The Chinese Independent Churches are a major category of churches of Chinese people. During Missionary Council Meetings in the mid to late 19th century several Western missionaries started advocating for the Chinese Christians to become independent instead of relying on outside support and funds. This idea was supported and accelerated after the disastrous Boxer Rebellion. During the incident, 48 Catholic missionaries and 18000 members were martyred while 182 Protestant missionaries and 500 Chinese Christians were martyred.
Although this incident led to the downfall of the Qing Dynasty, Western missionaries encouraged Chinese Christians to be self-sufficient economically, Self Preaching, and Self Pastoring even if it meant breaking away from their original Protestant denominations. The earliest known Independent Church existed in 1862 with the title, "Minnan Church". Little is known about this church since most of the records were recorded in the local Minnan dialect rather than in Mandarin. Information regarding this church is slowly being ‘discovered’ and translated.
Read more about Chinese Independent Churches: Within Mission Churches, Extra-Mission Indigenous Sector, Summary
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