R e v o l u t i o n a r y CRangt
The Cliurch in North Vietnam
Vietnam and Rc
Louis L. King, Vice Prcuidont/Overseas
The C h r i s t i a n and M i s s i o n a r y A l l i a n c e
I b e g i n by d i s c l a i m i n g any d i r e c t
knowledge o f r e v o l u t i o n a r y change
North Vietnam and o f i n - d e p t h k n o w l e d g e about t h e P r o t e s t a n t
My f i r s t
Ministries
v i s i t t o Vietnam was t o S a i g o n i n 1954,
Church
there.
f o l l o w i n g the d e c i s i v e
v i c t o r y a t Dien B i c n Phu and on the eve o f the Geneva C o n f e r e n c e t h a t
the country a t
the. 17th p a r a l l e l .
missionary s t i l l
the
resided
in
partitioned
A t t h e time o f my v i s i t o n l y one C&MA
in the North.
A l l t h e o t h e r s had p r e v i o u s l y come t o
South.
After
the establishment
respondence and no p e r s o n a l
North Vietnam.
Pastors
o f t h e 17th p a r a l l e l ,
my o f f i c e
c o n t a c t w i t h any C h r i s t i a n - - l a y
has had no c o r ­
or c l e r g y - - i n
and e s p e c i a l l y the church l e a d e r s i n South Vietnam
t e l l me t h e i r knowledge o f the Church i n t h e N o r t h i s minimal and i s
e x c l u s i v e l y through a n o t h e r
who m a i n t a i n s
correspondence w i t h pastors in North Vietnam.
they share w i t h me.
releases
source—a person r e s i d i n g in a n o t h e r
A d d i t i o n a l l y , Dr. J.
o f the World C o u n c i l o f Churches
a keen committed C h r i s t i a n ,
the maintenance
And f i n a l l y ,
s e r v i n g on t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l
reported o r a l l y his observations
At t h i s p o i n t an h i s t o r i c a l
exists
today.
the
As he was a b l e he v i s i t e d P r o t e s t a n t
o f t h e i r b u i l d i n g s and t h e a t t e n d a n c e
nam i s e s s e n t i a l .
What they h a v e ,
Commission on I n t e r - C h u r c h
Commission, made i t a p o i n t t o d i s c o v e r what he c o u l d about
Church tQ North V i e t n a m .
It will,
at
Asian country
Harry Haines as w e l l as t h e news
World S e r v i c e have on o c c a s i o n p r o v i d e d i n f o r m a t i o n .
offensive,
obtained
at
A i d and
b e f o r e the T e t
Control
Protestant
churches—observed
the s e r v i c e s .
He
Lo me.
resume o f the E v a n g e l i c h Church
least,
i n North V i e t ­
h e l p our u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e church as
it
The Church in N o r t h Vietnam and R e v o l u t i o n a r y Change - page 2
Although the Roman C a t h o l i c s s t a r t e d t h e i r work i n Vietnam i n t h e
c e n t u r y and succeeded i n b u i l d i n g up a s t r o n g church i n the
Protestant
Church o f Europe and America p a i d scant a t t e n t i o n
i n the 19th c e n t u r y ,
often considered the g r e a t century
16th
18th c e n t u r y ,
to this land,
of Protestant
t o be e n t e r e d .
v i s i t e d Vietnam.
After
In 1889, and a g a i n i n 1893, A l l i a n c e
that,
repeated e f f o r t s
to establish
w i t n e s s i n the land f i n a l l y w e r e honored w i t h s u c c e s s
of A l l i a n c e m i s s i o n a r i e s
settled
a t Danang.
r e s i d e n c e in Haiphong and i n Hanoi i n 1916.
even
missions.
When The C&MA was founded i n 18S7, V i e t n a m was l i s t e d as one o f t h e
countries
the
earliest
officials
a permanent
i n 1911 when a
I n 1915, m i s s i o n a r i e s
Protestant
contingent
t o o k up
The Church in North Vietnam and R e v o l u t i o n a r y Change - page 3
made i t c l e a r t o Vietnamese i n q u i r e r s
material
things."
t h a t " t h e y would be g i v e n n o t h i n g o f
T h i s no doubt e x p l a i n s somewhat t h e l i m i t e d r e s p o n s e
to
the g o s p e l f o r a t no t i m e was t h e r e s p o n s e i n North Vietnam v e r y l a r g e .
I
say "somewhat" f o r the response
i n C e n t r a l and South Vietnam was t r u l y
e r a b l e d e s p i t e t h e same "no inducement"
consid­
policy.
A n o t h e r reason f o r the r a t h e r s m a l l r e s p o n s e t o the g o s p e l i n N o r t h
Vietnam ( i n comparison t o t h a t i n South V i e t n a m ) was t h e s o c i a l and r e l i g i o u s
life
c l o s e l y k n i t around
Also,
South Vietnamese P r o t e s t a n t s
characteristics
character
response.
the c o n c e p t o f communalism b e f o r e the Independence War. •
b e l i e v e the i n t r i n s i c
o f t h e North V i e t n a m e s e , v i z . t h e i r
a l o n g w i t h an i n t e n s i f i e d n a t i o n a l i s m ,
qualities
and
toughness and t e n a c i t y o f
contributed
to a lessened
Comments have been heard o f t h e "proud and stubborn" a t t i t u d e s
but
one may r e c a l l t h a t the Roman C a t h o l i c Church, w o r k i n g under much more a d v e r s e
c o n d i t i o n s had succeeded i n b u i l d i n g up a p r o s p e r o u s church
s i n c e t h e 17th
i n North Vietnam
century.
Some would l i s t p e r s e c u t i o n as a d e t e r r e n t
g o s p e l i n North V i e t n a m .
t o a l a r g e r response to
the
That s t r o n g o p p o s i t i o n and o u t r i g h t p e r s e c u t i o n
i n North Vietnam, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e l a t e 1 9 2 0 ' s ,
the e a r l y 1930's,
the l a s t y e a r s o f t h e War o f I n d e p e n d e n c e , i s u n d e n i a b l e .
and
An i m p a r t i a l
occurred
during
observer,
h o w e v e r , may n o t e t h a t t h e o p p o s i t i o n and p e r s e c u t i o n came from t h e government
and n e v e r from the g e n e r a l p o p u l a t i o n .
T o be more a c c u r a t e ,
the A d m i n i s t r a t i o n was r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e s e h a r s h a c t s .
Roman C a t h o l i c Church which had p r e c e d e d t h e P r o t e s t a n t
centuries
only a f r a c t i o n o f
Moreover, unlike
p i o n e e r s by a l m o s t
and which had t o s u s t a i n a s e r i e s o f b l o o d l e t t i n g p e r s e c u t i o n s ,
E v a n g e l i c a l Church o f North Vietnam has so f a r e n c o u n t e r e d o n l y m i l d
the
four
the
persecution.
The Church tn North Vietnam and R e v o l u t i o n a r y Change - page 4
Church p l a n t i n g began
in North Vietnam in 1915.
o r g a n i z e d churches and 6 p a s t o r s North o f t h e 17th
were 38 c h u r c h e s .
its
highest
I n 1940,
By 1927 t h e r e w e r e 6
parallel.
By 1934,
the E v a n g e l i c a l Church i n North Vietnam
mark o f e x t e n s i o n w i t h 58 c h u r c h e s .
Vietnam by the Japanese m i l i t a r y
With the
i n 1941, the m i l i t a r y
there
reached
occupation
o f North
and economic c r i s i s
ensued f o r c e d t h e c l o s i n g down o f 22 c h u r c h e s — r e d u c i n g the number t o
which
36.
( C e n t r a l Vietnam c l o s e d 1 church and South Vietnam o r g a n i z e d 10 new o n e s . )
I n comparison w i t h the work i n C e n t r a l
the
fewest c o n v e r t s ,
and South Vietnam, N o r t h Vietnam
consistently
recorded
and
the h i g h e s t
casualties.
Even though t h e s t r o n g e s t and most s u c c e s s f u l
rate of clergy
p a s t o r s w e r e moved
from South Vietnam t o North Vietnam and expended much e f f o r t and f e r v o r ,
church i n North Vietnam remained through the y e a r s
section
o f the E v a n g e l i c a l
Of a l l
and
the p a s t o r s who s e r v e d i n N o r t h Vietnam between 1927 and
due e i t h e r
during a c t i v e s e r v i c e .
to i l l n e s s
from 58 in 1940;
1941,
t o t h e South, 26.6 p e r c e n t dropped out o f
or other causes,
and 13.3 p e r c e n t d i e d
p a s t o r s had dropped t o 16.
I n 1954,
as n o n b a p t i z e d a d h c r a n t s w e r e n o t
h o w e v e r , by c a r e f u l
children
in the records
checking a f a i r
o f a g e as
o f the
6,000.
Thus
in
the
well
church.
idea of the s i z e o f
and a d h e r a n t s ) c o u l d be o b t a i n e d
by f o u r .
church i n the North was a p p r o x i m a t e l y
the number o f
b a p t i z e d members
C h i l d r e n under 15 y e a r s
included
the b a p t i z e d membership
By t h i s y e a r ,
t h e r e were 1,547
E v a n g e l i c a l Church o f North V i e t n a m .
E v a n g e l i c a l Church ( b a p t i z e d ,
and
t o t h e sharp drop i n t h e number o f churches
t o 36 in 1941; t o 35 i n 1952.
Through the y e a r s ,
weakest
T h i s added up t o 58.2 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l s t a f f
provides a p a r t i a l explanation
multiplying
smallest
Church.
18.3 p e r c e n t asked t o be t r a n s f e r r e d
the ministry
the
the
i n 1954,
the
size of
N i n e t y p e r c e n t o f the
by
the
total
the
The Churrh In North Vietnam and R e v o l u t i o n a r y Change - page 5
e v a n g e l i c a l membership was l o c a t e d south o f t h e
17th
parallel.
Between J u l y 1954, and J u l y 1955, more than e i g h t hundred thousand
(860,206) refugees
migration
in Vietnam's h i s t o r y
Buddhists,
"The
from the N o r t h poured
and 1,041
i n t o South V i e t n a m .
i n v o l v e d 676,348
Protestants.
Telford
A t l a n t i c " s t a t e d that during his
This
Roman C a t h o l i c s ,
largest
182,817
T a y l o r i n t h e May 1973 i s s u e o f
December 1972 v i s i t t o N o r t h Vietnam
he "was t o l d more than t h r e e - q u a r t e r s o f tha E v a n g e l i c a l P r o t e s t a n t s had gone
South."
At t h e time o f the Exodus t o t h e South, o n l y t h i r t e e n p a s t o r s
p r e a c h e r s s t a y e d on i n the North t o c a r e f o r two dozen c h u r c h e s .
after
the ECVN o f the North became a t
pendent o f any f o r e i g n i n t e r f e r e n c e
its
Shortly
we know t h a t one o f t h e s e d i e d and i n 1964 a n o t h e r — r e d u c i n g
Needless to say,
first
president
and h e l d t h i s o f f i c e u n t i l h i s
succeeded by Rev. Hoang Kim Phuc
After
or i n f l u e n c e .
death i n 1964.
Pictures
operation
m o s t l y o f young p e o p l e and s e v e r a l o l d e r
t h e government o f t h e DRVN i s s u e d what
" D e c r e e o f Freedom o f R e l i g i o n . "
No. 488.
T h i s document
I t was p u b l i s h e d
1960.
i s o f t e n known as
lay
inserted
the
i n Nhon Don ( P e o p l e ' s
somewhat c l a r i f i e d the o f f i c i a l
l i b e r t y o f c o n s c i e n c e which was c a s u a l l y
1946 and
A Bible
i n c l u d i n g a s e v e n t y - y e a r - o l d woman.
In 1955,
Daily),
He was
( 1 9 6 4 - 6 8 ) and Rev. Bui Hoanh Thu ( 1 9 6 8 - ) .
f a c u l t y and s t u d e n t body f o r t h e two y e a r s o f t h e s c h o o l ' s
leaders,
inde­
R e v . Duong Tu Ap became
s c h o o l was opened i n Hanoi t o t r a i n w o r k e r s between 1961 and 1963.
show the s t u d e n t body c o n s i s t e d
there­
t h e number t o e l e v e n .
once c o m p l e t e l y
1956, a n a t i o n a l c o n f e r e n c e has been h e l d a n n u a l l y i n H a n o i .
of t h e
and
v i e w on
in the c o n s t i t u t i o n s of
The Church in North Vietnam and R e v o l u t i o n a r y Change - page 6
A c c o r d i n g t o t h i s d e c r e e , r e l i g i o n c o u l d be preached o n l y i n
s e m i n a r i e s and c h u r c h - c o n t r o l l e d
halls
of non-Christian v i l l a g e s .
visit
hospitals
a patient.
schools.
No p r e a c h i n g was a l l o w e d
Christian
freedom o f r e l i g i o u s b e l i e f
guarantee
f o r a l l by p r o t e c t i n g i t s c i t i z e n s from unwanted
Even i n the c h u r c h e s ,
of c i t i z e n s ,
l o y a l t y t o the government, e t c .
c l e r g y m e n should preach p a t r i o t i s m ,
In actuality,
existing constituency,
any, f o r t h e p r o p a g a t i o n o f t h e i r
faith.
duties
the p o l i c y o f
DRVN has been t o t o l e r a t e e x i s t i n g r e l i g i o u s b o d i e s and t o l i m i t
LLK:rew
to
t h e y w e r e p e r s o n a l l y i n v i t e d by
as t h e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ' s duty t o
propaganda.
functioning to their
i n town
clergymen were not permitted
f o r r e l i g i o u s purposes u n l e s s
T h i s was i n t e r p r e t e d
churches,
the
their
thus l e a v i n g l i t t l e p r o v i s i o n , i f