On March 28, 2018, CCC&TSPM announced a declaration entitled "Sinicization of Christianity" and "Principle for Promoting Chinese Christianity in China for the Next Five Years." The contextualization of the Christianity in China campaign has contributed to different efforts: lectures, academic seminars, training courses, experience exchange meetings, and Chinese art and history exhibits. This month, we selected four articles to give you a glimpse of recent work during the campaign.

Worship & praise are considered one of the most important church ministries in China. This month we selected four new and old articles about music worship to give you a glimpse of the ministry in China. Some workers claim that the worship part just serves for the proclamation of the word of God afterward, and worship ministry has been greatly impacted by the Southeastern Asian style, which highlights "singing with the heart" rather than techniques. A music producer holds that it will take two generations for Chinese worship to really rise as young people embrace a better music environment and higher education. "Hip-hop," a controversial issue in the church, was once hotly debated among the Christian community after being used in an evangelistic music meeting to reach millennials.

Chinese people seem to have two new years. While joining the world to celebrate New Year's Day on January 1, people across China embrace the Chinese New Year, which usually falls in late January and early February. After spending the most important weekly holiday in China with their families and friends, Chinese people gradually resume their daily work and lives. As China has been de-escalating COVID-19 restrictions, many churches hold retreats or gatherings to revive the spirituality of the staff and the congregation after shifting from closure to reopening during the past three years. Attendance is not as expected, but some do not lose hope as the church will recover with the regular resumption of church ministries.

Amongst groups of Chinese pastors, the most discussed topics are how to increase the membership, how to multiply the number of meeting points, and pastors' feelings and reflections on the objective environment. But few pastors have had a deep, collective discussion on how the church is cultivating the "new generation of successors." In this monthly newsletter, we choose a few of these interviews, in which different pastors talk about how to raise the next generation of church leaders.

From January 8, 2023, China has downgraded COVID-19 from Class A infection to Class B infection, reopened its door to the outside, and removed anti-COVID measures at ports of entry for many imported things, as announced on December 26, 2022. This signifies a great shift in COVID-19 prevention policy during the past three years. The year 2022 had seen ups and downs and mixed feelings for the church in China. While we recall the past year, a new era has come as we have the task of rebuilding. As we begin 2023, the editorial team of China Christian Daily has selected the top 10 Christian news stories of 2022 based on the number of views, keyword searches, shares, and prominence of articles.

As the world enters into the post-pandemic era, many church leaders have been rethinking how to transform the church. Some shift to pastoral ministry which focuses on building relationships with the congregation, some prefer the "micro church" to return to the early church model, and others urge traditional churches to reach urban people with an understanding of their characteristics and their needs. Different explorations are on the way.

This month we turn to pastors' salaries, a very "sensitive" issue in the Chinese church. A large portion of church leaders hold that pastors who are called by God should "live by faith" - a famous slogan initiated by Hudson Taylor - popular in the Chinese Christian community. They regard it as a path of the cross every pastor should carry and a calling from God rather than a profession. Grassroots pastors, particularly rural pastors who serve in poor areas, underpaid or even not paid, are difficult to make ends meet and the younger generation are more likely to work outside the church. Seeing the financial need of raising families, some leaders promote setting up a payment system or a special fund to guarantee their daily life.

East or West, which is best? The history of Christianity in China must relate to the West as the gospel was introduced by foreign missionaries into the country. An American Chinese church history professor explores how Christianity took root in China owing to his Christian family heritage, urging the Chinese church to feel proud of its accomplishments and learn from the missionaries. However, a Chinese pastor, calls on Christians in China to be cautious about overseas theological education and preaching because the West doesn't share the same situation as the East. She adds that many questions arise as most church history material is written from the Western-centered perspective. The Chinese must balance westernization and localization.

September 1 will be the beginning of the full implementation of the Administrative Measures for Internet Religious Information Services which stipulates religious groups must obtain governmental approval to share religious information online. As the new religious internet regulations came into force on March 1, let's take a look at the past months what the church in China has achieved from the legal aspect to cope with the challenge. The registered church has been attempting to pass relevant exams and obtain the permits and some of them succeed, while the house church has suffered WeChat account demolition, website shutdown, and restrictions, trying to explore any alternative to release Christian material online.

In China, there are 22 registered seminaries where students graduate to serve in TSPM churches and numerous underground seminaries and Bible schools. This summer thousands of students graduate from official and unofficial seminaries and schools. Usually, students are recommended and funded by their churches or pastors to enroll in a seminary then they study for one to four years. After graduation with diplomas, they choose to go back to work in mother churches or move to other places. Sadly, their average salaries are not high, compared to normal jobs. Suffering from financial difficulties without a support system or under misconceptions such as "being poorer meaning more godly", some work part-time to support their families and ministries, while some leave the church for secular jobs. This month we compile their graduation news and stories to give you a glimpse of this group.

Every year June 26 is the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. This month we focus on the status quo and stories of gospel-centered drug rehabilitation institutions in China. More than 30 Christian-based drug rehabilitation organizations have been established in Greater China. Different from general drug rehabilitation centers, they treat drug addiction as a spiritual issue that the root cause of drug addiction is treated through the Christian faith. Their daily program is dominated by religious activities, and their treatment outcome is better than traditional rehabilitation centers. Meanwhile, overseas Chinese pastors also found similar institutions in southeastern Asia.