The Council for World Mission (CWM) convened its 2025 Finance Conference from 26-28 February in Hong Kong, facilitated by the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China (HKCCCC).
The 2025 conference, which served as a gathering for the finance stakeholders and decision-makers within CWM member churches to network, dialogue, and deliberate, was last held in 2017.
In his opening address to the financial delegates representing CWM’s member churches, CWM General Secretary, Rev. Dr Jooseop Keum, highlighted that Hong Kong, in recent years, has undergone a challenging period that has deeply impacted its people.
Holding the conference in the bustling city displayed solidarity with local communities and churches that have continued to serve faithfully despite difficult circumstances.
Keum also expounded on the decision to hold the conference in Hong Kong as one that carried a profound meaning.
He explained that the independence CWM currently enjoys has its roots from the historic “Gift of Grace” from HKCCCC in 1997 that provided the financial foundation from which CWM could more effectively and sustainably engage in God’s life-flourishing work throughout its six regions.
CWM Mission Secretary for Finance, Mr Soonyew Sum, welcomed the delegates, many of whom were new to CWM’s financial history, by shedding more light on the “Gift of Grace,” a donation made by HKCCCC to CWM of proceeds from the sale of a plot of land formerly registered under the London Missionary Society (LMS) to the Hong Kong government in 1997.
A balance of the sale was also used to establish the CWM/Nethersole Fund in support of local social ministries.
The “Gift of Grace” established the base for CWM’s investment portfolio through which CWM is able to support grant initiatives and programmes that have helped its member churches further their missiological goals.
Sum also reflected on the positive financial growth of CWM investments, reflecting the importance of faithful and prudent stewardship of its resources.
Balancing growth and de-growth
In a keynote presentation that echoed Sum’s reflection on CWM’s financial prudence with an eye towards long-term investing, Mr Richard Morgan, Chair of CWM’s Investment Committee, also shared his insights on the challenges that threaten to disrupt investment planning.
While speaking on the many volatile challenges in the ever-shifting global financial landscape, Morgan encouraged the conference to rethink established approaches to investing.
One way was the exploration of alternative investment routes to financial gains through embracing other indicators of growth such as the Human Development Index rather than GDP (gross domestic product), a move Morgan referred to as a “de-growth” agenda that emphasises a priority towards public good rather than economic gain.
He listed the COVID-19 pandemic of the last five years as a recent example when governments positioned public health over GDP and accepted large falls in the latter.
Morgan posited that the question now remains on whether the experiences gained during the pandemic would maintain momentum in encouraging charitable entities to have deeper discussions about striking a balance between securing sustainable, socially beneficial resources while abiding requirements of prevailing charity investment laws.
Visits showcase LMS history and legacies
To understand the missional context and history in Hong Kong, delegates visited Hop Yat Church and Ying Wa (Anglo-Chinese) Girls School, both established by the LMS.
The Hop Yat Church, located at Bonham Road, was the first church building of HKCCCC built in 1926, and has its origins in the decision by Rev. James Legge of the LMS to move to Hong Kong in 1843, where he devoted his time to educating and preaching to the locals.
Today, Hop Yat Church is a proactive voice amongst Hong Kong’s faith communities in evangelism, formation, and other social service ministries.
The Ying Wa Girls School was founded in 1900, and features a two-storey educational institution with a boarding school that was built to provide quality Christian education for local girls.
Delegates also visited the school’s Heritage Block which served as a kindergarten in 1926 until 1963 and was later repurposed into a school museum in 2023.
Ying Wa Girls School presently has an 800-strong student body, and alumni in many in positions of leadership locally.
