Sharon’s China Adventure Part 4

Now…..today was the first day of the conference at Nanjing Union Theological Seminary.  My presentation on church and society was paired with a presentation on feminist theology in the Chinese church which was very interesting.  The professor began with looking at Mary as the traditional model for religious women.   In China 70% of new members are women and over 40% of clergy are women.  This probably blows your stereotypes of Chinese society out the window.  Essentially the speaker was pondering “a woman’s place in the church”.  It brought back a sea of memories from my earliest days as a ministry candidate through some difficult experiences when being interviewed for calls later on in my ministry.

The good news is that my overview of the work of WPUC was well-received.  Kudos to all of you for being a church family that is so worthy of story telling!  I feel so blessed to share ministry with all of you.

We are all bushed.  Since we are staying in downtown Nanjing and the seminary is in the suburbs, we were on the bus at 7:30 am.  Ugh.  This only further serves to make the point that I am not a morning person.

I took a big  bag of Canada, Manitoba and Winnipeg pins that the students scooped up with great excitement.  I’m not sure if they were quite so enthused listening to an entire day of lectures.  By the look of their attentiveness to their smart phones, they found other ways to amuse themselves.

Once the final presentation are complete at noon, we’ll lunch at the seminary and then head to the Amity Foundation and Publishing Company.  They are the world’s largest bible publisher and a significant player in social service ministries in China.

The weather was warm and  pleasant today although you always have to contend with the haze.  Fortunately, we have news that it may not be quite as dire in Beijing as we had been warned.

Be well and keep me in your prayers.