The post-pandemic era has been a time of reflection, adaptation, and transformation for the Chinese church. Faced with challenges such as declining membership, a stricter religious environment, and societal shifts, both registered and unregistered churches sought innovative approaches to pastoral care, community engagement, and spiritual formation.
As we begin 2025, the editorial team of China Christian Daily (CCD) has selected the top 10 Christian news stories of 2024 based on the number of views, keyword searches, shares, and prominence of articles.
Below is part 1, Nos. 1-5 of CCD's top 10 news stories of 2024. Read part 2 of CCD's top 5 news stories of the year here.
1. In the post-pandemic era, the Chinese church continued to seek transformative models.
Compared to the robust growth period from 1979 to 2009, the Chinese church entered a bottleneck phase in 2010. As the COVID-19 pandemic caused declining church memberships during the past years and a more restrictive religious environment pressed on China, both registered churches and unregistered churches continued to explore transformative models.
This ever-changing era posed a higher demand on the church. Some Three-Self churches sought new management modes to grow and meet the needs of their congregations. Local churches conducted various kinds of training for full-time staff, worship leaders, volunteer ministers, and core believers. Lectures against cults, on Christian theology, public welfare, literature, Chinese classics, and reading clubs were also carried out. Retreats and fellowship activities were organized for choirs, women, young people, couples, newcomers, and people who joined in Bible reading or psychological counseling, etc. Diverse ministries, such as visitation and caring for the elderly, served as supplements to the nurture of healthy Christians.
House churches, most of which gathered in small numbers, drew inspiration from different courses and models to provide refined pastoral care, train co-workers, and serve society.
From March 4 to 7, about 300 Chinese pastoral workers from around the world attended the "The Unshakable Kingdom" symposium on kingdom theology held in Thailand. Conducted by the GETS Theological Seminary for church staff, the conference was aimed at helping the church in China and the diaspora develop a kingdom perspective. The concept and characteristics of "kingdom theology" were expounded through biblical exegesis and theological doctrines. Additionally, three sessions of "practice and dialogue" were designed to cover preaching ministry, micro churches, and global missions. Each evening also featured a "life interview," where guest pastors shared struggles and challenges they had faced in their personal growth and family life.
The micro church movement, a new global trend in church development in recent years, drew the attention of the Chinese church. In an online seminar conducted in Singapore from August 1 to 3, Rev. Dr. Kenneth Goh and Rev. Michael Hsu J.D., pioneers and experts in the micro church model within the broader Chinese churches, shared insights on the history of micro church development, key figures, definitions, purposes, challenges, 11 practical applications of the model and success stories, as well as how to establish a supervisory mechanism to help grassroots pastors with limited resources implement the micro church model. A pastor who started to study this model from 2022 after abandoning the congregational system said, “I think the church in China should support the route of the micro church. I think this is a worthwhile model that the church in China must value in the future.”
2. The sinicization of Christianity campaign delved deeper across China along with the practice of strict governance of religions.
Under the theme of "Reverence for Life: Witnessing Beauty and Splendor," the year 2024 marked the second year amid the "Outline of the Five-Year Work Plan for Further Advancing the Sinicization of Christianity (2023-2027)," which was launched in December 2023. A relevant leadership meeting was convened by CCC&TSPM in Shanghai on February 20, 2024, discussing the push of the 2024 work and encouraging local churches to report related effective practices and tell the stories of Chinese Christianity in a proactive way.
On May 1, CCC&TSPM published the interpretation article of the five-year work plan outline, proposing the work in 2024 should include diverse celebration activities, symposiums or seminars, and workshops on the doctrine of God.
From May 7 to 9, a seminar was carried out by CCC&TSPM to explore the relationship between Tsu Chen Chao’s theological thought and the sinicization of Christianity in Huzhou, Zhejiang.
On May 17, five practical teaching bases were established in Guizhou churches to explore the sinicization of Christianity in five local cities. In December, an exhibition hall featuring the sinicization of Christianity in Longgang District was unveiled at Buji Church in Shenzhen.
It was worth mentioning that a symposium on traditional Chinese culture and the Sinicization of Christianity kicked off in Hong Kong on March 19 and 20. Pastors and scholars of religious studies from mainland China, Hong Kong, and other countries spoke at the conference organized by the China Religious Magazine and the Christian Cultural Society.
Efforts were also made on “sinicized” divisions, such as Christian weddings and funerals in Henan, worship rituals and classic teachings in Shandong, management system in Shanghai, as well as sacred music and theology nationwide.
Since the “Initiative on the Push of Comprehensive and Strict Governance of Religious Affairs in Chinese Christianity” was endorsed at the 11th national conference held every five years for CCC&TSPM in December 2023, a nationwide campaign was launched throughout the whole year. Training sessions, meetings, and measures were launched at grassroots levels. For example, Jiangxi CC&TSPM, which released the Handbook on Comprehensive and Strict Governance of Religious Affairs, established preaching teams to conduct tours in late April, explaining the contents and usage methods of the handbook in segmented areas.
3. Easter was celebrated in a more liturgical way, while Christmas was observed in diverse and flexible ways.
Starting from Lent 2024, some churches offered daily devotionals for their congregations, and many Christians were devoted to fasting and praying. Entering the Holy Week, traditional liturgical events like foot-washing ceremonies, communion services, and the Stations of the Cross pilgrimage were carried out. On Easter Sunday, Christians in China commemorated the resurrection of the Lord along with evangelistic rallies and baptism services.
An increasing number of churches recognized the significance of the liturgical calendar, understanding that reflecting on specific faith themes in alignment with these seasons greatly benefits spiritual growth. Thus, some church staff invited believers to participate in spiritual disciplines such as fasting and prayer together. A church remained open throughout the day, showing the movie “The Passion of the Christ” on screens inside, allowing believers to pray or watch it. In contrast, other churches limited their observance to sermons on Good Friday and Easter.
The ecumenical Church places great emphasis both on Easter and Christmas. Due to historical reasons, compared to Easter, the atmosphere of Christmas in Chinese churches is significantly richer and more emphasized.
December is often referred to as "Christmas Month" by Chinese Christians, coinciding with the start of Advent on December 1 last year. Many large city churches hosted Christmas tree lighting ceremonies on the evening of this day and generally scheduled their major celebrations during the weekends before Christmas, which were December 21, and 22, and the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services on the 24th and 25th, which are not public holidays in China. Some regional joint celebrations were held earlier and village and town churches, due to regional coordination or pastoral time allocation, held their celebrations one to two weeks in advance.
Christmas programs typically include songs, dances, nativity plays, skits, and testimonies. In developed cities, some churches presented more professional performances, with realistic stage designs and props, and even orchestral performances. Some churches delved into the local church history and presented it through dramatic performances, such as the Christmas plays "The Story of William Edward Soothill’s Mission to Wenzhou" and "Matteo Ricci’s Mission to China" by Wenzhou Liushi Church.
For the house church, Christmas celebrations, in contrast with the past years, were presented more localized, diverse, and flexible. Many churches adopted Chinese-style decorations and costumes, incorporating programs like cross talk, stage sitcoms, fan dances, and woodwind pipe playing.
Since the reform and opening up decades ago, a celebration custom has formed in Chinese churches where the festival is celebrated more as a gala, akin to the churches’ own internal “Spring Festival Gala,” particularly between 2000 and 2018 when numerous urban churches emerged after urbanization. However, in recent years, due to venue constraints, the minimizing of churches, and the critical reflections on the “gala” style, more and more house churches have begun to emphasize the Advent season, designating it as a time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. The timing of Christmas celebrations became more flexible, with some churches starting as early as November. The forms of celebration also became more diverse, featuring smaller-scale and varied activities. Additionally, charity events emerged as a new way to celebrate Christmas.
4. International Christian and faith-based exchanges flourished to deepen fellowship and international relations.
The past year saw dozens of international visits and exchanges between churches and Christian organizations.
Since January, international Christian organizations and churches paid their first or follow-up visits to the official church in China after the pandemic, including the Norwegian Mission Society, the Church of England, and the Korean Methodist Church. The United Bible Societies visited China several times in Gansu, Yunnan, Shanghai, and Nanjing.
In late May, Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the global fellowship representing 600 million Christians, started his first visit to China since his inauguration in January 2023. He traveled to Shanghai, Beijing, and Nanjing to meet with the China Christian Council, WCC member churches, inter-religious partners, and the State Administration for Religious Affairs. Pillay offered a public greeting at St. Paul’s Church in Nanjing, praising the witness of the Chinese church to Christian unity and its contextual faith as well as expecting Chinese Christians to be salt and light in the country. During an official discussion with the government, he mentioned “the topic of house churches in China and their relationship with government,” which is “a matter of interest to some Christians outside of China.”
WCC announced in June that its biannual executive committee will be held in Hangzhou, China in November 2025. The 25-person executive committee, the WCC governing body, meets twice a year to “monitor ongoing work, supervise the budget, and deal with policy matters referred to it by the Central Committee.” Rev. Lin Manhong, one of the 25-member executive committee members at WCC, attended last year’s executive committee meeting in Cyprus in late November 2024. She secured arrangements for the next Hangzhou executive committee meeting as well as Chinese church participation in related WCC activities in 2025.
In late July, the World Evangelical Alliance, representing more than 600 million evangelical Christians in 129 nations, sent a nine-member delegation to visit Beijing, Shanghai, and Jiangsu. The previous visit can be traced back to 2017 when the then secretary general, Bishop Efraim Tendero, met with the late Elder Fu Xianwei, the then chairman of TSPM.
The two parties introduced each other and exchanged views on the sinicization of theological thought and the translation issue of a new Chinese Bible commentary. They discussed issues such as the decline in the global Christian population and the uneven development of Christianity worldwide. Both sides agreed to strengthen contact and explore opportunities for cooperation and exchange in more areas.
The Luis Palau Association of the United States embarked on two trips to China in May and late July. Invited by the State Bureau of Religion Affairs, the nine-member delegation visited Shaanxi and Xinjiang, where Rev. Andrew Palau preached sermons to local congregations. Delegations from the United States, Finland, Russia, Germany, Singapore, and South Korea also continued their friendship with the registered church and sought potential cooperation.
During the year, one landmark event was the official Christian delegation’s first-ever trip to the United States since the pandemic. Headed by Rev. Wu Wei, president of the China Christian Council, 18 delegates from the political, religious, and academic sectors attended the two-day China-US Christian Forum (2024) in Chicago, which was themed "Opportunities and Challenges for Christianity in the Post-Pandemic Era" and represented by more than 40 participants from major Christian denominations, seminaries, and church organizations in the United States. Following the forum, the delegation visited seminaries, churches, and church organizations in Chicago, Charlotte, and Atlanta.
Another highlight was the China-U.S. Christian Fellowship convened in Shanghai in mid-October. With over 70 participants from mainland China, Hong Kong, the United States, Canada, and Singapore, the fellowship shared updates on the current situation of churches in China and the U.S. Keynote speeches were given on church ministry, social services, theological education and training, and publishing and distribution. Rev. Wu Wei expected the event to “mark a new chapter” in the relationship between China-U.S. Christian communities. Erik Bürklin, president of China Partner, commented it was “a great gathering” because “fellowshipping together as Christian brothers and sisters” was “exactly what we wanted.”
Apart from the church, faith-based organizations Amity Foundation of China and Word4Asia Consulting International from the U.S. co-organized the first "Amity Cup" International Table Tennis Philanthropic Tournament in Nanjing, Jiangsu, in late October, drawing 866 participants from 32 countries to foster international relations. Dr. Gene Wood, president of the organization, said that this tournament was a step forward based on the foundation of the original Ping Pong Diplomacy in 1971, further advancing people-to-people diplomacy and international exchanges.
After the tournament, an exchange conference for civil-friendly organizations in the U.S. and Jiangsu province took place in Nanjing. Qian Wenhua, vice president of the Friendship Association in Jiangsu Province, emphasized that China-U.S. relations are among the most important bilateral relationships in the world, shaping the future of humanity. In partnering with China for 30 years, the Outreach Foundation from the U.S., which visited Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang in 2024, stressed the importance of appreciating differences and joining hands for global peace and the promotion of human well-being.
For the house church, church leaders and believers attended overseas conferences in low key, such as the the Everyone Asia 2024 conference in Indonesia. Initiated by Empowered 21, the worldwide relational network to mobilize churches and the more than 650 million Spirit-empowered Christians to fulfill the Great Commission by Pentecost 2033, the conference attracted more than 11,000 participants from 46 countries, including dozens of Chinese Christians.
Dr. Wiliam Wilson, chairman of the Pentecostal World Fellowship, global chair of Empowered21, and president of Oral Roberts University, stated that around 60% of the global population, namely 4.7 billion people, live in Asia, where there are over 400 million Christians, which accounts for eight percent of the Asian population. As the world’s population exceeds eight billion, he received the revelation from the Holy Spirit that all we need to do is to reach everyone at a time and the Spirit will do the rest. Workshops on church revival in China, and discipleship in Japan, Vietnam, and Myanmar were given as well.
5. The Bilingual Bible in the Standard Chinese and Zaiwa of Jingpo People was launched after 11-year work.
On November 29, Yunnan Provincial CC&TSPM held the "Launch Ceremony of the Bilingual Bible in the Standard Chinese and Zaiwa of Jingpo People" after 11-year work. A total of 200 sample copies were printed.
Yunnan is home to 25 ethnic minority groups. Currently, there are Bible translation teams for seven of these groups in the province. The translated languages are for Miao, Lisu, Yi, Wa, and Jingpo people.
On the occasion of 2024 Bible Day, CCC&TSPM announced the official launch of this bilingual Bible at a launch ceremony for new Bible editions. These also included the Pinyin Edition of the Bible compiled and edited over five years, featuring ultra-thin 19g Bible paper. The 2024 Christmas Edition (Guidebook Edition) was designed with a festive theme, suitable for holiday gifts and daily devotionals.
