Ding Guangxun

Bishop Ding Guangxun (1915-2012)

Bishop Ding Guangxun (丁光训1915-2012) was an outstanding patriotic religious leader and well-known social activist. Ding is regarded as a close friend of the Communist Party of China.

Ding was born in September 1915 in Shanghai. He graduated from St. John's University in 1937 with a bachelor of arts. From 1946 to 1951, Ding studied theology in Canada, the United States, and Switzerland prior to returning to China to become president of Nanjing Union Theological Seminary.

Ding spent his entire career active in the Christian Church in China, holding various leadership positions in various Christian organizations throughout the country. Ding served as president to the third, fourth and fifth National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China; honorary president to the sixth, seventh, and eighth National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China; chairman to the first, second and third China Christian Council; honorary chairman to the fourth, fifth and sixth China Christian Council; honorary president of the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary; and chairman of the board of directors of the Amity Foundation.

Ding also served as vice chairman to the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body. He authored many books about the Bible and Christianity.

Ding died of illness on Nov. 22, 2012 in Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province.