NORTHERN PROTESTANT CHURCH OUTLINES PLANS

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SUBJECT: NORTHERN PROTESTANT CHURCH OUTLINES PLANS

Reftels: A) 04 Hanoi 3257, B) 04 Hanoi 1987, C) Hanoi 353


1. (SBU) Summary: The Evangelical Church of Vietnam: North
(ECVN) plans to begin renovating its churches, building new
ones and appointing four pastors in the new future. In
appointing the new pastors, the Church will follow the
relaxed notification requirements of the new Ordinance on
Religion. The Church also plans to begin publishing a
newsletter and open a Bible school in Hanoi, but authorities
have indicated approval for these two actions may take some
time. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Pastor Au Quang Vinh (protect) of the Hanoi branch
of the ECVN began his February 17 meeting with Poloff by
saying that he is "very happy with our new opportunities
this year." On February 4, the Committee for Religious
Affairs (CRA) had accepted the new leadership board of the
ECVN, elected at their general convention last December
(Ref. A),and the ECVN and CRA had finally settled their
lingering disagreements about the Church's charter. The CRA
did not try to change any tenets of faith in the Church
charter, but did push for some modifications in the ECVN's
organizational structure. For example, the CRA did not want
the ECVN to register "sub-congregations without church
buildings," but the Church insisted that this was an
important part of their outreach to ethnic minority
Christians in the Northwest Highlands. "We kept 99 percent
of the major points," said Vinh, but made some changes in
language to placate the CRA."


2. (SBU) Pastor Vinh presented Poloff with a letter in
English that listed eight "works" the Church plans to carry
out. These are (quote):
- Existing local churches must try their best to be self
sufficient;
- Strengthen the relationship between old local churches and
newly built ones;
- Build new churches and repair old ones that [were] damaged
by war;
- Ordain and appoint new pastors to local churches that have
no leaders;
- Create a Bible School to train and produce enough
religious leaders and workers;
- Recognize qualified churches of the mountainous tribes;
- Editing and publishing Christian literature;
- and Encourage local churches to be involved in social and
charitable works and especially tighten the relationship
between North and South VN Churches which are so far
operating as two different organizations because of the
present law system. (End quote)


3. (SBU) Pastor Vinh indicated that the ECVN leadership's
first planned activity is to travel "next week" to Thanh Hoa
and Nghe An Provinces. In Thanh Hoa, the EVCN will seek
permission to reconstruct a dilapidated church. In Vinh,
capital of Nghe An, the church had been seized by the
provincial government several years ago and, four years ago,
the building was razed to construct a park. The ECVN will
seek an apology for this and ask the authorities to provide
them with new land for and aid in constructing a new church.


4. (SBU) Pastor Vinh indicated that the ECVN would appoint
or transfer four new pastors in March. This will be a test
case as it is the first time the EVCN will simply inform
authorities of the transfer, rather than ask permission.
This is a new freedom allowed under the new Ordinance on
Religion (Ref. B). Also that month, the ECVN leadership
will travel to Lang Son Province to meet with authorities
about constructing a church for the ethnic minority Dzao
congregation there. "We will really test whether the
Government is serious about its new policies towards
Protestants," Vinh said.


5. (SBU) The ECVN has already consulted with the CRA about
two other issues. The Church would like to begin publishing
an internal newsletter. The CRA said it would likely take
six months for it to get all the government permissions
required. The ECVN also consulted with the CRA about its
plans to establish a Bible school in Hanoi. The Church
would like the school to open this summer, but the CRA
indicated that necessary approvals "may take some time,"
Pator Vinh recounted.


6. (SBU) Responding to Poloff about the ECVN's plans in the
Northwest Highlands, Vinh referenced the Prime Minister's
Instruction on Protestants (Ref. C),saying that the
document for the first time acknowledges the existence of
Protestants in the region and bans forced renunciations of
faith. The ECVN will continue to train actively volunteers
from the Northwest Highlands so they understand their
rights. (Pastor Vinh's comments on the new instruction are
covered septel).
MARINE