First Canadian Methodist missionaries to Szechwan, sailed in 1891. Standing: Rev. G. E. Hartwell, Mrs. Hartwell, Rev. O. L. Kilborn, Mrs. Kilborn. Seated: Rev. V. C. Hart, Mrs. Hart, Dr. D. W. Stevenson.
The Canadian Methodist Mission (CMM), also known as Missionary Society of the Methodist Church in Canada (MCC;[1]Chinese: 美道會; pinyin: Měi Dào Huì; Wade–Giles: Mei3 Tao4 Hui4; lit. 'Beautiful Way Society'; former romanization: Mei Dao Hwei[2] or Meh Dao Hwei;[3] also known as Ying Mei Hui[4] [Chinese: 英美會; pinyin: Yīng Měi Huì; Wade–Giles: Ying1 Mei3 Hui4; lit. 'Anglo-American Society']), was a Canadian MethodistChristian missionary society mostly working in the province of Szechwan, which was also referred to as "West China."
The new Canadian Methodist Mission Press at Chengtu, April 1905.
The Canadian Methodist Mission was founded by Virgil C. Hart [zh].[5] In February 1892, eight members of the mission society led by Hart reached Szechwan. Work began in Chengtu and, two years later, in Kiatingfu,[6] with the establishment of mission stations in both cities.[7] A church and a hospital [zh] were subsequently built in Chengtu, which was the result of a team effort by O. L. Kilborn, V. C. Hart, G. E. Hartwell, D. W. Stevenson and others.[8]
The CMM established its own printing house, Canadian Methodist Mission Press, in Kiatingfu in 1897. In 1903, it was moved to the capital city of Chengtu.[10] This press was responsible for the printing of The West China Missionary News (1899–1943) and Journal of the West China Border Research Society (1922–1945). The former was the first and the longest running English newspaper in the province of Szechwan.[11]
Following the merger of the Methodist Church of Canada into the United Church of Canada in 1925, the latter assumed responsibility for the CMM. At that time, the CMM was the largest mission of the newly-founded Church.[14]
By 1934, the CMM had joined the Church of Christ in China (CCC);[15] an annual general meeting of the CCC's Szechwan Synod was held on 9 February 1939.[16]
^Lü, Shih-chiang (1976). "晚淸時期基督敎在四川省的傳敎活動及川人的反應（1860–1911）" [The Evangelization of Sichuan Province in the Late Qing Period and the Responses of the Sichuanese People (1860–1911)]. History Journal of the National Taiwan Normal University (in Traditional Chinese). Taipei: National Taiwan Normal University Department of History: 270. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
^Yang, Tao (28 December 2013). "四圣祠街：旧时公馆大户扎堆地" [Sishengci Street: An Area for Wealthy Families and Their Mansions]. news.163.com (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
