UCA News
Contribute

China

Wenzhou Christians Hold First Ecumenical Concert, During Unity Prayer Week

Updated: January 23, 2009 12:58 PM GMT
Support Asia's largest network of Catholic journalists and editors
Support Asia's largest network of Catholic journalists and editors
Share this article :

Two Catholic parishes in eastern China´s Wenzhou diocese joined with Protestants to hold probably the first-ever Christian unity concert in mainland China.

6097_3.jpg 
Local Catholic choir Tianyin (sound of heaven) leading the hymn-singing in an afternoon Mass and performed on stage at the unity concert on Jan. 18 to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2009.
The concert on Jan. 18, first day of the Prayer Week for Christian Unity, attracted about 1,000 people to the Catholic Church in Leqing, a city 1,400 kilometers southeast of Beijing. Leqing and Xipian Catholic parishes in Zhejiang province co-hosted the event. The concert, under the theme Walking the Road of Love Together, started in the afternoon with a Mass during which the local Catholic Tianyin (sound of heaven) choir led the hymns. A Protestant worship session followed, led by the Praise Whole-heartedly choir from Qingdao, in the eastern province of Shandong, 920 kilometers north of Wenzhou. Both choirs performed on stage in the evening. A Catholic choir, Tianren (God-people) Songs Creation, and renowned local Protestant singers Xie Xiong and Jiang Guoliang of the Olive Tree band also performed. The concert´s theme song was composed by a Protestant singer whose elder brother, a Catholic, wrote the lyrics. The siblings sang it at the concert. Two mentally and physically disabled orphan girls, Tian Lanlan and Tian Mengmeng, from northern China´s Hebei province, performed, one of them singing from her wheelchair while her blind peer played a musical instrument. The girls, raised in Home of the Dawn, a Catholic-run facility, said they had prayed for the event for two months. The concert organizer, a priest commonly known as "Luzhou," said the organizers came up with the idea of the concert as one step toward unity among Christians. "We have pondered what we could do, as there is no Orthodox Church in Wenzhou, while the Protestant Church is widespread here," he said in an interview. ch_wenzhou_zhejiang_province.gifSince the local Protestant Church is very active in the music ministry and famous for its bands, "we decided to start interaction and dialogue with them through music," he explained, calling the unity concert a "pioneering step" in mainland China. "It seems we are not up to the level yet to have a dialogue or a seminar on doctrine or liturgy, which may result in debates," the priest acknowledged, adding that unity among Chinese Christian Churches needs to be done step by step. Though the unity week has a tradition of almost 100 years elsewhere in the world, almost nothing has been done for Christian unity in mainland China due to historical reasons. A majority of mainland Christians "do not even know what the unity week is about," the priest admitted. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is observed annually Jan. 18-25 in many parts of the world. This year´s theme is "That they may become one in your hand (Ezekiel 37:17)". "We are today´s new chosen people of God," but division still exists, Luzhou said, reflecting on this year´s theme. In mainland China, even the Catholic Church -- including Wenzhou diocese -- is internally divided into "underground" and "open" communities, he admitted. "But we have the reason and confidence to make the first step," he added, referring to the concert. In a follow-up event the next day, members of the Catholic-run Tianren Rainbow website, based in Wenzhou, and Protestant musicians exchanged Church music. They also agreed to do more together in the Christian music ministry in the future so that ordinary families could hear the Gospel in a lively form, Luzhou said. END
Help UCA News to be independent
Dear reader,
November begins with the Feast of All Saints. That month will mark the beginning of a new UCA News series, Saints of the New Millenium, that will profile some of Asia’s saints, “ordinary” people who try to live faithfully amid the demands of life in our time.
Perhaps the closest they will ever come to fame will be in your reading about them in UCA News. But they are saints for today. Let their example challenge and encourage you to live your own sainthood.
Your contribution will help us present more such features and make a difference in society by being independent and objective.
A small donation of US$5 a month would make a big difference in our quest to achieve our goals.
William J. Grimm
Publisher
UCA News
YOUR DAILY
NEWSLETTER
Thank you. You are now signed up to our Daily Full Bulletin newsletter
 
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia