ICC Note:
As a part of the Chinese governments ongoing efforts to control the spread of “unsanctioned” Christianity, police recently raided a Christian theological training camp in the southern Guangdong province. The participants were forced to scatter, however one pastor expressed relief that the authorities did not intercept church leaders on their way to the training camp, averting a potential disaster.
06/28/2012 China (ChinaAid) – The Chinese Theological Society was forced on Tuesday to end its first teachers’ training camp early after being harassed and investigated by officials from the Ministry of State Security.
The training in Foshan, in south China’s Guangdong province, was originally scheduled to finish on Thursday. But on Tuesday June 26, “local State Security officials showed up at the training camp site about 11 a.m. and started to investigate us in a harassing manner that forced us to end the training and disperse all the participants,” one pastor said. “Fortunately, our timely departure meant that they did not intercept the church leaders from Hong Kong and the mainland. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.”
The Chinese Theological Society was founded by a group of theological educators in Hong Kong and the mainland. The association was registered in Hong Kong in July 2010 and has applied for non-profit Christian organization status. Its aim is to develop theological education in China.
…
