Last week, the Qingdao Catholic Patriotic Association of Shandong Province attended a Protestant seminar for the first time in history for collaboration.
According to Qingdao CC&TSPM, Qingdao Christian Council & Three-Self Patriotic Movement (CC&TSPM) held the twelfth theological construction seminar and the second pastoral retreat from November 18 to 20.
Bishop Chen Tianhao, director of the Qingdao Catholic Patriotic Association, and Rev. Zhao Kaijie, director of Qingdao CC&TSPM, each delivered remarks at the opening ceremony, which was moderated by Rev. Gao Yongliang, president of Qingdao CC and drew 110 pastoral workers from across the city.
Rev. Zhao first expressed his gratitude to Bishop Chen and Father Zhang Song for their remarks and participation. He hoped that the meeting could serve as a starting point for jointly developing the brand "Qindaotongxin" (a brand developed to support activities on the sinicization of Christianity) with the brother community.
The seminar featured the presentation of 15 papers and 20 responses throughout the day. Attendees engaged in in-depth discussions on the sinicization of Christianity. In his concluding remarks, Rev. Gao said that the symposium had inspired pastoral workers to reflect on the various dimensions and contemporary practice of "Christology," demonstrating a high level of theoretical understanding, theological literacy, and strong contemporary relevance. He especially highlighted the sharing by Father Zhang, which offered diverse theological perspectives for the exchange.
At the second pastoral retreat of the Qingdao CC&TSPM held on Nov. 19–20, Rev. Zhang Jianshun, vice director of Shandong TSPM and director of Linyi TSPM, delivered a lecture titled "The Sinicization of Biblical Interpretation, Preaching, and Application." Participants said that the session provided them with a systematic and renewed understanding of how to interpret, preach, and apply the Bible within the context of the sinicization of Christianity.
