True Jesus Church: The Dundas Street Ultra-Conservative Chinese Sect holding together an isolated community
In the 1980s and 1990s, the announced handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China PR produced a wave of outward migration from the British ruled city. People feared the rule of the Communist state, with many of their parents having escaped Mao Zedong’s violent cultural revolution in the 1960s. Thus, many Hong Kongers migrated to Britain in this period and prominent British Chinese communities swelled throughout the country.
Sunderland, although not on the scale seen in Newcastle, London, or Liverpool, was not exempt from this. Hong Kongers migrated throughout the country, seeking new locations to set up businesses to earn a living including restaurants and takeaways. Some of them also brought with them a religion, a distinctly Chinese Christian sect known as “The True Jesus Church” of which you may have noticed in Dundas Street in Monkwearmouth.
The True Jesus Church is not a mainstream Christian faith. It is a sect, similar to Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which claims to be the one true and exclusive church god set up on the earth promoting an “end of times” narrative. However, what is unique about The “True Jesus Church” is that it is not of western origin, as most Christian denominations are, but it is distinctly Chinese in character.
The True Jesus church originated in Beijing in 1917 by a Chinese man, Wei Enbo. Enbo claimed that he was personally visited and baptised by Jesus, who instructed him to set up his church. Enbo made several prophecies claiming the world was going to end soon, but none were fulfilled. It was a time of change in China, whereby the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the opening of the country to western influence promoted many new systems of thought, with Christianity being one of them. Enbo had been taught by Pentecostal missionaries, and this rubs off in some of the church’s teachings as later will demonstrate.
The True Jesus Church soon became of the most prominent indigenous Christian churches within China, but change was afoot, the country was torn apart by foreign invasion by Japan and then Civil War. In 1949 the Communist Party of China led by Mao Zedong seized power. Mao sought to drive out foreign influences and religion out of the country imposing militant, atheistic communism as the core doctrine built around his own revolutionary theory, and thus the True Jesus Church was soon violently oppressed.
Pushed out of Mainland China and existing only in the margins, the True Jesus Church evolved in the latter half of the 20th century into a Chinese diaspora faith which took root in the peripheral free territories around China where Chinese people lived, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. From here, the religion found its way into western countries through migrant and diaspora communities, which is precisely how the church in Sunderland appeared first emerging in the 1970s, with the 80s and 90s wave of migration accumulating into the Dundas Street church that was built in 1994.
Many of its original founders originally operated local takeaway businesses, and after decades of hard work have now retired or advanced, with the younger generation having reaped the benefits of that and been highly educated. Of course, as that might suggest, hard work is a strong part of their ethos given their background. Some of the more successful members have invested in private education for their children, such as family “C” we will mention here, but not name. Having worked hard, they invested in their sole daughter to go to a private school, and then to study as a Doctor. All young people are likewise taught to be musically gifted, learning instruments such as the piano.
Although the True Jesus Church claims to be a universal church for all people, it is for all intents and purposes a Chinese community organisation which is defined by its strong ethnic character, insularity and an ultra conservative code of behaviour and culture which more so mirrors Chinese Confucian traditionalism than any kind of western Christian faith, making it strict, collectivist and non egalitarian. Members are expected to strictly and outwardly obey in a way which far exceeds western Christian faiths, and all non economic life is centred around the church.
However, the church also has some highly unusual teachings too, which only deepen their isolation from non-members. One that stands out in particular is their interpretation of “tongues” in the book of acts. To show they have “received the Holy Ghost”, a key standard of faith members must outwardly manifest strange and unsettling noises while praying. This turns every single prayer setting into what outsiders may feel to be very loud, disturbing and deeply uncomfortable session of mass hysteria, as members make incomprehensible noises.
These kinds of teachings, as well as their ethnic Identity, have created barriers preventing the church’s engagement with the wider local community even as it professes to be evangelical with a mission to take their gospel to others. In fact, because of the ethnic minority factor and the alienation that brings, the church in Sunderland has a distinct sense of insecurity, paranoia and distrust towards locals in general.
Non members, referred to as “truth seekers” are not allowed to turn up uninvited, must be accompanied by a chaperone at all times and are treated with suspicion, even as members are superficially polite. To simply turn up uninvited to a service as one could in another service would be met with unease, although not rejection, ideally, you must make an appointment. A white person turning up is ultimately a “what are you doing? Can I help you?” response.
One will find that many of their older generation members are fearful and hesitant to use English, and will not interact with outsiders. This is not personal so to speak, but it is an underlying cultural fear. The us vs. them dynamic operates as a large train of thought which is fortified by the church’s explicit demand for separation with the outside world, making it a powerful vehicle for community cohesion and fortification.
Anyone can observe how this lingering insecurity is baked into the very design of the building itself. Its lower floors have no windows apart from small slits near the ceiling, letting light in, but preventing outside eyes from looking inward. One can feel from this whole siege mentality a history of hardship living in the climate of Sunderland, facing alienation, racism and rejection. While Chinese people are taught to be cordial, polite, direct and non-confrontational, they face a local culture premised on being very direct, straight up and blunt. The author imagines the riots of August 2nd in Sunderland must have terrified them.
Considering this, should sympathise with the reality that some locals have not treat them well over the decades. When Matchdays arrive, there is usually a sense of unease about potential drink and disorder from the fans. It is not uncommon for alcohol to be left on the church walls, or even thrown at their cars.
Because of these factors, the True Jesus Church lives in splendid isolation in Sunderland, it is a spiritual North Korea, giving no attention whatsoever to the broader city or community as your local parish priests and vicars might, nor does it care for local charities, causes or compassion for the poor. Even not considering the cultural factors, its exclusivism requires that it never engages with any other faiths at all, even for the greater good. Hence while the Mormons like to get involved in Sunderland based initiatives, TJC will not, because separation is fundamental.
Yet for its members, it is a lifeline and a critical coping mechanism. Having left behind the bustling scenes of Hong Kong for the cold and sometimes rough around the edges life of Sunderland, it is the only remnant of the world they left behind and the traditional life they once had. Thus, The True Jesus Church is an extended family network where most people are distinctly related or have distinct kinship ties, with many of their local members specifically originating from Hong Kong’s Lamma Island. When migrants come to a foreign country, they gravitate towards where there are already existing networks and contacts, because loneliness is a scary thing.
When viewed like this, the church is just a shell really and the faith is just a conduit for traditional Chinese values and way of life, even more Conservative and traditional than the people of mainland China live in today due to the influence of Communism and Mao’s legacy, who sought to try and eradicate Chinese traditional culture, violently, in the “Cultural Revolution” beginning in 1966.
But this “traditional remnant” still has its dark side too. Even if it is authoritarian, Communism ultimately, albeit violently modernised Chinese society, but in the True Jesus Church we still see much older thinking: marriages are still arranged and contingent on community approval, unmarried women may not speak with men without permission or approval in non-formal contracts and wives must be submissive to their husbands. The church is thus gender segregated in the way an Orthodox Jewish Synagogue is, with men and women sitting on separate aisles. It is thus a highly patriarchal organisation and divorce is banned.
So in this case, Sunderland’s True Jesus Church has become a gathering point and a symbolism for not only Chinese culture, but a highly traditional one at that. Any westerner who attempts to join will be a fish out of water, ironically undercutting their fundamental claim that they are the one true faith open to all. If Joseph Smith told the world that Jesus visited America, True Jesus Church are instead telling you no actually, he visited China.
The True Jesus Church is probably best described as the Temu version of the Mormons or Jehovah’s witnesses, except they aren’t really that keen to bring anyone into the faith no matter how hard they pretend otherwise, because taking the Chinese gospel to the Mackems would mean ceding control of the way of life the church enforces to its own, and despite choosing to live their lives in Sunderland, significant cultural barriers remain between the two groups, making it hard for them to spread their beliefs.
