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SCMP Reporter

A SUCCESSION crisis is looming in China's official Protestant church after the death of Bishop Shen Yifan last month, Christian sources say.

  Bishop Shen, 66, was the general-secretary of the Christian Council of China. He died of heart failure while swimming in Weihai in Shandong province last month.

  He was widely regarded as the natural successor to the 79-year-old Bishop Ding Guangxun who heads both the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and its twin body, the Christian Council.

   'I don't see any outstanding person who can succeed Bishop Ding Guangxun at this moment,' the editor of Bridge magazine in Hong Kong, Deng Zhaoming, said.

  Although Bishop Ding is known to be in fairly good health, authorities are believed to be searching for suitable candidates to take over the helm from him.

  The Reverend Chen Zemin, a leading authority on theology in China and disciplinary head of the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, was tipped to take over from Bishop Shen but was unlikely to make a double-leap to succeed Bishop Ding, sources said.

  Christian sources said another problem plaguing the Protestant Church in China was the fast fading authority of the TSPM - the officially sanctioned church.

  They said that in recent years, the TSPM not only had problems mediating between local churches and government departments, but also often had trouble working with the religious affairs bureaus in local areas.

  The failure to find a suitable successor could further hamper the prestige and authority of the TSPM, sources said.

  Although Bishop Ding is known to have put a great deal of effort into promoting young pastors and church leaders, none are considered eligible to take over the leadership.

  Sources said two vice-presidents of the Christian Council of China were most likely to take over from Bishop Ding after the untimely death of Bishop Shen.

  Although the two, Cao Shengjie and Han Wenzao, have not yet been appointed pastors, the sources said both were considered reliable by the authorities.

  One of the few fundamentalists who have joined the TSPM, Ms Cao is considered a respected religious figure in China.

  Mr Han is believed to be a church functionary with a a conservative reputation among mainland Christians.

  Among the younger candidates, the Reverend Pan Cui'an of the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, and the Reverend Gao Ying of the Chongwenmen Church in Beijing, were said to be the front-runners.

  But according to a knowledgeable source, neither of them had a good chance.

  The exiled religious leader, Zhao Fusan, a former vice-president of the China Academy of Social Sciences, is said to be the 'dark horse' waiting in the wings.



Church faces crisis following bishop's death