Christian Church in the west of the city

Christian Church in the west of the city

Wenzhou Christian Church is an ancient church built in the 19th century. It is located at 78 Chengxi street, Lucheng District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It is one of the two churches directly under the "two churches" in Wenzhou City (the other is huayuanxiang Church).

Introduction to the church

In 1877, Li Qinghua, a missionary of the British Kaiwo Society (renamed as the Church of saints in 1911 and the Methodist Church in 1934), came to Wen to preach. In 1878, he built a church in Chengxi street. During the Sino French war in 1884, the Jiashen church case took place in Wenzhou. Six churches, including the West Church of Kaiwo society, the Catholic Church of zhouzhaici lane and the Jesus Church of huihuayuan lane, were burned overnight.

In the winter of 1881, the British missionary W. E. sootil (1861-1935) came to Wenzhou to preach. He took chengxitang as a base and preached in Wenzhou for 25 years. He developed more than 10000 believers and established more than 270 churches.

In 1898, Su Huilian presided over the reconstruction of Chengxi Church (today's "rebuilding Temple Monument"), including the front hall (Chapel) and the back Chapel (Evangelical Church) as well as the Ministry building, with a total construction area of 1600 square meters. The lobby is Gothic, 13.46 meters high, with long pointed windows, tall and straight columns, decorated with figs.

In 1997, chengxitang in Wenzhou was listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Zhejiang Province.

The church is well preserved and is still the largest Christian Church in Wenzhou.

Historical evolution

The early days of the founding of Kaiwo (1878-1907)

Before the British Association 1 formally came to Wenzhou to preach, Cao Yazhi, a missionary from the mainland, took the lead in Bu 2 in November 1867 (the sixth year of Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty), and established Wenzhou's first Christian Church 3 in 1877 (the third year of Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty). In 1875 (the first year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty), Frederick Galpin, a British missionary of the Kaiwo society, came to Wenzhou to observe the situation. four

In 1878, Rev. R. inkermann exley, a British missionary, came to Wenzhou. Later, he bought a house in jiahuili lane, Wenzhou, and established the first church in Wenzhou, Chengxi hall. Although Li Huaqing died of illness in 1881, he made great achievements. D. MacGill Vray commented: "pastor Li, regardless of his health, worked hard and laid a good foundation in just three years." six

In November 1882 (the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), W.E. soothl (1861-1935), a missionary of the British Association, arrived in China and came to Wen to take over the post of pastor Li Huaqing at the end of the year. The November 1882 issue of the Chinese recorder and missionary Journal reported: "on November 2, Su Huilian, a missionary of our association, arrived in Shanghai by steamship Lombardy and will go to Wenzhou to preach." seven

In October 1884 (the 10th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), the Jiashen religious case took place. Under the leadership of Ze Yarong, some people in Wenzhou burned the churches in the urban area of Wenzhou, and Chengxi church was not spared. In 1885 (the 11th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), Su Huilian used the indemnity from the Jiashen case, the donation from the Church of England and the savings of the Su's and his wife to rebuild the church in the west of the city of Kai Wo Hui. According to Su Huilian's "rebuilding the temple" 9: "the next year the British will donate money to build the temple. Only a few people gather on Sunday, and there are no separate associations. "

In 1891, pastor Su Huilian was assisted by Pastor Hai and pastor De to Wen, and since then, the educational administration has been revived gradually. In the same year, the Su family established and dispatched "Xia Gong Dian Shi, Qi Gong pin San, Sheng Gong Ku Ru, Wu Gong Bao Nian, Qi Gong Chen advocate, to work in various districts." In 1897, the number of believers in Chengxi church was increasing. Su Huilian described: "every Sunday, men and women come to the church with the help of the old and the young, and there is little room in the door. Within a few years, it began to prosper with the help of the members of the congregation In the spring of 1898, Su Huilian began to build the new hall, which was completed in 1898. The full text is as follows:

Rebuilding the temple

In 1878, Li Huaqing, a British missionary, sailed east to China to preach the Church of Jesus at the grand meeting of Wenjun. Only four years later, I returned to daoshan. Since 1992, he has succeeded Li. At that time, there were few believers living here. In 1984, huting was robbed, plundered by the evil party, burned my church, wandered my academy, and burned my house. The next year Britain will donate money to build the temple. Few people gather on Sunday, and there are no separate associations. Over the years, the gospel has not been widely publicized. It's hard to predict the main purpose of the gospel because it's hard for people to retrieve the common worship of idols. In the past ten years, the light of grace has gradually brightened, and the holy way has been more and more widely spread. There are four or five cities in the earth, seventy odd cities in the society, and more than three thousand people. That is to say, every Sunday, men and women come with the help of the old and the young, and there is little room in the door. Within a few years, it began to prosper with the help of the members of the congregation. I wish I had never been here before. Is it not heaven that I am here now? Last spring, it was proposed that the temple should be rebuilt, and the stepfather should be raised so as to be able to worship. Fortunately, thanks to the Lord's grace, Chinese and foreign fund-raising into a number of materials Jiuding, Xinxi Dongzhi, the full moon ten degrees, just finished. It is the gospel of servitude that is widely spread and the holy way is flourishing. Therefore, the reason is to hang immortal clouds. May the Savior's grace, the father's fraternity and the influence of the Holy Spirit be with us forever, Amen. Suhuilian, a British missionary in 1898

In order to promote the Evangelical Ministry, pastor Su Huilian published the four Gospels and acts 12 translated into Wenzhou dialect by Romanization in 1894, and then translated the whole New Testament into Wenzhou dialect 13 in 1904. In 1896, he founded Wenzhou's first Western medical hospital, which is located in 14 washidian Lane (now Mochi primary school); in 1897, he founded Yiwen middle school, which is 190 In three years, 15 buildings of Yiwen middle school were built.

Until 1905, Wenzhou Kaiwo Association reported that there were 3 missionaries, 1 Educational missionary, 1 medical missionary; 20 Chinese missionaries, 131 local missionaries, 5 female missionaries, 124 leaders; 2144 diners, 5711 adult Taoists; 150 churches; 1 Hospital; 1 senior school; 12 teachers; 25 day schools, 43 teachers; and 2133.22 yuan donation.

In 1907, the United Methodist Free Church, Methodist new connexion and Bible Christians were merged into the United Methodist Church Mission (U.K.). seventeen

The development period of the holy way (1908-1932)

After Reverend Su Huilian left Wenzhou, Reverend haihede took on the important task of Wenzhou church. In 1912, Wenzhou Sheng Dao Association began to accumulate money from believers to prepare for the church's self-reliance. According to the article: "in 1912, J.W. Heywood, a British member of the Wenzhou Sheng Dao Association, followed Su Huilian's plan and actively collected the self-supporting fund of the church, which was accumulated by the donations of Chinese believers every year for the purpose of self-supporting preaching funds. The masses of the assembly agreed with this, believing that the Chinese Church should eventually be self-supporting and should not rely on foreign subsidies for a long time; Therefore, representatives at all levels urged the church to donate money, and each district church separately elected several treasurers to take charge of the matter. At the same time, you Shuxun was sent to give a keynote speech to the General Assembly entitled "preparation for the church's self-reliance in China." The contents are detailed and important, including the life of dedication, the duty of saints, the cultivation of talents, the preparation of economy, etc. all the audience were moved and agreed. After the meeting, it was widely and deeply conveyed to the district. Haihede appropriated 20 yuan of foreign money to the deacon to publish a speech on self-reliance, which was called "preparation for church self-reliance" and sent it to the churches in each district of Wenzhou as publicity materials to cooperate with the progress of thanks money.

Here, the church developed rapidly. The third issue (1916) of the Yearbook of the Chinese Christian church records that Wenzhou Shengdao Association (formerly the Kaiwo Association) has a total of 250 synagogues. Inside 180. It is provided by the members of our department. There are 250 assistant speakers. Every one preaches twice a month. Full obligation. No salary. It's just the fare. There were 3500 baptized. There are 7000 followers of Taoism. All over the place. It's about self-reliance. The deposit amounted to 6000 yuan. Interest is paid as a missionary fee. There are two hospitals in Wenzhou City. It was supervised by Western doctors. The patient was treated last year. About 17000. Another university. He was also headmaster of the Western ministry. There are 116 students. The work of preaching. It was managed by three Western priests. For years. The number of church members has doubled. But there are no priests. " nineteen

After the May 30th massacre in 1925, pastor you Shuxun of the West Church of the Church of the holy way witnessed the incident with his own eyes in Shanghai. Inspired by his patriotic enthusiasm, he went back to Wenzhou and contacted the pastors to launch a self-reliance movement. Pastor haihede's strong opposition to the self-reliance movement led to the great division of Wenzhou church, and pastor you Shuxun established "Wenzhou Chinese Christian self-reliance society"

Chinese PinYin : Cheng Xi Ji Du Jiao Tang