Gospel Church, Mianyang

Gospel Church, Mianyang
Fucheng Christian Church
福音堂
Gospel Church after being rebuilt
Map
31°27′19″N 104°45′21″E / 31.4554°N 104.7558°E / 31.4554; 104.7558
Location46 Jiefang Street, Fucheng District, Mianyang, Sichuan
CountryChina
DenominationThree-Self Church (Protestant)
Previous denominationChurch of England (1885–1912)
Anglican Church in China (1912–1950s)
ChurchmanshipLow church evangelical
History
StatusChurch
Founded1885 or 1895
Founder(s)Alfred Arthur Phillips and Gertrude Emma Wells of the Church Missionary Society
Past bishop(s)William Cassels
Architecture
Functional statusActive
StyleGothic Revival
prev. siheyuan
Administration
ProvinceChina (formerly)
DioceseSzechwan (formerly)
West Szechwan (formerly; since 1936)

Gospel Church[a] is a Protestant church building situated on Jiefang Street (lit. 'Liberation Street') in Fucheng District, Mianyang. It was first built in 1895,[1] or 1885 according to Annals of Religion in Mianyang, by Alfred Arthur Phillips and Gertrude Emma Wells, missionaries of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) under the jurisdiction of the Church of England.[2] The church has been subjected to the control of the communist-established 'Three-Self Patriotic Church' since 1954.[1][3] It was rebuilt in 1995.

History

Survey of the Church Missionary Society's mission work in Mienchow, published in 1913.
List of CMS missionaries stationed in Mienchow, 1920.

According to Annals of Religion in Mianyang (formerly known as Mien Yong or Mienchow), the presence of Anglicanism in Mianyang can be traced back to 1885, when a mission house church was built by Alfred Arthur Phillips and Gertrude Emma Wells of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) on Tongsheng Street.[2] In the late 1880s, two women representing the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society were working there.[4] This was followed by the entry of a CMS mission team into that city in 1894, led by James Heywood Horsburgh,[5] who expanded the church;[2] and Mianyang subsequently became the headquarters of the CMS Mission.[6] During the Republican Era (1912–1949), Tongsheng Street (通聖街, lit. 'All Saints' Street'; now known as 'Liberation Street' for political propaganda), as its name suggests, that brought together three religious buildings, namely, a Confucian temple, a Wenchang Taoist temple, which no longer exist, and the Anglican Gospel Church.[7]

The original church is built in the traditional local courtyard house style, covering an area of 2800 square metres. The missionaries also established the Yoh Teh School in nearby Huangjiaxiang (Huang Family's Alley), Hua Ying Middle School in Nanshan subdistrict (present-day Nanshan High School [zh], established by William Munn), as well as Yung Shêng Sweet Factory, a dairy factory, a nursery, et cetera. In 1954, the communist government established the 'self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation' Three-Self Patriotic Church, various Christian denominations in China would eventually sever their ties with overseas Churches. Under this policy, the then pastor Tiexia Zheng led his congregation to establish the 'Mianyang Christian Three-Self Reform Movement Committee', and since then the church embarked on the 'three-self road'.[1]

After the 1990s, as the number of converts has increased, Gospel Church was rebuilt on the occasion of its centenary. The new church is a two-storey building covering an area of 1200 square metres, with Roman-style arches, Byzantine-inspired windows, and neo-Gothic steeples, symbolizing masts.[2] In 2009, on the occasion of the anniversary of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Gospel Church hosted several contemporary worship services led by Joyful Noise Xpress, a music ministry and mission organization founded by Anthony Chan, a Hong Kong American Christian musician. Participants included the founder and Hong Kong musician Peter Kam. As of 2016, the congregation consists of three pastors, twenty-six volunteer preachers, and about eight thousand baptised Christians, as well as thirty meeting points.[1]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Chinese: 福音堂; pinyin: Fúyīn táng; Wade–Giles: Fu2-yin1 tʽang2; Sichuanese romanization: Fu5 In1 Tʽang2, commonly referred to as Fucheng Christian Church (traditional Chinese: 涪城區基督教堂; simplified Chinese: 涪城区基督教堂; pinyin: Fúchéngqū Jīdū jiàotáng; Sichuanese romanization: Fu2-chʽen2-chʽü1 Chi1-tu5-chiao4-tʽang2; lit. 'Fucheng District Christian Church'.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ma, Jin (28 October 2016). "做光做盐 服务社会——记绵阳涪城区基督教堂" [Be Light and Salt to Serve in the Society: An Introduction to the Fucheng District Christian Church in Mianyang]. gospeltimes.cn (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Mianyang Bureau of Religious Affairs, ed. (1998). "礼拜堂选介——涪城礼拜堂" [Introduction of Selected Church Buildings: Fucheng Church]. 绵阳市民族宗教志 [Annals of Religion in Mianyang] (in Simplified Chinese). Chengdu: Sichuan People's Publishing House. pp. 432–433. ISBN 722003993X.
  3. ^ "2009陝西四川訪宣(9)綿陽市" [2009 Evangelistic Visitation to Shaanxi and Sichuan 9: Mianyang City]. methodistchineseministry.blogspot.com (in Traditional Chinese). Sabah Methodist Church. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  4. ^ Kowalski, Kenneth Reginald (1970). "The Canadian West China Mission and Szechwan — Christianity and Szechwan". The West China Mission of the Methodist Church of Canada, Szechwan, China, 1891–1911 (MA thesis). University of Alberta. p. 27. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  5. ^ Keen, Rosemary. "Church Missionary Society—General Introduction and Guide to the Archive: Western China". ampltd.co.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2021. The Western China mission began in 1891 when J H Horsburgh led a pioneer party to Chungking in the province of Szechwan. By 1894 work had started in Mienchow, Chungpa, Anhsien, Mienchu and Sintu.
  6. ^ Banks, Linda; Banks, Robert (11 October 2021). Children of the Massacre: The Extra-ordinary Story of the Stewart Family in Hong Kong and West China. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock. ISBN 9781666725032.
  7. ^ An, Dafu (30 August 2016). "小小街道名 沉淀绵阳历史印迹" [The Names of the Small Streets: A Historical Imprint of Mianyang]. xw.qq.com (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.