Chinese Women in Christian Ministry uses an interdisciplinary (theological, historical, and anthropological) approach to analyze how theological and cultural factors have influenced attitudes about the place and role of women in the Chinese church and Christian ministry in Asia and in the West. The changing status and role of women in Chinese historical sociocultural contexts provide insights into the development of Confucian gender ideology and its impact on the Chinese. Western women missionaries with their Christian and cultural ideals became a catalyst for change in the gender role and mentality of Chinese women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Global women's issues have sparked a genuine concern among the Chinese leading to changing attitudes toward Chinese women in Christian ministry.

Now revised and updated to incorporate numerous new materials, this is the major source for researching American Christian activity in China, especially that of missions and missionaries. It provides a thorough introduction and guide to primary and secondary sources on Christian enterprises and individuals in China that are preserved in hundreds of libraries, archives, historical societies, headquarters of religious orders, and other repositories in the United States. It includes data from the beginnings of Christianity in China in the early eighth century through 1952, when American missionary activity in China virtually ceased. For this new edition, the institutional base has shifted from the Princeton Theological Seminary (Protestant) to the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural Relations at the University of San Francisco (Jesuit), reflecting the ecumenical nature of this monumental undertaking.

A bibliographical guide to the works in American libraries concerning the Christian missionary experience in China.

A perennial challenge for theological education is the integration of what is learned in the classroom with students’ church life and ministry. Is there a connection? How can greater connection be fostered? Many seminaries earnestly wrestle with these questions. Whereas some of the underlying issues are common to all seminaries, others are influenced by the cultural context in which theological education, church life, and ministry take place. In additional to cultural factors, the history, lifestage, and current state of the church and of theological education are different in each context. The integration of theology, church, and ministry is crucial to the effectiveness of a Chinese seminary. The great need for theological education for Chinese Christian leaders has rightly been sounded and should continue to be, but simultaneously seminaries must think seriously about how to promote quality theological education. Beginning with a programmatic article by Dr. David Dockery, a leading proponent for effective integration, this book represents the efforts and reflection of experienced scholar-practitioners who work out a vision for integration in the context of a diaspora Chinese seminary in San Jose, California.