Deterritorializing Sino-Christian Theology: The Reconfiguration of Watchman Nee’s Ecclesiology in the American Shepherding Movement (1970–1985)

Scholarship on Sino-Christian theology has largely focused on its development within Greater China and the Chinese diaspora, with limited attention to its reverse transmission into Western Christian contexts. This paper examines the reception and reconfiguration of Watchman Nee’s ecclesiology within the American Shepherding Movement in the 1970s–1980s, illustrating how Sino-theology has contributed to Western Christianity. Nee’s teachings on authority, submission, and discipleship, widely translated into English, became a key theological resource for the movement’s leaders, including Charles Simpson, Bob Mumford, and Derek Prince. Through an analysis of the New Wine magazine, this paper explores how Charismatic leaders engaged with and adapted Nee’s theology for their own spiritual practices and ecclesial structures. By situating Nee’s influence within a global framework, this study challenges territorialized presuppositions of Sino-theology and highlights its multidirectional theological exchanges between Chinese and Western Christianity.