“The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and the China Christian Council (CCC) announced their ‘Sacred Music Ministry Blueprint’ at a meeting of 40 key church leaders in Beijing on May 7,” says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley. “The ‘Blueprint’ calls for an original song library with ‘Chinese characteristics’ to be developed and then made available to churches through online apps.” 

Representative Foley says that since 2021, access to music and worship-related resources outside of state control has been severely restricted. “The government blocked access to popular Christian music apps like ‘Praise Hymn Net’ and ‘Song of Songs’, so churches no longer have access to traditional hymns and contemporary worship songs. But what churches will have access to now is music that the government believes is compatible with Chinese communism, including new ‘Sinicized’ hymns.” 

According to Pastor Bob Fu, CEO of Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s partner ministry China Aid, “The Chinese Communist Party under this brutal dictator Xi Jinping has indeed intensified its persecution against Christians in recent years. One of the aspects is to make the Christian music to be compatible with the ‘socialism spirit’, with the ‘communism spirit’, with Xi Jinping’s own communist revolutionary slogans. So basically the Christians every Sunday, before they sing the doxology, they have to rise up and sing the national communist anthem first, sing the praises of the communist heroes, instead of worshiping the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

The “Sacred Music Ministry Blueprint” published on May 7 also calls for the formation of official sacred music teams to implement these changes, as well as the hosting of Christian musical concerts featuring songs with a “Sinicization” theme. 

“Up until now, the government has been working to control every other part of Christian life—seminaries, sermons, who can become a pastor. They even install CCTV on the pulpit and in each corner of the church so that they can track who is coming to church through face recognition software,” says Representative Foley. “But Christians have at least been able to sing the old hymns, and the old hymns teach the right theology. The Communist Party knows that if they want to change Christians’ theology, they’re going to have to change the hymns.”  

Representative Foley says that now that the Chinese Communist Party has cracked down on Christian communication on the Internet, Christian radio broadcasts are a “lifeline” that can help Chinese Christians continue to access traditional hymns, accurate readings of the Bible, and preaching that “glorifies Christ, not Communism.” 

“Voice of the Martyrs broadcasts two half-hour programs into China daily,” says Representative Foley. “Chinese government enforcement is focused on blocking Christian Internet content, so Christian content sent by radio is less likely to be stopped. Plus it’s much harder for the government to find and punish Chinese Christians who are accessing Christian content on the radio. When Christians access content through websites and apps, that leaves a ‘digital trail’ that the government can follow to find and punish the person who accessed illegal content via a website or app.” 

While the content of the Voice of the Martyrs Korea daily broadcasts is mainly sermons from Chinese house church pastors along with scripture readings, Representative Foley says her organization is carefully watching the development of the hymn ‘Sinicization’ issue to see if it should add traditional hymns to its broadcasts. “We will work together with our partner China Aid and with Chinese house church leaders to ensure that Chinese Christians never lose access to the hymns that Christians around the world have sung together for hundreds of years.” 

Individuals interested in learning about or supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s work in partnership with house church Christians in China can visit www.vomkorea.com/en/china or give via electronic transfer to: 

KB Bank: 463501-01-243303 

Account Holder: (사)순교자의소리 

Please note “China” on the transfer.