6F Lounge Bishop K.H. TING
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
| On December 14, 2007 in Nanjing China, the President of International Christian University, Dr. Norihiko Suzuki, bestowed an honorary doctor's degree on Bishop K.H. Ting. Bishop Ting has been one of the most distinguished Christian leaders and theologians in the People's Republic of China since the 1950's. It was indeed most appropriate for ICU to honor Bishop Ting, for in China he has embodied so much of what ICU attempts to nurture in its own students. He is a well-respected international figure, he is a deeply committed Christian and he is widely-known for his intellectual accomplishments. He was born in 1915 in Shanghai, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in all of China, and was raised in an environment which was deeply influenced by both Chinese and Western cultures. He pursued his undergraduate education at St. John's University in Shanghai, an Episcopalian institution with an outstanding reputation where all courses were taught in English, except courses in Chinese language and literature. After completing his B.A. in 1937, just at the time of the Japanese invasion of Central China, he went on to pursue theological studies in the School of Theology at St. John's University. He completed his B.D. in 1942 and was ordained a deacon and then a priest in that same year. In 1946, K.H. Ting, accompanied by his young wife, Siu May, was invited by the Canadian Student Christian Movement (SCM) to serve for a year in Canada as a mission secretary. Both of them then spent the following year in New York City, where K.H. completed a master's degree at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University. For the next three years, he worked as a secretary of the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) in Geneva, Switzerland. It was there that Professor Kiyoko Cho, who has been on the faculty at ICU since the early 1950's, became lifelong friends of K.H. and his wife, Siu May. It was not until 1951, two years after the Communist government had been formed in China, that K.H. Ting and his family returned to their homeland. On his return to China, K.H. Ting came to be actively involved in the new church which was rapidly emerging in China and in the Ginling Theological Seminary in Nanjing. He played a seminal role in the establishment of the National Committee for the Three-Self Patriotic Movement in 1954 and became its Chairperson in 1981. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the China Christian Council in 1980 and, in 1981, he became the President of the Nanjing Theological Seminary, a position which he still holds today. Then, in 1985, Bishop Ting and a group of well-known Christians and non-Christians, established one of the most respected NGOs in all of China, the Amity Foundation, which focuses on education, social service and publications. Beyond the church, Bishop Ting also came to be exceptionally influential. In 1954, he was a founding member of the National People's Congress and at one point in the 1970's, he served as a Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Although between 1961 and 1979, Bishop Ting never traveled outside of China, in recent years he has traveled widely and has become an articulate spokesperson for the church in China. He has been a wonderful bridge between China and the rest of the world. He has also articulated a deep and abiding concern for the spiritual and ethical dimensions of life. This became particularly apparent to his friends and colleagues around the world in May of 1989, when tens of thousands of people occupied Tiananmen Square, he wrote: "I have joined with some 40 other members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to propose that there should be an emergency meeting of the Standing Committee to be called as soon as possible to discuss the whole question so that the democratic process could be facilitated and bloodshed avoided." Then in the aftermath of the government's crackdown on June 4th, he later wrote: "The turn of events in China has been most tragic and shocking. We grieve over those who died. We remember before God their families in bereavement, and those who were wounded." "We pray for the faith which assures us that the visions of the young and the dreams of the aged are not lost to God's memory, and will in his good time come to fruition." With the establishment of close working relationships between International Christian University and five institutions in Nanjing - Nanjing University, Nanjing Normal University, Jinling Women's College, Nanjing Theological Seminary and the Amity Foundation - what better person is there for ICU to honor than Bishop K.H. Ting? International Christian University will always be reminded of the global orientation, the deep faith and the academic excellence of this friend and partner from the People's Republic of China. |
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