100th Celebration of the Foundation Celebrated for Shandong Qishan Church

Qishan Church celebrates its 100th founding anniversary
Qishan Church celebrates its 100th founding anniversary (photo: CCC&TSPM)

From Oct 17-23, 2016, in order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Qishan Church, Shandong Yantai CCC&TSPM hosted a series of celebration activities in Qishan Church. The theme was "Review and expectation." There were a special topic morning prayer meeting, a regular prayer meeting, a praise meeting, a revival meeting, and sermons.

On the morning of Oct 23, Pastor Zou Zhongyi, director and chairman of Yantai CCC&TSPM, presided over the thanksgiving service. Pastor Ren Xianmin, deputy chairman of Shandong CCC&TSPM shared on the topic of "With united hearts, Promote the Gospel." In total, more than 3000 people attended the ceremony, including the persons in charge of the religious groups in Yantai, the delegates of the city pastoral workers, believers, and friendly people from all walks of life.

Qishan Church is an important arena for Yantai churches, and it is also the demonstration window of the provincial "Harmonious Temples, Abbeys and Churches." In 1890, James Mamullan, the British missionary of China Inland Mission, came to Yantai to spread the Gospel and founded the unique Crafts Church in Chinese Christian history. They taught and purchased the lace woven by believers and exported to European countries to help the poor believers. In this way, they formed the unique wooden club Lace weaving export industry in Jiaodong region. In 1902, together with Chinese pastor Wang Changchun and elder Liu Yushan, they founded the Cheefoo Industrial Mission. It was the first attempt of clergymen participating and founding a church and presiding over pastoral affairs.

In 1916, in memory of the late James Mamullan, Mrs. Mamullan contributed to rebuilding a new church (the current Qishan Church) and it was independently managed by Chinese Christians. After liberation, the city established the "Three-Self" Patriotic Organization. During the Cultural Revolution, Qishan Church was shut down and stopped all religious activities. In 1994, the church reopened and resumed services. With the 30 years' development after Reform and Opening, there are now 8 ministry teams in Qishan Church that carry out more than 10 services, such as Sunday Worship, Prayer Meetings, Bible Study, English Bible Study, Young Believers Service, and Morning Prayer Meetings. There are over 2000 believers who go to church regularly and it is the most influential church in Yantai and Shandong.

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