A new slogan calls for a closer supervision of preachers and sermons by both Three Self bureaucrats and the United Front.
The “China Christian Implementation of Strict Governance of Religion Exchange Meeting” was held in Xi’an, Shaanxi from June 27 to 28, 2024, immediately following the high-level national seminar on Sinicization of religion of June 26.
Apart from testimonies of “best practices” from different provinces and regions, keynote speeches were given by officers of the United Front Work Department in charge of religious work and by leaders of the government-controlled Three Self Church. The latter included Pastor Xu Xiaohong, Chairman of the China Christian Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee; Pastor Shan Weixiang, Vice Chairman of the same organizations’s Standing Committee; Pastor Lin Manhong, Vice President and General Secretary of the China Christian Council; Pastor Geng Weizhong, Vice Chairman of the Council’s Standing Committee; Gu Mengfei, Secretary General of the China Christian Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee; Pastor Gao Feng, Chief Supervisor of the Supervisory Committee of the Two Christian Councils; and Gao’s deputy, Wu Jianrong.
The “strict governance of religion,” it was explained, is part of “Sinicization” and means that preachers and sermons should be strictly controlled. Christian leaders should make sure that they understand the centrality of studying, teaching, and preaching “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era, and General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speeches and expositions.”
A main theme in the conclusions of the conference was that Three-Self leaders are not effective enough, or perhaps lack resources, to implement a “comprehensive and strict governance of religion.” While striving for “improving political stance and deepening ideological understanding,” they should “accept supervision” directly from the United Front Work Department.
