Editor’s note: Like other Chinese cities, Wenzhou, in Zhejiang Province, has faced dramatic changes in the last five years, including an economic downturn and stricter political controls. Because Wenzhou people were used to living more freely than other places in China, local pastors say this has been a tough adjustment.
Churches have been hard-hit, and the well-known Wenzhou church is also struggling to adjust to their new reality. One way they have coped is by focusing on discipleship, and girding up institutions and systems so they are better-equipped to face the storms of the current era.
China Partnership: How has your city changed in the last five years? What changes have occurred in your church?
A Sinking Economy, an Awakening Church
Hu Mujing: Transportation is more convenient! Several fast lanes have been opened, and light rails will be launched next. There were already high-speed trains and planes.
Second, China’s Premiere, Li Qiang, is from Wenzhou, so [because of him] the inclination for economic development is higher.
Third, there have been big educational changes. Wenzhou places great importance on education. Almost every child is tutored outside of school. The change is there has been a crackdown on off-campus tutoring schools. The situation has become more hidden.
The economic downturn has also been very serious. Many people’s salaries were cut. Sometimes office workers have a job today – but they don’t know where they will be working tomorrow.
Five years ago, the church could hold big gatherings – revival meetings, Bible study classes, children’s and youth summer camps – with hundreds or even thousands of people. This is no longer possible.
The bad economy has also brought political changes. The political climate is more left, more “red.” Although Wenzhou used to be dominated by business, the city is slowly beginning to tighten control over religion and all aspects of society.
The church has also seen big changes. Five years ago, the church could hold big gatherings – revival meetings, Bible study classes, children’s and youth summer camps – with hundreds or even thousands of people. This is no longer possible.
Churches have been hit hard. In my own church system, many churches could not gather in-person during the pandemic, so they met online. After Covid, the controls became even stricter. They know the location, time, and number of people at every church gathering. If they are managing things very seriously, they use community grid workers[1] to find the phone number of the person in charge. They just directly call that person and say, “Hi, we are coming to inspect now, you need to stop your gathering.”
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Some churches have been shut down; others were persuaded to register with the government – and if they didn’t, those churches were shut down, too. All this led churches to go from gatherings of 300 to gatherings of 20 or 30.
Because of all these changes, the churches have begun to wake up. We need to grasp two things at once.
First, the church cannot blindly pursue external grandeur anymore. The environment has changed. Now, the church needs to more deeply cultivate its people, and do more in-depth discipleship. Over the past five years, the larger church has put a lot of effort into discipleship, things like church planting trainings or teachings on Christian leadership.
Discipleship has also been strengthened, both in local churches and throughout different districts. For example: our pastors lead a core team; the core team leads group leaders; and group leaders do one-on-one or small group discipleship.
Another change is that, because the economy is bad, tithes have declined. Many churches have tried to find new ways to bring in money and cut expenses.
Stronger Political Control
Lu Jianxi: In the past five years, Wenzhou has gone through a pandemic, and then the enforcement of the new religious regulations. There have been many changes in this city.
Politics has deep control over all of society… This is true all over China. The difference is that before, Wenzhou was relatively free compared to other cities.
The pandemic and the post-pandemic trade war had a huge impact. Private businesses are the mainstay of the Wenzhou economy, so the social control and closures after the pandemic were a huge blow to local businesses. Wenzhou used to be a market economy focused on foreign trade and exports. But this has gone down a lot because of the trade war.
The downturn also led people, especially migrants, to leave Wenzhou. Because of family planning policies in the past, each new generation has fewer people. With the bad economy, people are even less willing to have children. Society is aging more and more, and the economic decline is also very obvious. Official figures still look good – but those of us who live here can feel it.
Politics has deep control over all of society. This control makes people here feel depressed, both physically and mentally. This is true all over China. The difference is that before, Wenzhou was relatively free compared to other cities. After this, everyone feels more depressed. Young people now don’t have a fighting spirit – not only in society, or in the economy, but also in the church.
Our church is relatively young, and young people are under great economic pressure. Even though most people in our church are working professionals, the economy gives them a lot of real pressure. Most sisters in our church are stay-at-home moms, and the children are home-schooled while the brothers go to work. This also brings a lot of pressure. With a bad economy, the whole family has more difficulty. The income of brothers and sisters in the church has been impacted.
The “Special” Wenzhou Church Has Morphed
These changes have affected the churches of Wenzhou. The Wenzhou church used to be very special. Most people know about the Three-Self Church and the house church, but Wenzhou had a third form called the “third force:” churches somewhere between the Three-Self and the house church. These churches were registered for the sake of the church building, but their people and their finances were completely independent and not managed by the Three-Self, just like house churches. These churches had all the freedom house churches enjoy, but also enjoyed the protection of the official church. But in the past five years, there has been a change. These “third force” churches have become the exact same as the Three-Self.
It also seems like the house churches have divided. Now, there are two groups.
One group has a very thorough understanding of the church situation. This group is unwilling to register and accept government “management” [2] under the Three-Self church. Another group is unwilling to be managed. They have suffered more blows, and these churches been either banned or sealed.
Before the last five years, our generation had not experienced division. Elderly believers… went through difficulties in faith – but our generation had not. But now, everyone has experienced this.
This has been an astonishing change to the church and religious environment of Wenzhou. Wenzhou churches are very complicated. People’s understanding of the church is more and more blurry, and the world’s understanding of the Wenzhou church is also blurry.
While other churches are splitting up, our church is expanding – we have been an institutional church from the beginning. Our church has a clear system, better boundaries, and better church government. With all this pressure, people have greater needs. But we are expanding, because our close connection attracts believers from other churches, and also some seekers.
Over the past five years, we have been preparing to church plant. Our young church has been asking, “God, you put is in this church. How can we serve this city? How can we witness your name in Wenzhou?”
Before the last five years, our generation had not experienced division. Elderly believers, like some in Hu Mujing’s church, went through difficulties in faith – but our generation had not. But now, everyone has experienced this. As people go through difficulties, they become more and more devoted to the reality of faith.
Another change is that the number of children in our church has doubled in the last five years! Our ministry has changed a lot – we have always been a small church, with ministry based on discipleship and training. But now, we are slowly growing and bearing fruit.
The biggest change? – I’m getting older!
[1] Community grid workers (网格员) are grassroots government personnel responsible for monitoring and managing specific residential areas in China’s social management system.
[2] “Managed” churches (纳管教会) refer to house churches that have agreed to government oversight while maintaining some independence from the Three-Self system.
Hu Mujing and Lu Jianxi are pseudonyms for house church pastors in Wenzhou.
Pray for Wenzhou churches struggling to adjust to the big changes in their city and in the religious landscape. Pray for churches to be bold yet wise.
