National Christian Council of China

The National Christian Council of China (NCC) was a Protestant organization in China. Its members were both Chinese Protestant churches and foreign missionary societies and its purpose was to promote cooperation among these churches and societies. The NCC was formed in 1922 in the aftermath of the Edinburgh Missionary Conference.

In its formative years, the NCC became involved in the endeavors of Chinese nationalists. It sided with protesters in the May Thirtieth Incident and went as far as calling for the re-evaluation of "unequal treaties" China had with foreign powers. This angered foreign missionaries working in China. The NCC took an increasingly liberal theological stance, leading some foreign missionary organizations like the China Inland Mission and the Christian and Missionary Alliance to resign from its ranks.^[1]

During Nationalist China, the council undertook many projects to improve literacy, education of women, living conditions in the countryside, and disaster management, although the Great Depression hampered them. The Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II further damaged the NCC's efforts, which were reduced to mostly helping war orphans while the leadership of the organization was at large.^[2]

After the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the NCC came under government pressure. It was sidelined from talks with the new rulers, which were instead handled by pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Protestants. The NCC convened its first national meeting after the war in October 1950, only to approve a pro-communist "Christian Manifesto" and support the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). Neither had been on its agenda before the meeting, but the NCC was unable to resist the pressure. The NCC ceased to exist and Chinese Protestantism would continue to operate under the government-controlled TSPM, but without foreign missionaries who had to leave China.^[3]