The Three-Self Church in China

The registered Protestant church of mainland China: one church with no denominations, governed through the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the China Christian Council, with the Bible and the two ancient creeds as its stated faith.

Church Order of the Protestant Churches in China (November 2018), Chinese text from the CCC&TSPM site; the English lines quoted here are this site's own renderings of the articles cited

Rules for Recognizing Chinese Christian Clergy (2013), Chinese text from the CCC&TSPM site; English lines are this site's own renderings

CCC&TSPM, official English site: Introduction to CCC&TSPM

CCC&TSPM news: The 11th National Christian Conference in China Opens in Beijing (4 January 2024)

CCC&TSPM news: CCC&TSPM Receives Delegation from HKCCCC (4 January 2024)

CCC&TSPM news: A Delegation from Lutheran Hour Ministries visits CCC&TSPM (30 April 2026)

CCC&TSPM news: A Delegation from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Visits CCC&TSPM (1 July 2026)

CCC&TSPM news: The Tenth National Christian Conference Closes Successfully (November 2018)

CCC&TSPM news: China Committee on Religion and Peace Visits Melbourne (28 September 2026)

CCC&TSPM news: Discussion and Training Seminar on Theological Theory Development for the Chinanization of Christianity, Weifang (27 October 2026)

Mark McLeister, Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), World Religions and Spirituality Project (3 December 2025)

J. D. Brown, Chinese worship publicly, under wary eye of state, The Christian Science Monitor (19 March 1985)

Louisa Lim, In The Land Of Mao, A Rising Tide Of Christianity, NPR (19 July 2010), via KPBS

Rev. Wu Wei, President of the China Christian Council, Continue the Further Contextualization of Christianity in China and enhance the Church's Adaptation to Socialist Society (CCC&TSPM site, Theological Research)

Cao Shengjie, Promoting the Further Contextualization of Hymns, Chinese Theological Review, on the CCC&TSPM site

Religious Affairs Regulations (State Council Order No. 686, 2017), English translation by China Law Translate

Five-Year Planning Outline for Advancing the Sinification of Christianity (2018-2022), English translation by China Law Translate

Pew Research Center, China's Christian population appears to have stopped growing (12 December 2023)

Plymouth Brethren and Other Ministries, More News from China (a mission newsletter account of the stages of the 1950s)

Christian History Institute, As for Me and My House (on the house churches)

ChinaAid, The Church and the State: the history and the impact of the early stage Three-Self Patriotic Movement (1950-58), by a TSPM pastor

Three-Self Patriotic Movement (Wikipedia)

The Christian Manifesto (Wikipedia)

Y. T. Wu (Wikipedia)

K. H. Ting (Wikipedia)

Wang Mingdao (Wikipedia)

Watchman Nee (Wikipedia)

Church of Christ in China (Wikipedia)

Ningbo Centennial Church (Wikipedia)

Protestantism in China (Wikipedia)

The three principles of self-governance, self-support and self-propagation were first a missionary slogan of the nineteenth century. In 1950 Chinese church leaders, under pressure from the new government, put them at the head of a manifesto, and the movement that followed became the only Protestant body the state recognizes. In 1958 the denominations were ended and their believers were joined in one worship. Public worship stopped from 1966, returned in 1979, and in 1980 the China Christian Council was added beside the Three-Self committees. Since 2018 the church has worked under new state regulations and a program called the Sinification of Christianity.

The three principles drafted

The principles of self-governance, self-support and self-propagation were first stated by the mission thinkers Henry Venn and Rufus Anderson. They were drafted formally at a conference of Christian missions in Shanghai in 1892.

The Church of Christ in China

Chinese Christians from Presbyterian, Congregational and other missions held the first general assembly of the Church of Christ in China at Shanghai in October 1927, with Cheng Jingyi as its first moderator. It was a voluntary union, formed twenty-three years before the Manifesto.

The Christian Manifesto

Wikipedia reports that Protestant leaders met Premier Zhou Enlai in May 1950, and that Zhou pressed them to write a document supporting the government. Wu Yaozong and others issued the Manifesto, whose full title is "Direction of Endeavor for Chinese Christianity in the Construction of New China." The church's own site says it launched the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. Wikipedia also reports that a campaign collected 417,389 claimed signatures by 1954, about half of Chinese Protestants, that some have disputed the figure, and that most who signed appear to have done so from patriotic feeling.

The movement is organized

In April 1951, after China entered the Korean War, the government's council called a conference in Beijing on Christian organizations that received money from the United States. It led to a preparatory committee for the Three-Self Reform Movement. Most Protestant groups joined. Leaders such as Wang Mingdao did not.

The national committee is founded

The first National Christian Conference met in Beijing in 1954 and officially founded the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, in the church's own words, "as a patriotic Christian organization for Chinese Christians." The scholar Mark McLeister, following Philip Wickeri, dates the conference from 22 July to 6 August 1954 and says Wu Yaozong was appointed its chair.

Wang Mingdao arrested

In August 1955 Wang Mingdao, pastor of the Christian Tabernacle in Beijing, was arrested for refusing to join the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. His wife and eighteen church members were also imprisoned, and the Tabernacle was closed.

One union worship; the denominations end

In 1958 the national Three-Self committee pressed for "united worship," to end what remained of the denominations. The scholar Mark McLeister writes that congregations were merged into designated buildings, so that in Shanghai 208 churches became twenty-two, and that a hymnal published that year was meant to unite Christians in one worship. A mission newsletter dates this "fourth stage" from August 1958. The Church Order of 2018 still says that no rule may be made in a denomination's name.

Public worship stops, then returns

From 1966 to 1976, during the Cultural Revolution, the expression of religious life was effectively banned, the Three-Self movement included. Wikipedia reports that Ningbo Centennial Church was the first church in mainland China to reopen, on 8 April 1979, and that the government restored the Three-Self movement in 1979 after thirteen years.

The China Christian Council

The third National Christian Conference met at Nanjing in October 1980 and founded the China Christian Council to handle church affairs. K. H. Ting said the two bodies were "like two hands on one body." The Council became a full member of the World Council of Churches in February 1991.

A Church Order and a statement of faith

The two bodies passed trial church rules in 1991 and approved a Church Order in 1996, revised in 2008 and again in 2018. Wikipedia reports that a statement of faith was adopted on 8 January 2008.

New rules and the Sinification program

The State Council's Religious Affairs Regulations, promulgated on 26 August 2017, took effect on 1 February 2018. The same year the church's leadership issued a Five-Year Planning Outline for Advancing the Sinification of Christianity, and Wikipedia reports that the State Administration for Religious Affairs was merged into the Communist Party's United Front Work Department. In November 2018 the Church Order was revised again, and its Article 2 now names the Sinification of Christianity as the church's direction.

The eleventh National Christian Conference

The eleventh National Christian Conference opened in Beijing on 20 December 2023. It elected Xu Xiaohong again as chairperson, now of the eleventh committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, and Wu Wei again as president, now of the ninth China Christian Council. Both had first been elected at the tenth conference in November 2018.

Y. T. Wu (Wu Yaozong)

A Protestant leader who had a large part in the founding of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and in the Manifesto. He died in September 1979, the year the movement was restored.

K. H. Ting (Ding Guangxun)

An Anglican bishop whose denomination was merged into the one church in 1958. He became president of the China Christian Council and leader of the Three-Self movement in 1980, and held those posts until 1997.

Wang Mingdao

A Beijing pastor who would not join the movement. He was arrested in August 1955 and spent many years in prison. Many in the unregistered churches look to him.

Watchman Nee

Founder of the Local Church movement. He signed the Christian Manifesto and told his followers to support the movement and join its system. He was arrested in April 1952 on charges of bribery and other economic offenses and died in prison in 1972. His case is often told wrongly as a refusal of the Three-Self movement. The sources say otherwise.

Xu Xiaohong

Chairperson of the National Three-Self Patriotic Movement committee. He was first elected in November 2018 and again in December 2023, when he gave the work report titled "Continue to Promote the Chinanization of Christianity and Run Chinese Churches Well in Accordance with the Socialist Society." On 27 October 2026 the official site still names him chairperson.

Wu Wei

President of the China Christian Council. He was first elected at the tenth conference in November 2018, was elected again as president of the ninth Council in December 2023, and gave the closing speech of the eleventh conference. In September 2026 the official site still names him president.

On the 1958 date. Sources give the merging of the denominations as either the early 1950s or 1958. The church's own site says nothing of it, and the account of Daniel Bays, whose A New History of Christianity in China (2011) is the standard scholarly history, was reached only through reviews. The scholar Mark McLeister, in the World Religions and Spirituality Project, dates the push for "united worship" to 1958 and the first national conference to July and August 1954. The sources read agree on this much: the Three-Self committee was founded in 1954, the denominational structures were dissolved and one union worship was required in 1958, and the Order of 2018 still bars any rule in a denomination's name. This chart gives 1958 for the union worship and says the process began before.

On Watchman Nee. Nee is often counted among those who refused the movement. The Wikipedia article on the Manifesto says "Wang Ming-Dao refused, unlike Watchman Nee who signed the manifesto," and the article on Nee says he told his Local Church to support the movement and join its system. His arrest in 1952 was on charges of bribery and other economic offenses.

On numbers. No one knows how many Protestants there are in China. The figures in Part 1 come from three different methods, and they should not be added together.

The Bible has the highest authority in faith, alongside the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. The Church Order is binding on its clergy, and the church states that it follows the law and the expectations of the Party and the government.

The Church Order of 2018 gives the faith in its sixth article: the Bible and the two ancient creeds are the basis of the Chinese church. It says the Bible has the highest authority and that no one's personal authority may stand above it. The Order itself is a second standard: clergy are disciplined whose speech or writing is against the Bible, the creeds, the faith principles of the universal church, or the Church Order. The Order also says the church is "both a spiritual fellowship of Christians and a social organization" that is to obey state law, and the president of the China Christian Council writes of a church that meets the expectations of the Party and the government alongside biblical teaching.

The basic faith of the Chinese church takes the Bible and the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed as its basis, with the faith principles of the universal church as a reference.

The Bible has the highest authority in faith and is the standard for the life of believers.

a Christian Church that follows biblical teachings, meets the requirements of laws and regulations, fulfills the expectations of the Party and the government and satisfies the people

The Order on law: "The church is both a spiritual fellowship of Christians and a social organization. The Chinese church shall build up the body of Christ according to the teaching of Scripture, perform the duty of registration according to law, and conscientiously obey the Constitution, laws, regulations and policies of the state, and run the church according to law." (Art. 12; Chinese: 教会既是基督徒的属灵团契，又是社会团体。)

On discipline: "A member of the clergy is to be disciplined according to the seriousness of the case if his speech or writings go against the Bible or violate the creeds, the faith principles of the universal church, or the Church Order." (Art. 56.) The 2013 rules for recognizing clergy name, as basic conditions, support for the leadership of the Communist Party and the socialist system, and a faith based on the Bible and the Apostles' Creed (Art. 3).

Sinners are saved by faith and by the grace of Jesus Christ. Baptism follows repentance and instruction, and the church counts sprinkling and immersion as equally valid.

The Church Order says all have sinned, and that through Jesus Christ, by faith and by his grace, sins are forgiven and believers are redeemed, raised and given eternal life. It adds that faith and works should agree. Baptism is one of two sacraments. A seeker who has attended for a time, generally not less than a year, and who of his own will accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and repents, may join the catechumen class, and after the clergy have examined his faith he may be baptized. Baptism shows that the baptized dies, is buried and rises with the Lord. The Order does not say that baptism is for the forgiveness of sins, and it does not say whether infants are baptized.

All people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but through Jesus Christ, by faith and by his grace, sins are forgiven, they are redeemed, will be raised, and will enjoy eternal life.

Baptism was ordained by the Lord Jesus and shows that the baptized dies with the Lord, is buried with him and rises with him. The Chinese church recognizes sprinkling and immersion as equally valid, because the Holy Spirit works in baptism and makes the baptized a new person.

A seeker who has attended the church's gatherings for a certain time (generally not less than one year), and who of his own will accepts Jesus Christ as Savior, confesses sin and repents, lives uprightly and keeps discipline and the law, may apply to the church to join the catechumen class.

Chinese for the key line on the form of baptism: 中国教会承认点水礼和浸礼同样有效，因为圣灵在洗礼中作工，使受洗者成为新人。 (Art. 14.) The same article adds the line on the Supper's table: only the baptized may receive it.

The lineage chart once said infant and believer's baptism are both practiced in the one body; it now follows the sources read here, which do not confirm infant baptism and describe the baptism of those who repent.

The Supper was instituted by Jesus and is received to remember the Lord, only by the baptized, from the hands of ordained clergy. The Order sets no frequency.

The Church Order calls the Supper one of two sacraments, instituted by the Lord Jesus himself. The bread and the cup show his body and blood. Believers receive it to remember the Lord, and through the Spirit it reaffirms their relationship with Christ and strengthens faith. Only the baptized may receive it, and only ordained clergy may conduct it; an elder may do so at a pastor's request. Withholding the Supper is one of the penalties for a believer. The articles read set no rule for how often it is held, or on which day.

The Lord's Supper was instituted by the Lord Jesus himself; the bread and the cup show his body and blood. Believers receive the Supper in order to remember the Lord.

Only believers who have been baptized may receive the Supper.

The sacraments are to be conducted by ordained clergy; the conduct of a sacrament may not be entrusted to a person who is not ordained.

The Order's full line on its meaning: "Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the Supper reaffirms the believer's relationship with Christ, strengthens faith, enriches the spiritual life and increases the unity of fellowship." (Art. 14.) The Order's list of penalties for a believer includes being "denied the Supper" (Art. 59), for disobeying the arrangements of the church, disrupting worship, or showing contempt for the clergy, among other things.

Three ordained offices (bishop, pastor, elder), ordained by laying on of hands, trained in approved seminaries and chosen through the Christian councils, with the councils above the congregation.

The Church Order names three ordained offices: bishop, pastor and elder, open to men and women alike. Ordination, it says, "continues the mission of Jesus on earth" and passes on apostolic authority. A bishop is ordained by at least three bishops, a pastor by at least three pastors, an elder by at least three clergy, one of them a pastor. The bishop has no special administrative power; the elder assists the pastor within one congregation. Each office has a stated schooling: a bishop needs a master's degree in theology, a pastor a full theological course. A pastor is put forward by his congregation's managing body, recommended by the local councils and examined by the provincial council, and clergy are recorded with the religious affairs department of the government. A congregation's managing body is elected, or agreed on by consultation, at a meeting of its believers' representatives. The national councils carry out "service, guidance, regulation and supervision" over the provincial councils below them.

The Chinese church continues the mission of Jesus on earth through ordination, and passes on the apostolic authority.

The bishop bears the greater responsibility for interpreting Christian doctrine, regulating the sacraments, and guiding the spiritual life of the clergy and believers, but has no special administrative power. The elder assists the pastor in his work; his duties are limited to his own congregation, where he shepherds and teaches believers, and when entrusted by the pastor he may also conduct the sacraments.

The national Christian councils bear responsibility for the service, guidance, regulation and supervision of the provincial, autonomous-region and municipal Christian councils.

On clergy and the state, the Order: "Clergy are to be recognized in accordance with the Rules for Recognizing Chinese Christian Clergy, and are to be recorded with the religious affairs department of the people's government at the corresponding level." (Art. 31.) The Rules name the bodies that recognize each office: the national standing committee for bishops; the provincial councils for pastors, teachers and elders; the city-level councils for evangelists (Art. 5). Its basic conditions for clergy include upholding the leadership of the Communist Party and the socialist system, keeping the law, a faith based on the Bible and the Apostles' Creed, and holding to the Three-Self principles (Art. 3). The State Council's Regulations say clergy may carry out religious activities once a religious group has affirmed them and the religious affairs department at county level or above has been told, to be filed for the record (Art. 36).

The senior pastor of a congregation "presides over the congregation's affairs, shepherds the believers, leads believers to resist heresy and resist infiltration, and actively publicizes and carries out the decisions of the Christian councils." (Art. 37.)

One union worship for all, built on singing, Scripture reading, preaching, prayer, benediction and offering, with vestments, an altar, set forms, and Christmas and Easter. The Order does not address instruments.

The Church Order says the Chinese church practices joint worship, in which churches seek common ground, accept one another and do not divide into denominational groups. The basic content of worship is singing hymns, reading Scripture, preaching, prayer, benediction and offering. The forms of worship include the order of the service, vestments, the arrangement of the altar and the choice of sacred music. Christmas and Easter are named as the festivals most often kept, and the Order forbids using festivals to bring back denominational traditions. The Chinese New Hymnal is the common hymnbook. Its editor writes that after the churches reopened it "became impossible to use hymns of one denomination as a general model."

The Chinese church practices joint worship.

The basic content of worship includes singing hymns, reading Scripture, preaching, prayer, benediction and offering.

With the practice of union worship, it became impossible to use hymns of one denomination as a general model, and it became urgent to edit a new hymnal.

The Order on the forms: "The forms of worship include the orderly arrangement of the service, the choice of vestments, the arrangement of the altar and the choice of sacred music." (Art. 17.) On festivals: "Christmas and Easter are the church festivals most commonly celebrated since the Chinese church adopted joint worship. Churches everywhere may not use festival observances to restore denominational traditions or damage the unity of the church." (Art. 22.) The sources read do not say whether instruments are used in the service.

The Holy Spirit convicts, leads into truth and gives gifts to build up the body. No personal experience is an absolute standard, and false claims of revelation and reckless prophecies are not from the Spirit.

The Church Order describes the Holy Spirit as the Comforter and giver of life, who convicts of sin, leads believers into the truth, unites them to Christ, makes holy living possible, and gives wisdom, ability and gifts of every kind so that together they may build up the body of Christ. It then draws a line: no one may take personal spiritual experience as an absolute standard, and any false claim to a revelation of the Spirit, any reckless prophecy and any misreading of Scripture is not from the Spirit. It does not say whether the miraculous gifts of the first century continue.

The Holy Spirit gives wisdom, ability and gifts of every kind, so that together they build up the body of Christ and live out the likeness of Christ.

No one may take personal spiritual experience as an absolute standard; any falsely claimed revelation of the Spirit, any reckless prophecy, any misreading of Scripture is not from the Spirit.

The statement of faith adopted on 8 January 2008 reads: "The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, who enables people to know their sinfulness and to repent, who bestows wisdom and ability and every grace, leading us to know God and to enter into the truth, enabling people to live holy lives, and to give beautiful witness to Christ." This is quoted from the English text that Wikipedia reproduces. The 2018 Order's wording is fuller.

Christ will come again to judge, the dead will rise, and no one may name the day.

The Church Order says Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, rose and ascended, and will come again to judge. It affirms the resurrection and eternal life. It states that the day of his coming no one knows, and that any claim that Christ has already come, or that sets a date for his coming, goes against the Bible. It names no millennial scheme.

He was crucified, buried, rose and ascended, and will come again to judge … but the day of his coming no one knows, only the Father knows; any claim that Christ has already come, or that predicts a specific date for his coming, goes against the teaching of the Bible.

The three selves

The church governs itself, supports itself and spreads the gospel itself, free of foreign control.

The church's site says it follows "the principles of self-governance, self-support and self-propagation (the Three-Self Principles)." The Church Order says the Chinese church is not subordinate to churches abroad and is not controlled by them (Art. 8). The principles began as a missionary slogan, and the Regulations of 2017 also say that religious affairs are "not to be controlled by foreign forces" (Art. 5).

Following the principles of self-governance, self-support and self-propagation (the Three-Self Principles), it pursues the path of loving country and loving church, while glorifying God and benefiting people, promoting the Reconstruction of Theological Thinking and systematically advancing the Chinanization of Christianity in China.

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

A church that appoints its own elders and does not depend on a foreign mission for its life is the church of Acts, and this principle is right. The apostles planted churches that governed themselves under their own elders (Acts 14:23). The principle fails only where "self-governance" in practice means a council or a government department governs the church, since the church is the body of which Christ "is the head" (Colossians 1:18), and no council, mission or ministry takes that place.

Loving country and loving church

The church declares that it works under the leadership of the Communist Party and upholds the socialist system.

The church's own description says it acts under "the leadership of the Communist Party of China" and "upholds the socialist system, promotes patriotism, adheres to the Constitution, laws, regulations and national policies, and practices core socialist values." The president of the China Christian Council writes that the Three-Self movement gives Chinese Christians "a shared political attitude and stance." The Church Order, Article 26, asks believers to be good citizens who love country and church.

Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, CCC&TSPM upholds the socialist system, promotes patriotism, adheres to the Constitution, laws, regulations and national policies, and practices core socialist values.

The TSPM unites all Chinese Christians under the banner of love for country and love for Church, providing them with a shared political attitude and stance.

Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God.

But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.

The church is right to teach that "Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers" (Romans 13:1), and a church that honors the law and its neighbors does what Scripture asks. It goes beyond Scripture when its own statement places the church's work under the leadership of a political party and counts a shared political stance among the things that unite believers. Scripture sets one head over the church, and the rule of the apostles applies: "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). The apostles gave no earthly authority a place in the church's standard of faith or standing.

The Sinification of Christianity

The church's program for rooting Christianity in Chinese culture, guided by the core socialist values.

The church's five-year plan for 2018 to 2022 defines the Sinification of Christianity as "preserving fundamental religious beliefs in accordance with the Bible, inheriting the traditions of the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation, anchoring faith and social practice in Chinese culture, practicing the core socialist values." It calls for Chinese elements in worship, sacred music, hymns, pastoral clothing and church buildings, and for Chinese hymnals. Church Order Article 2 names this program as the church's direction.

Our nation adheres to the direction of sinification of religion, meaning that religious doctrines are to be guided by the core socialist values

uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China, follow the guidance of the core socialist values, and acknowledge the system, path, theory, and culture of development in our nation; be grounded in the teachings of Bible and preserve the fundamental beliefs and core doctrines

And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, not being myself under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, not being without law to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak: I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.

For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men? if I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.

But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.

To put the gospel into a people's own language, songs and customs is what Paul did: "I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22). Chinese hymns and Chinese forms of building are within that freedom. The plan goes past it when it says that doctrine is "to be guided by" a set of political values. Scripture alone guides the doctrine of the church, and a doctrine made to fit another guide becomes "the precepts of men" (Mark 7:7). Paul's words to the Galatians also apply: a servant of Christ does not strive to please men (Galatians 1:10).

One church, no denominations

Believers of every former denomination worship together, and the Order forbids denominational rules.

The Church Order says "The Chinese church practices joint worship" and that "any practice that divides the church goes against the teaching of the Lord." Provincial rules may not be made in the name of any denomination (Art. 5), and festivals may not be used to bring denominational traditions back (Art. 22). The body is, in Wikipedia's words, not a denomination.

Any practice that divides the church goes against the teaching of the Lord.

CCC&TSPM advocates joint worship, mutually respect for diverse faith perspectives and liturgical practices, striving for unity and oneness.

Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

This is where the Three-Self Church stands nearest the New Testament, and it should be said plainly. The apostles knew one church, not denominations: "there be no divisions among you" (1 Corinthians 1:10), "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5). The unity is incomplete where the church leaves unsettled what the text names as one: it counts sprinkling and immersion the same, though there is "one baptism." Unity that rests on a council's order is an arrangement; the unity Paul describes is "of the Spirit," kept on the apostles' teaching.

Registration, recognition and state regulation

Congregations, clergy and the councils themselves are registered or recorded with the state, and the Order lists state compliance among the grounds of discipline.

The Church Order says a congregation is to be set up according to the Regulations on Religious Affairs, with their approval and registration steps (Art. 35). Clergy are recognized by the Christian councils and recorded with the government's religious affairs department (Art. 31). The Regulations require religious activity sites to accept oversight and inspection by religious affairs departments (Art. 27). The Order also lists, among grounds for disciplining clergy, organizing unauthorized gatherings, violating state rules on donations, and accepting ordination from a foreign religious body without authorization. These are stated here as facts of the regulations and the Order, with their sources.

Clergy are to be recognized in accordance with the Rules for Recognizing Chinese Christian Clergy, and are to be recorded with the religious affairs department of the people's government at the corresponding level.

Religious activity sites shall accept oversight and inspections from religious affairs departments.

A member of the clergy is to be disciplined for organizing illegal gatherings without authorization.

A church may register a building and report its pastors to the state, as a church in any country may, and Romans 13 does not forbid it. The question the text raises is who holds authority over the church. In Acts the elders of each church were appointed by the apostles and their helpers (Acts 14:23), and no earthly office decided who might meet or preach. A congregation that registers is not thereby unfaithful. The verdict falls on a church order that writes state authorization and state rules into the grounds for removing its clergy, which sets a second authority beside Christ's in the church's government. Where a government and Scripture disagree, "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

The plumb line is the New Testament: what the apostles commanded, and what the churches practiced with their approval. Each position above is set against it, and the wall below shows how far each one stands from it. Choose a course to read the Scripture and the reason. The Three-Self Church holds the faith of the ancient creeds, calls the Bible the highest authority, and has joined believers of many denominations in one worship. The verdicts below concern doctrine and practice measured by Scripture, including who has authority over the church. They are stated for churches and councils, not for the believers who worship in them.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church,

The Order's own words begin where Scripture begins: the Bible has "the highest authority in faith," and Christ is the head of the church, as God "gave him to be head over all things to the church" (Ephesians 1:22). The same Order then sets the church on "the direction of the Sinification of Christianity" and "the road of loving the country and loving the church" (Art. 2), and the plan that carries out that direction says doctrine is "to be guided by the core socialist values," while the church's own introduction places its work "Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China." A church whose head is Christ, "that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18), cannot take a second guide for its doctrine from a party, and where the two differ the apostles' answer stands: "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). Beside this, the Order binds the creeds, the faith principles of the universal church and its own text on its clergy, with discipline for speech against them, though Scripture alone makes the man of God "complete" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Order names Christ as head, and its own words then set two other standards beside him.

The Chinese of the lines this verdict turns on, with this site's renderings: 圣经在信仰上具有最高的权威 ("the Bible has the highest authority in faith," Art. 6); 教会是基督的身体，基督是教会的元首 ("the church is the body of Christ, and Christ is the head of the church," Art. 6); 坚持基督教中国化方向，走爱国爱教道路 ("holds to the direction of the Sinification of Christianity, and takes the road of loving the country and loving the church," Art. 2).

The creeds are not the problem in themselves: the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds say true things about Christ. The error is binding them as a rule of discipline beside the Bible. The line on the state is a separate matter. Obedience to law, taxes and courtesy to officials are plain in Scripture (Romans 13:1; 1 Peter 2:13-14), and registration is not the charge here. What Scripture does not give is a place for any government or party to guide the content of the church's teaching.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.

The Church Order is plain that forgiveness comes by faith in Jesus Christ and by his grace, and it describes the baptism of those who have repented and believed, which is what "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16) requires. It stands short on the form and the purpose of baptism. Its own article says baptism shows that the baptized "is buried with him," and then declares sprinkling and immersion "equally valid," though a sprinkling buries no one: "We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death" (Romans 6:4), and Philip and the eunuch "went down into the water" (Acts 8:38). It also states what baptism shows, a dying and rising with the Lord, but not what Peter commanded it for: "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38).

The Order says nothing of infants, and this chart does not claim that the church baptizes them. What the Order describes is the baptism of those who have repented and believed, which is the New Testament pattern for who is baptized. What the Order settles is the form: a church that counts a pouring the same as a burial has put its own judgment in the place of Romans 6. The Order's reason is that "the Holy Spirit works in baptism and makes the baptized a new person" (Art. 14). That is nearer the text than a baptism that only pictures, but it does not make the form indifferent: Paul places that new life in the burial itself, "buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him" (Colossians 2:12). The scholar Mark McLeister also reports both forms in use, "full immersion or sprinkling," and NPR saw a newly built registered church with its own baptism pool.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

The Church Order treats the Supper as a remembrance, instituted by the Lord, received by the baptized, and says nothing of a sacrifice or a change in the bread. That is the Lord's own word: "this do in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24). It stands short in two places. The disciples came together "upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7), and the apostolic example binds the church to the Lord's table every first day; the articles read set no rule on the day or the frequency. It also reserves the table to ordained clergy and forbids that it be entrusted to anyone else, a restriction the New Testament does not make, since it gives the elders of each congregation no such priestly office.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge; if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly. For the bishop must be blameless, as God’s steward; not self-willed, not soon angry, no brawler, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre;

The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

The New Testament knows elders in every church (Acts 14:23), who are also called overseers (Titus 1:5-7), and no office above the congregation. The Three-Self Church has pastors and a bishop's office, with an ordination said to "pass on the apostolic authority," and a chain of councils from the national body down to the congregation. A bishop has no administrative power in the Order, and the congregation elects its managing body, which is to its credit. But the elder's office is confined to one congregation and made a helper to the pastor, and ordination, the recognition of clergy, the right to preach and the discipline of clergy all pass through councils above the congregation and are recorded with a government department. The text gives the elders of the congregation these things, and tells them not to be "lording it over the charge allotted to you" (1 Peter 5:3).

The Order is the church's own, adopted by the joint standing committees of the two councils (Art. 61), and it is judged here as such. The first problem is the hierarchy of councils and the clergy office, which Scripture does not know. The second is the place of the state in it: where a government department is written into how a church recognizes, places and disciplines its pastors, another authority has been set beside the one head the text names (Colossians 1:18).

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.

The Church Order lists the core of worship as singing hymns, reading Scripture, preaching, prayer, benediction and offering, which are the things the apostolic church did (Acts 2:42; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Believers of every former denomination sit together at it. It adds forms the New Testament does not give: vestments, an altar, the choosing of sacred music as part of the liturgy, and Christmas and Easter as church festivals. The Order does not require them, but it names them as the church's feasts, and the apostles gave the church no yearly feast: feast days are "a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s" (Colossians 2:17). Whether the singing is without instruments the sources read do not say, so no verdict is given on it.

Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.

The Church Order is close to the New Testament in two things. It ties the Spirit's work to conviction of sin, repentance, knowing the truth and holy living, and it says no personal experience is an absolute standard and that false claims of revelation and reckless prophecy are not from the Spirit. That guard fits the record: the signs that confirmed the word were given to "them that heard" the Lord (Hebrews 2:3-4), and the Spirit's gifts came "through the laying on of the apostles’ hands" (Acts 8:18). It stands short in not saying that those gifts have ceased, "whether there be tongues, they shall cease" (1 Corinthians 13:8), and it speaks of "gifts of every kind" now without naming which. This course is authored, not taken from the lineage values.

But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.

who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.

For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

The Church Order says what the apostles say: this same Jesus will come again as the disciples saw him go (Acts 1:11), he will judge, the dead will rise, and no one knows the day, "but the Father only" (Matthew 24:36). It adds that any claim that Christ has already come, or that predicts a date, goes against Scripture, which is the text's own caution. The creeds it takes as its basis confess that he will come to judge the living and the dead, and the Order binds no millennial scheme and knows no purgatory. On what it teaches, it stands on the line. This course is authored, not taken from the lineage values.

The Chinese of the article: 将来还要再来，施行审判……但祂再来的日子无人知晓，只有父知道；任何宣称基督已经再来或预测基督再来具体日期的说法都违背圣经教导。 (Art. 6.) The omitted words quote Ephesians 1:10, that all things in heaven and on earth are summed up in Christ.

The placement is on the Order's teaching. The scholar Mark McLeister reports that registered church leaders are discouraged from preaching on some topics, eschatology among them, and that the evidence shows these are still taught in some churches. Scripture does not allow the coming judgment to go unpreached (Acts 17:31), and where a pulpit is kept from it, that is a fault of practice that the Order's text does not record.

The Three-Self Church holds much that Scripture also teaches, and it should be said plainly. It confesses one God in three persons, Jesus Christ as the only Son of God, God and man, who was crucified, rose and will come again to judge. It holds the Bible to be inspired and the highest authority in matters of faith. It teaches that sinners are forgiven by faith and by grace, and that faith and works agree. It baptizes those who repent and believe after teaching them, receives the Supper as a remembrance, and gives the Supper only to the baptized. It joins believers from many old denominations in one worship and refuses to divide them, which is the apostles' desire in 1 Corinthians 1:10. Its congregations reopened in 1979 after the Cultural Revolution, and its officers report ongoing Bible publication and distribution.

Measured by the New Testament alone, the Three-Self Church stands near the line on the person of Christ, on grace through faith, on the Supper as a remembrance, and on the unity of believers. It stands short in four places: the authority set beside the Bible, the form of baptism, the structure of its government, and the place the state holds in its order. The Bible is called the highest authority, but a creed, an Order and the expectations of a government are bound beside it. Baptism is a burial for the remission of sins, and a sprinkling declared equal to it loses the form. The Supper belongs to the church every first day of the week. The elders of each congregation are to govern it, and ordination, recognition and discipline are instead passed through councils above the congregation and recorded with the state. Christ is the head of the church, and no council or ministry takes his place.

These are not the failings of a church that never opened the book. It holds the faith of the creeds, calls the Bible the highest authority, and many believers in China worship in it. The answer to it is not contempt for those who worship in it, or for those who could not. It is the question the apostles put to every church: what has Christ commanded, and who has the right to change it? "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). The same word is addressed to every church anywhere.

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