True Jesus Church

The True Jesus Church (Zhen yesu jiaohui) is a charismatic indigenous Protestant group that emerged in the early decades of the twentieth century, along with the Little Flock and the Jesus Family. Formally established in Beijing in 1917, the group developed primarily in the central interior provinces during the 1920s, especially Henan and Hunan. The church’s founders were strongly influenced by the Apostolic Faith Mission of the American Pentecostal Church, and established the church on its charismatic practices and doctrines, especially baptism of the Holy Spirit and super-natural gifts such as prophecy, healing and speaking in tongues. The church was also exclusivist, upholding Seventh-day Sabbath, and mobilized by highly millenarian beliefs. Despite its strongly anti-foreign stance, the TJC nevertheless came under attack in 1953.

Its leader, Isaac Wei, was arrested, and authorities forcibly dissolved its organizational structure and assimilated it into the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). Several prominent members relocated the TJC’s headquarters to Taiwan, and then to Los Angeles in 1985. In the reform era, the TJC has experienced a dramatic revival on the mainland, mostly in central inland provinces, and has evangelized aggressively abroad, particularly among overseas Chinese. The church now claims a membership of over 1 million within China, and a total of 1.5 million in thirty-nine countries.

Further reading

Deng, Zhaoming (2001). ‘Indigenous Chinese Pentecostal Denominations’. China Study Journal 16. 3:5–22.

JASON KINDOPP