Discussion On Changes Of Missionaries To The Location Of The Local Church

Many research works have been done on the issue of"indigenization movement"which was led by Chinese Church leaders in 1920s. However, the"indigenization movement"does not equal to the indigenization of Christianity in China which should be regarded as a process rather than merely a movement in my perspective. As they are participants and witnesses of the profound and great changes that have been taken in the late Qing Dynasty, the missionaries focused on the indigenization of Christianity in China and played an important role in this process which is both positive and negative. The three general conferences of the missionaries in China which were held in 1877, 1890 and 1907 are of great importance in the history of Christianity in China as the missionaries attending these conferences made retrospect and set goals for Christianity in China. This thesis tries to figure out the changing aspects of how missionaries identified Chinese Christians especially Chinese clergymen, preachers and other native assistants as well as the reasons for these changes according to the records of general conferences and other related materials of that period.