Historical Development of Savior Church in Guangzhou

stele of the Savior Church in Guangzhou
1/4stele of the Savior Church in Guangzhou(photo: Savior Church)
Mail Building of the  Savior Church in Guangzhou
2/4Mail Building of the Savior Church in Guangzhou(photo: Savior Church)
Mail Building of the  Savior Church in Guangzhou
3/4Mail Building of the Savior Church in Guangzhou(photo: Savior Church)
Chapel of the Savior Church in Guangzhou
4/4Chapel of the Savior Church in Guangzhou(photo: Savior Church)
By Yetta YaoAugust 26th, 2016

Savior Church in Guangzhou belongs to the denomination of Three-Self Church and Christian Council of Guangzhou. It is located in 184 Wanfu Road, conveniently accessible to Zhongshan Road, Beijing Road and Haizhu Square.

Savior Church (Full name: the Christian Church of Our Savior) has a rich historical background. In 1904, Mo Zengshou, one of the first batch of Chinese Bishop, was appointed to work in this region to start his pastoral work in Guangzhou. Later, Bishop Mo explored mission fields in Henan, Qishan and Xingnan regions by establishing new churches and making donation to church members, Chinese expatriates and foreigners. Savior Church was built in 1919 and dedicated in 1921.

Upon the completion of the construction, the layout of the church showed a gigantic "cross" and was covered by red bricks and green ceramic, which made it full of Chinese traditional special features. Afterwards, a secondary church building was built up to provide space for pre-school and primary schools. Moreover, a clinic was also built for provision of free medical service to the community.

When the Cultural Revolution started in 1966, church activities were forced to cease and church buildings were occupied by external organizations.

On may 12th, 1985, Savior Church managed to resume its activities as lead by Pastor Li Dehui. A thanksgiving service was held to celebrate this resumption of church services. Thousands of Sino-foreign guests came over and joined their hearts to celebrate this joyful and thankful occasion.

In February 1997, the pastor's house adjacent to main church building was torn down and re-built as "Building of Overflowing Blessings" as per completed in May 1999. The second level of the building was allocated for church use such as a small chapel, guest room, worship hall, children's hall, computer room, and staff's office.

In 1999, Savior Church had a massive scale of renovation including re-laying of ceramic covering, re-painting of interior walls, laying of the marble floor, flooring of the public square as well as a thorough turnover of the secondary church building.

Savior Church also learns from the tradition by establishing "Goodwill Foundation" to participate in charity and care for the less fortunate in society. In 2008, the church was rewarded by the Religion Committee of Guangzhou with Annual Model Religion Centre in both 2005 and 2007. In 2009, it was again awarded the prize of Annual Civilized Religion Centre in both 2005 and 2008.

The list of Savior Church's pastors:

Bishop Mo Shouzeng
Elder Bai Lieshi
Rev.C.1.Blanchett
Rev. Zheng Boshi
Bishop Murong Xian
Rev. Jiang Zhiyong
Rev. Lie Puku
Rev. Li Tianai (Rev. Li is the first female pastor as anointed by the World Anglican Church)
Rev. Wei Qiuling
Rev. Li Dehui
Rev. Zhang Lingguang
Rev. Li Fengsui
Rev. Liang Jingwei
Rev. Pan Qiongzhen
Rev. Shi Jinyu
Rev. Lin Bingsheng

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