이 글에 대하여
고든 멜튼(J. Gordon Melton)이 엮은 『미국 종교 백과사전』 5판의 「(지방) 교회」 항목입니다.
작은 무리(Little Flock) 또는 지방 교회로 불리는 이 흐름이 1920년대 중국에서 니수조(Ni Shu-tsu), 곧 그 이름을 영어로 옮긴 워치만 니(1903-1972)에 의해 시작되었다고 적습니다. 조부가 회중교회 목사였고 부모가 신실한 감리교인이었던 중국인 그리스도인 가정에서 태어났습니다. 그는 본래 이름을 토셍(To-Sheng), 곧 '파수꾼'으로 바꾸었는데, 자기가 하나님을 위해 사람들을 일으키는 종치는 이라는 것을 늘 되새기려는 뜻이었습니다.
이름뿐인 신앙의 청년기를 보내다 감리교 전도자 도라 유(余慈度)를 통해 회심했고, 곧 독립 선교사 마가렛 바버(Margaret E. Barber)와 함께 일하게 되었습니다. 그녀를 통해 그는 존 넬슨 다비와 배타적 플리머스 형제회의 글을 알게 되었고, 다비의 초교파적인 교회 조직 방식을 받아들여 머지않아 복음주의 그리스도인 작은 무리의 인도자로 떠올랐습니다.
1930년대에 들어 그는 제임스 테일러가 이끄는 형제회 갈래와 접촉했고 그들의 초청으로 1933년 영국을 방문했습니다. 그러나 그쪽은 곧 그와의 관계를 끊었는데, 오스틴 스파크스(T. Austin-Sparks)가 이끄는 비형제회 모임인 오너 오크 그리스도인 교제와 허락 없이 교제했다는 이유였습니다.
복주에서 조촐하게 시작된 그의 운동은 중국 전역으로 퍼졌습니다. 1930년대에 그는 널리 다니며 회중들을 세웠는데, 교단의 분열에 맞서 그리스도인의 하나됨을 드러내는 기본 표현으로서 한 도시에 하나의 지방 교회만 있어야 한다는 생각 위에 선 것이었습니다.
영문 원문
Encyclopedia of American Religions, 5th Edition
by J. Gordon Melton
The (Local) Church
The group that is variously known as the Little Flock or the Local Church was founded in the 1920s in China by Ni Shu-tsu, popularly known by the English translation of his name, Watchman Nee (1903-1972). Nee was born into a Chinese Christian family, his grandfather serving as a Congregationalist minister and his parents faithful Methodists. He changed his given name, Ni Shu-tsu (Henry Nee) to To-Sheng {Watchman), as a constant reminder to himself that he was a bell-ringer whose purpose was to raise up people for God.
From a nominally religious youth, he was converted by Dora Yu, a Methodist evangelist, and soon afterward began working with Margaret E. Barber, an independent missionary through whom he discovered the writings of John Nelson Darby and the exclusive Plymouth Brethren. He adopted Darby's nondenominational approach to church organization and soon emerged as the leader of a small band of evangelical Christians. By the end of the decade he had made contact with that branch of the Brethren led by James Taylor and at their invitation visited England in 1933. They, however, soon broke relationships with Nee because of his unauthorized fellowship with the Honor Oak Christian Fellowship, a non-Brethren group headed by T. Austin Sparks.
From its modest beginning in Foochow, Nee's movement spread through China. During the 1930s, he traveled wide and founded congregations based upon his idea that there should be only one local church (i.e., congregation) in each city as the basic expression of the unity of Christianity (in the face of divisive denominationalism). More than two local churches were raised up by his ministry between 1922 and 1952 (when the Chinese revolution ended the spread of Christianity). Nee also authored more than 50 books, mostly on Christian life and church life. His mature view of the church is found in his most famous book, The Normal Christian Church Life. He also authored The Spiritual Man, in which he developed his understanding of the tripartite nature of human beings as body, soul, and spirit.
The new People's Republic of China, following its rise to power in 1949, accused Nee (and by association the churches affiliated with him) of being a spy for the Americans and the Nationalist government. He was first exiled from Shanghai and then in 1952 imprisoned. He died in prison in 1972.
During the 1930s, Nee gained a follower in the person of Witness Lee, a former Protestant minister who founded, established, and became an elder of the church at Chefoo. He joined Nee in the ministry in 1932 and within a few years was among Nee's most valuable assistants. After a three-year absence fighting tuberculosis, Lee rejoined Nee in full-time work in 1948, on the eve of the Chinese Revolution. Nee sent Lee to Taiwan where the church was to flourish and spread around the Pacific Basin.