Page 41 - Preservation for the Documentation of Chinese Christianity

Hong Kong is an international city. There are now thousands
of Christians from other countries working in Hong Kong and have
established their own fellowships such as the English, German,
American, Filipino, Korean and Japanese Christian fellowships.
The Japanese Christian Fellowship has recently invited Rev. Arata
Ikeda, former General Secretary of YMCA, Tokyo to be their new
pastor. As the Christian Council, we are seeking possibilities
to involve these new Christian forces in the total mission of
the Church in Hong Kong.

During the year, one of the Council members, the Wei Li Kung
Hui became and autonomous church and is now known as The Methodist
Church, Hong Kong. The inauguration ceremony took place on 29th
March 1972.

It is equally important to note that the Methodist Missionary
Society feels that since the Chinese Methodist Church has two
representatives in the Council, there is no longer any necessity
to be separately represented. There are several churches
beginning to think seriously about greater cooperation with other
churches.

In l842, the Christian Church started work in Hong Kong.
After 130 years of labour, there are evidences that especially
in the fields of education, healing ministry, service and
evangelism, the Church has made significant contributions to
its present life. Although we come from different backgrounds,
and traditions, yet we have many things in common - our faith
in God, our concern for the people, and our responsibility for
the mission of the Church in this community. Therefore, the
Churches must work togehter to make best use of our resourses
and strength so as to make our witness to Christ more effective.

In order to achieve this end, the Churches in Hong Kong have
to explore possibilities of substituting a "Go-structure" for
the prevalent "Come-structure".

MThe Christian lives in the world, is part of the world and
shares responsibility for the world."

The building of a better world, a more humane society is a
central concern of Christians and therefore, of the churches as
a whole in Hong Kong.

In many ways the ecumenical movement has been an exciting
development among the churches in Hong Kong. It has produced
new forms of ministry, of worship and of witness; it has given
a fresh conscience about injustice and inequality; and it has
produced practical service programmes for the young and old
especially for the under-previledged.

The HKCC and its auxiliary organizations has been the focus
of much of these activities. As a process of growth, the Council