Formosa Christianity and Culture Research Center
(Chang Jung Christian University／Tainan Theological College and Seminary)

Formosa Christianity and Culture Research Centre (FCCRC) is a joint program of Chang Jung Christian University (CJCU) and Tainan Theological College and Seminary (TTCS) to promote study and research on issues pertaining to Church and Society in Taiwan.

Even though Christianity has a rich history of one hundred and thirty years, it has remained a rather minority community with much potential yet to be realized. That calls for serious and critical retrospection to locate ways for a meaningful incarnation of the Christian faith within the traditions and cultures of Taiwan. In a religiously plural society, the church is called upon to be an agent of social change while remaining faithful to the gospel imperative and while at the same time it is being rooted in the cultures of the people.

CJCU and TTCS are ministerial witness of the Presbyterian Church in the field of theology, education, and community work and both these institutions have laudable traditions of developing contextual models of theological, educational, and social ministries in society. CJCU is committed to promoting and creating contextual knowledge systems by critically assimilating the cultural ethos into different disciplines of study, and TTCS is known world wide for its leadership in promoting contextual theology for more than two decades. Therefore, the primary function of the Centre is to assist the church and the academic community to develop a critical consciousness of society and to evolve a prophetic ministry to respond to the challenges of the present context.

However, the changing contexts demand that joint efforts should be made to evaluate and renew the models of mission and ministry that have proved viable in the past. To this end, the Centre assumes the task of studying the nature of the changing society and helps the church and the academic community in their search for locating relevant forms of mission response in the field of theology, education, and community work.