Chinese Heritage in British Christianity book launch
Chinese Heritage in British Christianity book launch
The Acts 11 Centre, along with the Centre for the Study of World Christianity, was pleased to co-sponsor the launch for ‘Chinese Heritage in British Christianity: More Than Foreigners’ edited by Alexander Chow.
by Nuam Hatzaw
Last week, in my role with the Acts 11 Centre for Global Witness and Human Migration, I had the pleasure of hosting the launch event for the new book Chinese Heritage in British Christianity: More than Foreigners (SCM Press) edited by Alexander Chow of the University of Edinburgh.
The book responds to an important, ongoing moment in British Christianity. On the one hand, historic denominations across Britain, such as the Church of England, are recording unprecedented decline in church attendance and membership. On the other hand, British Chinese Christianity is one of the fastest growing Christian populations in the UK today, and these Christians are revitalising existing churches or starting new, vibrant congregations that challenge us to think differently about what we mean when we talk about British Christianity.
These were some of the issues explored at the launch, which was attended by 60 people and held in Hammersmith at the historic Chinese Church in London, which was founded by Stephen YT Wang in 1951 and was one of the first Chinese churches in Britain.
Celebrating representation
It is probably worth stating from the outset that I am not a Chinese Christian. Instead, I am Zomi, a small ethnic minority from Chin State, north-west Myanmar. But my distance from the subject matter of this rich book is precisely why I was so personally and professionally excited and invested in the event, even though I myself am not Chinese.
This is because of representation – the significance and impact of seeing yourself, your experiences, your struggles, and your joys, articulated and reflected back to you.
As someone from an extreme minority, there aren’t many opportunities to see my specific experiences represented, so I understood the significance and joy felt by many of the attendees last Friday, as they gathered to celebrate a book that reflected, in small, limited, but no less important way, some of the experiences of Chinese and Chinese-heritage Christians in Britain.
The evening began with a welcome from Pastor Ollie Knight, the English pastor of CCiL, who, although not Chinese himself, had grown up in that very church and was now proud to be pastoring in the same place that nurtured him.
Harvey Kwiyani, convenor of the Acts 11 Project, then welcomed guests and spoke about the significance of this book not only for Chinese Christians, but for those from other backgrounds too – reminding us again of the importance of solidarity, cross-cultural understanding, and dialogue.
I followed Harvey with a few words of welcome from my perspective as course lead on the Asian Christianity stream of CMS’s MA in Theology, Ministry, and Mission, which is one of the few postgraduate programmes in the UK to focus specifically on Asian Christianity, both on the continent and its diasporic expressions.
The evening then continued with a short speech from a chapter author that summarised the theme of each section of the book, followed by discussions around tables.
Re-examining
Discussing the first theme, ‘Re-examining the Past and the Present’ Alexander Chow, editor of the volume and Senior Lecturer in Theology and World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh, shared from his chapter which outlined the history and continuing impact that Chinese Christians have had on Britain.
The theme of legacy and history recurred frequently – the legacy we inherit; the legacies we are forming now, in our ministries, our lives, our actions; and the legacies we will leave behind in artefacts like the book or even monuments. These are explored in the book by Alex Chow and Renie Chow Choy, while Yinxuan Huang’s work takes us to the present day with his analysis of the UK’s fastest-growing Christian population.
Re-forming
The second theme of the book, ‘Re-forming Identity and Spirituality’ was represented by Rev Mark Nam, vicar at St John Woodley, co-founder of the Teahouse Network, and chaplain to students on our Asian Christianity MA course.
Mark reflected movingly on being called into ministry that fully realises all aspects of his identity as a British Born Chinese. These questions of representation, of the (in)ability to articulate one’s sense of identity and belonging, and the different heritages and forms of belonging we can lay claim to, are explored deftly by authors James So, Mark Nam, and Calida Chu.
Re-imagining
Lastly, speaking on the final theme of ‘Re-imagining Community and Church’, Rev Kan Yu shared her experiences of ministering to a Hong Kong church and the relationship her church had with more established congregations in the area.
This raised the urgent issue of community and relationality, and asks us to reflect on how we think and relate to churches who might look different and worship in different languages and styles, but who nonetheless are part of the fabric of British Christianity.
Finally, the evening ended with a time of open sharing and discussion and a closing prayer by Bert Han, of Birmingham Chinese Evangelical Church.
Affirmed and encouraged
It was heartening to hear how attendees had grappled with, or been encouraged by, the pieces from the authors and the conversations that they had had around their tables.
Particular highlights included a reflection from someone who shared what the book meant to them spiritually, and how he felt affirmed and encouraged in his Christian identity, and also a timely and sobering reminder from another participant who spoke of the vulnerabilities faced by many Chinese people in the UK as minoritised peoples.
As the evening drew to a close, I was left with a real sense of joy and happiness over what I heard and witnessed at the launch. Although I am not Chinese myself, the topics explored in this volume include things like legacy, community, belonging, ecumenical relations, pastoral and spiritual care of congregants – all things that are of relevance and interest to many of us, wherever we find ourselves in God’s kingdom.
The book is available to purchase on the SCM Press website, and it is also available to students and staff through the Crowther Library at CMS in Oxford.
