Ward Gasque with English ministry colleagues at Richmond Chinese Alliance Church.

Since then, he has played a prominent part in several North American schools of theology; and now he has turned to pastoring.

It is a new adventure as an English pastor at Richmond Chinese Alliance Church – and he loves it.

He is responsible for the one-third of the congregation which prefers to speak English – mostly second-generation, though some prefer to preserve their Chinese culture.

Gasque reports that it is a stimulating place to work. Many of the churches 900 people are first-generation Christians, and their enthusiasm is very fresh.

“There is a high priority placed on evangelism, conversion and missions,” says Gasque.

“They keep their eye on serving pre-Christians. Churches that focus on servicing the people that are already Christians, are already in decline.”

Evidence of the effectiveness of this approach is the number of Lower Mainland congregations which this church has spawned. Chinese Christians are also quite a force in many English-speaking churches.

“Because of the value Chinese and Koreans place on education, and because of the spiritual dynamic, many become leaders,” Gasque comments. “Anglo pastors should visit their Chinese colleagues and see what they can learn.”

Gasque is convinced that the centre of growing Christianity is moving from North America, to the East and South.

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“In the early 20th century, the centre of influence moved from Europe to North America; but I expect that by 2050, there will be more Christians in China than in the U.S. and Canada combined,” he says.

Gasque comments that since the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Chinese intelligentsia, as a whole, no longer believe in communism – and some even have become Christians.

The Communist Party has embraced capitalism as a good thing, and some leaders see religious liberty as a good thing, too. In many places, the church has a lot of freedom. There is still persecution, but Christians no longer flee China. Seminaries have been re-opened, Gasque says.

There are now departments of religious studies at several Chinese universities, where the Bible and Christian history are taught. To teach these courses, many scholars have come to the West to be trained.

Regent College, he notes, has 12 of them doing their research there, expecting to become professors at Chinese universities.

Another source of strengthening of the Chinese Church are the many graduate Chinese students at North American universities who are converted through their contacts with Christian student groupings, and return to China as Christians.

Meanwhile, there are the Chinese house churches – whose great strength lies in the fact that they are a grassroots movement.

These Chinese churches have great vigour, both in China and here – and it is the churches with vigour which represent the future.

– Jack Krayenhoff

January 2008