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95 views4 pages

Reading Report 1

Uploaded by

hilaryt0626
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Canadian Chinese School of Theology Vancouver

_________________________________________

Reading Report

__________________________________________

Master of Divinity Degree Course

INTN 01&02 Internship Study Ⅰ&Ⅱ

Rev. Dr. Yiu Tong Chan

__________________________________________

Yue (Hilary) Tong

Student ID: 21253

October 10, 2023


1

Reading Report

This systematic book on ecclesiology flew flawlessly from the scholarly review to practical

suggestions. The majority of its content is devoted to the investigation of church development

since Jesus’ time, from the apostles’ time to later generations in church history. Through the

history of church development, there is a clear influence of societal, political, and cultural

factors that contributed to how the church operated, changing its form and operation during

different times without ever losing its essence. Therefore, his proposal on how Chinese

churches ought to renew its practices is solidly grounded in biblical authority, historical

practices, and also contemporary factors and provides valuable insights for introductory

seminary students.

The biblical account of the church covers both the theological definition of the church and the

description of it in various NT books. For the theological definition, Tsang quotes Clowney to

conclude that the essence of the church is a separated group of people that is now in Christ

Jesus through faith, formed by the work of God by the resurrection of Christ and the work of

the Holy Spirit.1 Tsang goes on to categorize the various attributes of this special faith

community that now belongs to God through exegesis and hermeneutics. The nature of the

church includes the ministry of serving God including testifying for God.2 As for the

description of NT churches, Tsang references Minear and Dulles in their classification and

summaries of various patterns of church descriptions in the NT.3 With an attempt to conclude

1
Rennie L. Tsang, An Investigation of the Renewal of Church Ministry, Revised and enlarged edition,
(Hong Kong: Alliance Bible Seminary, 2006), p.22-23.
2
Tsang, p.28.
3
Tsang, p.34-35.
2

principles and apply them to modern churches, a few of his ideas stood out to me. The first

reminder is to take careful balance between church institution and the needs of the believers,

for institutions only exist to serve the needs of the believers and thus needs to be flexible and

effective. Another great reminder is the necessity to bring back the joy and excitement in the

worship of the faith community, truly experiencing the joy of a new life through outward

celebration.4 The last reminder is the absolute significance of God’s words not only present,

but serving as the central focus in any church gathering (small or big), so that it would not

simply be a socializing occasion, which sadly depicts the reality of many churches today. 5

The emphasis on unity and love as a key trait of the church is to be noted.6

The next big section touches on the diverse church characteristics and patterns throughout

church history. A wide ranges of materials and descriptions of churches are surveyed from the

Early Church, to the time of the Church Fathers, to the Middle Ages, the Reformation, and

the various movements of church revivals. Through the church development, it is evident that

churches functioned differently based on the realities of the time and the demand of various

mechanism that could address the issues being present in these times. The historical review of

the root of various church practices, especially those in present-day denominations is

extremely insightful. What can be learned is the way how churches remained sensitive to the

needs of their time and how they adapted, as well as the principles of such adaptations. In this

section of the book, I am particularly stricken by the notion of universal priesthood in the

church, proposed by Tertullian and later strongly encouraged by Luther.7 Although certainly a
4
Tsang, p.43-44.
5
Tsang, p.53.
6
Tsang, p.60, 62, and 66.
7
Tsang, p.146, 163-167.
3

familiar concept, this book really opened by eyes to see how pastoral staff and elders only

served as administrative leaders in possessing authorities for decision making and their focus

really should be training and equipping laity leaders. It broadens my view of understanding

full-time ministry as equipping new church leaders and servants, in order to expand the scope

of church ministries and minister to more people.

The last part of the book is the practical suggestions from Tsang to Chinese churches today.

He gave an extended list from worship to church discipline, how he believes that Chinese

churches today ought to renew its practices, in light of all the biblical and historical sources

he just mentions. This section is perhaps the most practical section in the book. In this

section, I find the importance of spiritual practices rather refreshing, such as silence and

solitude, prayer, spiritual journal, and mentorship.8 It is also rather amazing how he goes into

some practical steps how to conduct caring and discipleship in churches, which is very useful

for my internship. As he suggested, churches should certainly have a renewed concentration

on building strong Christian families and training laity leaders.

Overall, this book is a great summary and introduction to ecclesiology and provides valuable

insights and reminders for me personally as well as my understanding of what the church is,

and how the church ought to operate, adapting to its time.

Bibliography

Tsang, Rennie L. An Investigation of the Renewal of Church Ministry. Revised and enlarged
Edition. Hong Kong: Alliance Bible Seminary, 2006.

8
Tsang, p.233-240.

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