On November 2, the Zhoushan Christian Council and the Ningbo Christian Council signed a friendly agreement witnessed by the religious departments of the two places, which is committed to promoting friendly cooperation between the two places in fully implementing the “Three-Self” principle of patriotism and love for religion and adhering to the direction of sinicization of religion, so as to achieve complementary advantages, mutual exchange of elements and win-win development. Zhou Yuede, deputy director of the Ningbo Civic and Religious Affairs Bureau, and Guo Jibing, deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the Zhoushan Municipal Party Committee, attended the meeting.
Ningbo Zhoushan is geographically close, close to each other, common folk customs, deep urban roots, and has a good foundation for cooperation. Under the background of Yongzhou’s integration, in order to strengthen the working ties between the Christian churches in Ningbo and Zhoushan, the two sides should give full play to their respective advantages to carry out high-level, multi-field and all-round cooperation and exchanges between the two Christians. After the signing of the agreement, cooperation and exchanges will be carried out in the following four aspects:
The first is to strengthen cooperation in Christian patriotic education between the two places. Make use of the red resources of the two places to further promote cooperation between Christians in patriotic education between the two places. Carry out study and education on “knowing the history of the party, feeling the favor of the party, listening to the party, and following the party”, consciously leading the Christianity of the two places to enhance the “four consciousness”, strengthen the “four self-confidence”, achieve the “two safeguards”, and unite their efforts to strive for the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country. The second is to strengthen the promotion of the inheritance and development of Bishop Ding Guangxun’s theological thinking. Focusing on Bishop Ding Guangxun’s theological thought, explore and explain the rich exposition and practical heritage of his theological ideas of patriotism, love for religion, and Sinicization of Christianity. The third is to strengthen cooperation between the two places in various fields of Christian work. Continue to exchange and share the experience of the two Christian churches in promoting the direction of sinicization of Christianity, share the characteristics of Christian work in the two places, explore the management characteristics of Christian sites in the two places, and further promote the improvement of the level of Christian management in the two places. The fourth is to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between Christian talents in the two places. On the basis of the platform of Ningbo Training Base of Zhejiang Theological Seminary, we carry out all-round training cooperation for Christian clergy and hired personnel through various forms such as directional commissioned training and on-the-job training.
Shan Weixiang, vice president of the Christian Council of China and president of the Ningbo Christian Association, said that the two Christian churches in Zhoushan and Ningbo have formed friendly and cooperative relations for the first time, and hope to take this opportunity to realize the form of cooperation into a project, strengthen the training of pastoral staff in the two places, jointly hold the “Seminar on Bishop Ding Guangxun’s Thinking on the Sinicization of Christianity and Theology,” and exchange information on opposing heretical cults, so as to bring the friendship of the two places to the healthy development of Christianity.