Nanxun Christian Church () is a
Protestant church
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
located in
Nanxun District
Nanxun District () is a district in the prefecture-level city of Huzhou, Zhejiang province, China. Nanxun Town, an ancient Venetian town, is located in the district. It is one of the most well-preserved old towns in this region and is known for ...
of
Huzhou
Huzhou (, ; Huzhounese: ''ghou² cieu¹'') is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province (Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou Plain, China). Lying south of the Lake Tai, it borders Jiaxing to the east, Hangzhou to the south, and the provinc ...
,
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
, China.
History
The introduction of Christianity into the
Nanxun
Nanxun () is a historic town in Nanxun District of Huzhou, Zhejiang, China. As of the 2007 census it had a population of 119,300 and an area of .
Name
The name of Nanxun was coined by a combination of the initial Chinese characters of two place' ...
area began in 1860, belonging to the
American Methodist Episcopal Mission
American Methodist Episcopal Mission (AMEM; also known as Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church EFB was the missionary society of the Methodist Episcopal Church that was involved in sending workers to countries such as C ...
.
In 1927, American Christian Slote appropriated USD$30 million for building the Church. It was named "Slote Church" in memory of her after completion. Yu Zhizhai () was the first rectorship and Tang Musan () was the first archpriest.
After the defeat of the Nationalists by the Communists in
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
in 1949, Nanxun Christian Church under the jurisdiction of the Communist Government. Religious activities had been forced to stop in the following year. In 1958 the Church was used as residential building for locals.
In 1966,
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
launched the ten-year
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, the
Red Guards
Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...
had attacked the Church and it was spared destruction and was boarded up till 1986.
After the
, the policy of religious freedom was implemented in 1986. On 29 March 1987, the Church held the first Sunday Services since 1950. In December that same year, Lü Haisheng () was proposed as the new director of its Management Committee. In October 1992, Wang Jinkang () replaced Lü Haisheng as the second director.
Gallery
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanxun Christian Church
Buildings and structures in Huzhou
Churches in Zhejiang
Tourist attractions in Huzhou
1927 establishments in China
Protestant churches in China
Churches completed in 1927