and maintaining devotional journals. Besides, he suggests that Chinese pastors should read more classic Chinese literature, as traditional theological education often overlooks Chinese cultural studies.
In addition to these grassroots efforts, some theological educators have begun exploring models for Sinicized theological education. Kevin Xiyi Yao, an expert on Chinese church history, wrote in his article "A Chinese Model of Theological Education?", which was published on ChinaSource in June, "As the Chinese church begins to cope with its minority and diaspora status under the new social normal within and outside China, its theological education may soon enter a new era, too. In my opinion, the time is becoming ripe for the Chinese church to critically re-think the current model of theological training and to explore a genuinely Chinese way of theological education... The church in China can no longer depend on its supporters in the West as much as before. The time has come for Chinese Christians to take the responsibility of leadership in trail-blazing their own path of theological training for the future."
“Is the Chinese church ready for this? In terms of human and financial resources, I do think so.“ Yao added, "It is not an overstatement to say that a supporting infrastructure for Chinese theological education is already in place. What is needed is a shifting in mindset and re-casting of vision." He mentioned, "In fact, there are signs that this is beginning to happen. New vision and consensus are being formed, ideas are being shared, and projects are being initiated among a group of theological educators, pastors, and Christian intellectuals primarily associated with the church in mainland China."
4. Greater Awareness of Healthy Churches and More Diverse Explorations
From 1980 to 2010, the Chinese church experienced a phase of initial growth and development, with most focusing on external metrics such as numbers and scale. However, as congregations and church sizes reached certain thresholds, many issues that had been previously overlooked or masked by rapid growth began to surface. This caused some churches to encounter bottlenecks or stagnation. What is the way forward?
Increasingly, frontline pastors and church workers have begun to emphasize the notion and practice of healthy churches. While initially influenced by Western churches’ understanding of what constitutes a healthy church, this concept has deepened and evolved over the years, addressing areas such as congregants, pastoral staff, and church development models.
For example, a pastor from a church in southern China observed a significant shift over the past decade: Chinese churches have moved from focusing solely on "spirituality" to embracing a "holistic health" perspective. This approach includes not only the well-being of believers but also the health of those serving in ministry. Some churches have revisited the model of the early church as an example for shaping and building a healthy church, while others have adopted localized and flexible practices to pursue this goal.
One northern pastor, faced with challenges such as youth fellowship members leaving or drifting away from the church, was determined to build a congregation that could retain and nurture its people. This pastor summarized five key principles for a healthy church:
· Focus on nurturing and training.
· Prioritize worship.
· Emphasize prayer.
· Highlight the Great Commission.
· Help believers integrate their faith into daily life and practice it in tangible ways.
5. More Community-oriented Cultural and Public Welfare Ministries: Building New Bridges for Public Service
In recent years, as the state of church survival and development has shifted, more frontline workers have realized that cultural and public welfare ministries need to operate in more socialized ways—namely, through non-religious and professionalized approaches.
Previously, many churches and Christians engaged in charitable and public welfare activities with a direct motivation to share the gospel. This often hindered the further development of these programs. G, a mentor who has helped incubate multiple public welfare projects, noted a recurring issue: many social services initiated by churches fail in the early stages due to the impure motives of the initiators. For instance, churches and Christians often approach social services primarily as a means of evangelism or a platform for testimonies. When visible evangelistic outcomes are lacking, enthusiasm for service quickly wanes.
Brother Jiacheng, who has been involved in medical assistance ministries since 2016, has studied cases from foreign public welfare organizations. “In general, the legal entities of public welfare organizations are independent of the church. Their target service recipients encompass all social strata, regardless of ethnicity or race... This is what true public welfare and charity mean—serving without determining recipients based on religious affiliation. If services are categorized by faith, wouldn't that turn the organization into an internal institution under religious control, thereby losing its public welfare nature? The services we provide should be equal and professional, establishing a relationship of service and being served. While we can personally and relationally share Jesus' love and faith, public welfare remains purely public welfare." He advocates for public welfare organizations to operate independently of the church.
Cultural ministry is another crucial public bridge that cannot be overlooked. Due to the conservative and traditional theological stance of Chinese Christianity, cultural ministry was significantly neglected and misunderstood prior to 2010. Even today, cultural ministry within the Christian community remains relatively rare. However, more pastors, church workers, and believers are recognizing its importance, and many pioneers devoted to cultural ministry continue to labor silently.
Brother Zhang, who has been involved in charity work for over 20 years, reflected on the development of Chinese churches over the past few decades. He recounted the so-called revival period of Chinese Christianity from 1980 to 1990. At that time, a preacher’s simple proclamation, “Believe in Jesus and have eternal life; refuse, and you’ll go to hell,” was enough to draw crowds into churches. People flocked in naturally, and churches were filled to capacity. However, this period of revival did not last. The situation gradually changed. As society opened up further, people’s eyes seemed to grow sharper, and their minds more discerning. It became harder to convince them with simple messages. People became more pragmatic, focusing on what the church had actually accomplished. This led to a 20-year period of engagement in public welfare and charity, which Zhang described as “the period of good works for the church.”
As time has flown by, Zhang remarked, “Now, I believe we are moving into another stage. We must embrace a cultural mission. Things like music and other forms of culture transcend national boundaries.”
Writer and playwright Jiang Yuanlai, who published his new book Culture and Christ: From Swallowing to Saving Men in 2024, has tirelessly promoted the dissemination and development of Christian culture for decades. Jiang recalled that when God first called him to cultural ministry many years ago, he faced criticism from the church. At the time, the church viewed culture as something worldly, even heretical. Besides praying for guidance, Jiang undertook research on culture and Christ to convince himself of its importance. This research gave him a deeper appreciation for the value of culture and motivated him to press on. Over time, as the cultural mission gained recognition, people began inviting him to share his insights. He now teaches “Culture and Christ” courses at various seminaries across China.
Jiang explained, “There should be more than simply preaching the gospel directly to the public. When conditions allow, we can use the church's discourse system to preach the gospel, interpret scriptures, expound on the Bible, and deliver sermons. It is not only necessary but essential that a public culture from a Christian perspective be made available.”
- Edited by Karen Luo, translated by J.C.