A leader of the post-denominational Protestant churches in China met with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and other Episcopal Church leaders to explore the possibility of future seminary education partnerships:
Episcopal Church, China to explore ways to partner in seminary education
One of the leaders of the post-denominational Protestant churches in China recently met with the presiding bishop and others in the Episcopal Church to explore the possibility of future seminary education partnerships and exchanges, and to ask for support for an upcoming Bible exhibition.
“We came here to renew friendship with Episcopal Church and explore possibilities where we can cooperate in the future,” said Elder Fu Xianwei, chairman of the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, following a Feb. 9 meeting with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori at the Episcopal Church Center in New York.
“We talked about theological education and also we’re going to have a Bible ministry exhibition. The hope is that it can be supported by the presiding bishop and the Episcopal Church,” he added, as translated from Mandarin Chinese by the Rev. Lin Manhong, interim dean of Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, the national seminary of the China Christian Council.
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Over the years, explained Kwok Pui-lan, professor of Christian theology and spirituality at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, seminaries have sent younger faculty members to the United States and Canada for advanced training.
“Now they want to develop a more advanced program inside China because the need is so great,” she said, noting the rapid increase in enrollment. “They want to raise up pastors and faculty with more advanced knowledge.”