Yuguang Street Church ( zh, t=玉光街禮拜堂, s=玉光街礼拜堂) is a

Protestant 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 ...

church in Dalian, China. It is the former Dalian Anglican Church ( zh, t=大連聖公會教堂, s=大连圣公会教堂, first=t, links=no; ja, 大連聖公会教会) and its church building is now a Historical Protected Building of Dalian City. YuguangStChurch-DalianChina

Brief history

* From 1905 to 1945, the southern half of the present-day Greater Dalian was Japan's

leased territory In international relations, a concession is a " synallagmatic act by which a State transfers the exercise of rights or functions proper to itself to a foreign private test which, in turn, participates in the performance of public functions and th ...

. Due to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance at that time, the British Consulate General was given a location at

Zhongshan Square Zhongshan Square () is a city square in the Zhongshan District of Dalian, Liaoning, China named for Sun Yat-sen (popularly known as Sun Zhongshan); originally designed and built by the Russians in the 19th century. Several classical buildings ...

, the best place in downtown Dalian, and an Anglican church was built in its premises. It was a black brick building. * In 1928, the second-generation red-brick church building was built by a joint effort of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

and the Anglican-Episcopal Church of Japan, which was named Dalian Anglican Church. On Sunday, the English-language service started at 9:00 am and the Japanese-language service at 10:30 am. The church belonged to the North China Diocese of the Anglican-Episcopal Province of China. * At the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, all Japanese-owned buildings were confiscated by the Chinese, the religious buildings were never used as such, but as Britain owned the half of this church, it was left as a Christian church and was renamed "Yuguang Street Church". * During the

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 goa ...

of 1966-1977 when all religious activities were suppressed, the stained glass windows were smashed broken and the church was used as a place for the children's extracurricular activities. * As Christian service restarted in the early 1980s, the church came under the post-denominational China Christian Council. * In 2001, it was listed as one of Dalian City's 100 or so Protected Historical Buildings.

At This Church Today

* Address: No. 2, Yuguang Street, Dalian City, Liaoning Province 116001 * Except for the Anglican altar which was taken away and the stained glass windows that were smashed broken and replaced by regular windows, the building is almost as it was in 1928. * The

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

on the right of the church entrance can be read in English (on the left side of the stone) and Japanese (on the right side, written vertically),神の榮光の為　此石を獻ぐ　昭和三年五月六日　北京監督・神學博士　フランシス・エル・ノリス as: YuguangStChurch-DalianChina-CornerStone

TO THE GLORY OF GOD THIS STONE WAS DEDICATED. MAY 6TH. 1928 BY FRANCIS LUSHINGTON NORRIS D.D. BISHOP IN NORTH CHINA

* Weekly services are held on Friday evening (for the youth) and three times on Sunday. * Baptism is done usually on Sunday a week or two before Christmas Day or Easter. * A Christmas program including the 50-member chorus is held on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, no service is held, but the song and dance programs are held from morning till a little after noon.

References

External links

Yuguang Street Church in Dalain (The Protestant Church in China)
(in Chinese)
China Christian Council home page
in Chinese and English

(China Christian Council, in Chinese) {{coord missing, Liaoning Dalian Yuguang Former Anglican churches in China Dalian Yuguang Churches in Dalian Dalian Yuguang

Brief history

At This Church Today

See also

References

External links