Hong Kong Christianity and Social Activism

Many in Hong Kong consider Christianity a Western religion, as it entered mainstream Hong Kong society around the same time as British colonial rule. While Christianity as a religion in Hong Kong has kept some of its Western European traditions, it has evolved and taken on more indigenous practices after more than a century in Hong Kong. Even so, given the Christian doctrine and biblical teachings, Hong Kong Christians’ concerns are necessarily different from Hong Kongers with other religious convictions. Recent conversations within the study of Hong Kong Christianity have been dominated by engagements with societal events, as one way of understanding the Christian faith is the need for Christians to strive for social justice. This paper will explore the field of Hong Kong Christianity by using Christians' involvement in societal issues as a through thread.

First, through presenting various key social activism and Christian involvement, this paper demonstrates that Hong Kong Christians have played a crucial role in Hong Kong's civic society, from its British colonial period to current Chinese rule. Second, this paper compares Hong Kong Christians' reactions to social issues from the 1960s onwards with the current wave of migration since 2020 onwards, exploring how Hong Kong Christians continue to wrestle with their faith and civic identity as they move outside of Hong Kong. Do those who migrated abroad still consider themselves Hong Kong Christians? This paper attempts to answer this question by drawing from my extensive doctoral and postdoctoral research on Hong Kong Christians’ faith and civic identity, using ethnographic and digital humanities methods.