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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, good morning.
To my dear excom members, welcome to China, welcome to Hangzhou, welcome to this opening prayer!
The theme of today’s morning prayer is Women Bearing Witness to Hope, and today is WCC’s Thursdays in Black. So it may be appropriate for us to reflect briefly on the Book of Ruth—one of only two books in the Bible named after a woman. Choosing the Book of Ruth to reflect from a Chinese perspective, not only because its story helps us draw connections to the experiences of women today, but also because it carries important messages that are relevant to the church in China, and even churches around the world.
I trust that we all know about the Book of Ruth well, so I didn’t select any verses for us to read. For many women in the world, whether or not they are familiar with the Book of Ruth, the story of Naomi and Ruth has become their collective stories. When life grows harsh—such as when they lose their means of support, as depicted in the Book of Ruth—so many women refuse to be crushed. Instead, they summon the courage and resilience to fight persistently, seizing every chance to survive and even to strive for a better life. They exercise wisdom to make sound decisions when needed and lay thoughtful plans for their futures. They are steadfast, hardworking, humble, compassionate and with many good qualities. Because of who they are and what they do, their life is with hope. They are able to make a profound impact not only on their own lives, but also on their communities and even on human history.
Women have borne such witness to hope across nearly all walks of life in countless ways, contributing greatly to human development. In China, for example, women account for 43% of the total employed population and 45.8% of scientific and technological professionals. Chinese women have made outstanding contributions in fields like aerospace, biomedicine, ocean expeditions, and artificial intelligence. Women have also excelled in sports: women athletes have won over 60% of medals for China in the past four Summer Olympic Games. In 2024, female students made up more than half of the total student population in higher education in China.
Within Chinese churches, women also hold leadership roles in seminaries and congregations. Of all ordained pastors, 42% are women, and numerous women serve as elders, deacons, and volunteers in church ministry.
Yet, not all women can embrace the same hope as figures like Ruth and Naomi, or the women we just mentioned. For many women worldwide, even sustaining basic survival is a struggle—let alone living a normal, decent life or enjoying gender equality. According to UN statistics, 676 million women and girls currently live within 50km of deadly conflict, the highest number recorded since the 1990s. In 2024, 64 million MORE women faced food insecurity than men. Without action, by 2030, 351 million women and girls will be trapped in extreme poverty, and 896 million women will lack access to clean cooking fuel and technologies.
As we all know, women’s challenges cannot be solved by women alone. These are not JUST “women’s challenges”—they are challenges for humanity and human society as a whole. Addressing them requires widespread awareness and collective effort. The WCC has set a strong example in this regard: over the past few decades, it has launched numerous projects and initiatives to promote gender equality, empower women, and advance social justice—bringing hope to women globally. Some of the WCC ongoing efforts, include: the Gender Justice: Just Community of Women and Men Initiative, the Pan African Women’s Ecumenical Empowerment Network, the Women’s Participation in Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, the Ecumenical Network of Global Actors for Gender Justice, Theological Reflection and Feminist Theology Projects, and Thursdays in Black.
WCC has also been deeply engaged in poverty alleviation. Through direct action, advocacy, and faith-based development work, it addresses poverty and social injustice—rooted in a profound commitment to human dignity and care for creation.
The church in China has also taken significant steps to promote gender equality; my colleague will share more with you after our prayer session. For now, I will briefly highlight China’s broader efforts in this area. After years of hard work, China has achieved historic progress in advancing women’s causes, lifting 690 million women out of poverty and meeting the poverty reduction targets of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ahead of schedule. The average life expectancy of women in China has risen to 80.9 years in 2025, and women’s overall health has improved significantly. The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed China as one of 10 countries with high performance in maternal and child health. China will also continue to support global women’s causes. At the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women held last month in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced, over the next five years, China will: donate an additional 10 million U.S. dollars to UN Women; allocate 100 million U.S. dollars from China’s Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund to implement women and girls’ development cooperation projects with international organizations; invite 50,000 women to China for exchange and training programs; and establish a Global Center for Women's Capacity Building.
I am certain that many of you, your churches, denominations, and home countries have also done a great deal to promote gender equality and improve lives of both women and men. I look forward to learning more from you during our meeting.
The Book of Ruth is more than a story about women—it carries messages relevant to our church, society, and global community today. Because of the time limit, I will highlight just a few points.
When Elimelech’s family fled Bethlehem to Moab from famine, the Moabites did not shun them for being Israelites of a different faith. The family found shelter in Moab, kept their beliefs, and Elimelech’s two sons even married Moabite women. Later, when Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, the townsfolk did not look down upon her for her Moabite identity. Instead, they welcomed her, protected her, and secured her livelihood. Although Ruth followed Naomi and took the Lord God as her own, her Moabite ethnic heritage and identity remained unchanged.
In her faith, Naomi clung firmly to the Lord God with unwavering devotion. Even after losing her husband and two sons, she never abandoned her faith. Yet she did not force her daughters-in-law to convert to her religion, nor did she pressure them to follow her back to Bethlehem. Instead, she respected their freedom of choice. In hardship, these three women of different faiths lived harmoniously, showed mutual kindness, and prayed for each other’s blessings.
Such message is particularly important for the Chinese church, as it calls on some Chinese Christians to liberate from a fundamentalist theology brought by some Western Protestant missionaries, which taught that Christians had little to do with non-Christians, Christian identity mattered more than cultural and national identities, the goal of evangelism was to convert as many people as possible by all means, including coercion, and other religions were simply none-scenes or even “of the devil”.
The Book of Ruth will help renew Chinese Christians’ theological thinking, making it more open, inclusive, and balanced. This renewal aligns with the theology of evangelism developed over the past 100 years through 14 world mission conferences, organized by IMC, DWME and CWME, addressing the matters of the gospel and culture, mission and evangelism, and interfaith dialogue.
It will also help Chinese Christians better appreciate and embrace the “theology of love” initiated by Bishop K. H. Ting, which aims to rectify the theological perspective of some Chinese Christians. As a preeminent leader and theologian of the Chinese church, Bishop Ting argued that love is God’s highest attribute: God creates and sustains the world through love, so Christian love must be expressed in loving all people, including those of different faiths and of no religious faith. He believed that God’s love is present in all cultures, so Chinese Christianity should respect and integrate into Chinese traditional and modern culture, and theology should be contextual. His hope was that Chinese Protestantism, being a post-denominational church, would continue to transcend doctrinal differences, appreciate diverse theological perspectives, and actively engage in society and thereby promote church unity and social harmony.
The theology of love and the Book of Ruth both offer insights into how to live as Christian witnesses in our world. In fact, God’s love is strongly emphasized in the Book of Ruth—though not directly mentioned, it is implied in the verses that speak of God’s blessings and kindness. Love is visible in the compassion and kindness shared not only by Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, but also between Naomi and Orpah, and between Ruth and the people of Bethlehem.
When people have love, compassion and kindness, they are more likely to be willing to respect differences in tradition, culture, race, ethnicity, religion, and ideology—rather than seeking to ignore, criticize, or diminish those differences. Of course, love, compassion, and kindness are not merely concepts, ideals, or visions; they demand actions—bold, tangible actions, just like what the countless women and men, the WCC, the churches worldwide, and the sectors in society and governments around the world have demonstrated.
As we commit ourselves to promoting church unity, gender equality, and social justice; to engaging in interfaith dialogue and strengthening interreligious trust and respect; and praying for, advocating for, and building peace and hope in a divided world—may the Book of Ruth speak to us. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Manhong Lin, Ph.D,
General Secretary & Vice-President, China Christian Council
Professor and Doctoral Advisor of Christian Ethics, Nanjing Union Theological Seminary
