As a key part of Chinese traditional culture, the art of tea ceremony is explored to integrate the Holy Word as a means to innovate Christian sinicization in Yunan.
On July 6, the Yunnan CCC&TSPM and the local Academy of Certified Chinese Tea Masters co-officiated the sharing meeting for the combined-Holy-Word-and-tea program achievement called "Tea Ceremony and The Holy Word, The Bible beside the Tea Table".
Since the beginning of the program, both sides held tea ceremony training several times and helped several pastors gain the certificates for becoming a tea master. It resulted to the holding of different tea meeting styles and discussions on how it can fit the gospel, sacred music, marriage and thanksgiving.
There were even co-authored book named "Pastor Loves Tea Too - The Eight Styles of Tea Ceremony and Eight Stages of Life"by Wu Yuanzhi, the president of Taetea Group and Rev. Zheng Hui which have been published to discuss how tea and the Gospel mix.
Moreover, a lot of seekers come to positively know the Christian faith and the gospel via communication platforms.
Dr. Yang Jing from Yunnan Arts University shared that it was acceptable to represent the Christian faith by blending the integrated faith through tea ceremony as it would incorporate the Word and Chinese culture clearly.
The program dates back to 2014, when the academy firstly proposed a concept that would provide an elegant devotional way for Christians to worship. A month later, the program - "The Bible Beside the Tea Table" was initiated and co-founded by the academy with the Kunming International Trinity Church.
The academy stated that the program symbolizes the striking thought of Chinese tea culture and how it relates to the constructive topic of Christian sinicization.
It helps also Chinese to know and accept Christianity easier with help of tea and the culture the ceremony holds. The ceremony also helps Chinese Christians appreciate the local culture. It has gone very smoothly since they introduced the program.
In January 2015, the tea ceremony class of Kunming International Trinity Church was opened as a foundation for the program. As the exploration deepened, it gained the five different classes: the gospel tea meeting, tea ceremony fellowship, the eight styles of the gospel tea ceremony, the gospel tea ceremony course and the gospel tea ceremony books.
Besides the following classes, the academy has developed the course "Pastor Tea Master" and opened it to the public. In September 2015, the first "Taetea Gospel Tea Ceremony Classroom" donated by the Taetea Foundation was launched in Yunan Theological Seminary.
