Gospel Church; Sichuanese romanization: ''Fu In Tʽang'', commonly referred to as Fucheng Christian Church ( zh, t=涪城區基督教堂, s=涪城区基督教堂, first=t, p=Fúchéngqū Jīdū jiàotáng; Sichuanese romanization: ''Fu-chʽen-chʽü Chi-tu-chiao-tʽang''; . is a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

church building situated on Jiefang Street () in

Fucheng District Fucheng District () is a district of Mianyang, Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan� ...

Mianyang Mianyang ( zh, s=绵阳, t=綿陽, w=Mien2-yang2, p=Miányáng; Sichuanese Pinyin, Sichuanese romanization: ''Mien-iang''; formerly known as Mienchow, zh, t=綿州, p=Mianzhou, links=no; Sichuanese romanization: ''Miencheo''; ) is the second lar ...

. It was first built in 1895, or 1885 according to ''Annals of Religion in Mianyang'', by Alfred Arthur Phillips and Gertrude Emma Wells, missionaries of the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...

(CMS) under the jurisdiction of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. The church has been subjected to the control of the communist-established ' Three-Self Patriotic Church' since 1954. It was rebuilt in 1995.

History

According to ''Annals of Religion in Mianyang'' (formerly known as ''Mien Yong'' or ''Mienchow''), the presence of

Anglicanism Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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

(CMS) on Tongsheng Street. In the late 1880s, two women representing the

Church of England Zenana Missionary Society Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

were working there. This was followed by the entry of a CMS mission team into that city in 1894, led by James Heywood Horsburgh, who expanded the church; and Mianyang subsequently became the headquarters of the CMS Mission. During the

Republican Era Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

(1912–1949), Tongsheng Street (, ; now known as 'Liberation Street' for political propaganda), as its name suggests, that brought together three religious buildings, namely, a

Confucian temple A temple of Confucius or Confucian temple is a temple for the veneration of Confucius and the sages and philosophers of Confucianism in Chinese folk religion and other East Asian religions. They were formerly the site of the administration of ...

, a

Wenchang Wenchang ( postal: Mencheong; ; Hainanese spellings: Boon Siou) is a county-level city in the northeast of Hainan Island in China. Covering an area of , the city has a coastline of , and is divided into 17 towns. The city is a major target for t ...

Taoist temple A Daoist temple (), also called a () or (), is a place where the Dao is observed and cultivated. It is a place of worship in Taoism. Taoism is a religion that originated in China, with the belief in immortality, which urges people to become i ...

, which no longer exist, and the Anglican Gospel Church. 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 , 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'. 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 Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...

s, symbolizing masts. In 2009, on the occasion of the anniversary of the

2008 Sichuan earthquake An earthquake occurred in the province of Sichuan, China at 14:28:01 China Standard Time on May 12, 2008. Measuring at 8.0 (7.9–8.3 ), the earthquake's epicenter was located boxing the compass, west-northwest of Chengdu, the provincial ...

, Gospel Church hosted several

contemporary worship Contemporary worship is a form of Christian worship that emerged within Western evangelical Protestantism in the 20th century. It was originally confined to the charismatic movement, but is now found in a wide range of churches, including ...

services led by Joyful Noise Xpress, a music ministry and mission organization founded by Anthony Chan, a

Hong Kong American Hong Kong Americans (Cantonese: ), include Americans who are also Hong Kong residents who identify themselves as Hong Kongers (who see Hong Kong as their home and are culturally associated with Hong Kong, especially through descent, growth, birth ...

Christian musician. Participants included the founder and Hong Kong musician

Peter Kam Peter Kam Pui-Tat ( zh, t=金培達; born August 23, 1961) is a music composer for Hong Kong films including ''The Warlords'', ''Bodyguards and Assassins,'' ''Dragon'' and ''Isabella.'' Kam is an eight-time winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards. ...

. 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.

Notes

References

External links

Original Gospel Church, or known as Mienchow Mission House
at

Cambridge Digital Library The Cambridge Digital Library is a project operated by the Cambridge University Library designed to make items from the unique and distinctive collections of Cambridge University Library available online. The project was initially funded by a dona ...

Interior of the original Mienchow Church
at Cambridge Digital Library {{Christianity in Sichuan 19th-century Anglican church buildings in China Churches completed in the 1880s Churches completed in the 1890s Churches completed in the 1990s Churches in Mianyang

Former Church of England church buildings Rebuilt churches

History

See also

Notes

References

External links