On March 5, China Ministry International (CMI) held a seminar titled ‘Urbanization and the China Church: What can we learn from the West?’ at the Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, PA. More than eighty representatives from ministries with strong interests toward the progress of Christianity in China attended the seminar.

This is the second seminar hosted by CMI regarding urban missions in mainland China. Last year, the first seminar focused on the current trends of missions amidst the urbanization of Chinese cities.

According to Alice Chan, the seminar's coordinator, it is "another attempt in understanding the shifts of focus on ministries in China due to social changes."

During the seminar, speakers presented mission challenges within the cities of China, including detailed examples within specific geographical contexts. The top five topics addressed were "Urban Mission and Spiritual Warfare" given by Dr. William Edgar, "Urban Ministries with Rural Migrant Workers" by Dr. Ronald Yu, "Urban Ministries with College Students" by Rev. Ben Chen, "Urban Ministries with Professionals & Intellectuals" by Mrs. Esther Yu, and "Specific Issues on Urban China" by Dr. Joshua Han.

In addition, speakers addressed the new policy issued, No. 426, implemented at the beginning of the month in mainland.

"The seminar was well received," commented Alice Chan. Following the seminar, Chinese-American church leaders from all over the east coast convened to further discuss issues of Chinese missions. After the success of the second seminar, CMI is planning for its next one which will be on Sept. 24 of this year titled "Gospel Ministries in Urban China: Contextualize Without Compromise".

For information on summaries of the speaker’s lectures, visit the CMI website -- www.cmi-usa.net for future updates.