A centenary church in Jiangsu held a service and ceremony for the inauguration of its new main building.
On April 23, a fiery red floating lantern ball was suspended at the entrance of the church in Taixing City. With a band playing music and receptionists welcoming guests at the entrance, the holy temple was fully seated with believers
Rev. Chen Dehong preached a sermon titled "The Church is the House of God" in the service. He mentioned that Bethel was the house of God, where God reigned and believers met God; Bethlehem meant the house of bread, and church should feed believers well with God’s words; Bethany was the home of friendship and hospitality, and people’s mourning could be turned to Joy with care and attention from the Lord.
In the afternoon, a celebration was held in the church, with performances such as singing, dancing, and oboe.
At the beginning of the 20th century, American missionary Alexander R. Saunders came to Taixing to do missionary work, establishing a church in Dingjiazhuang. In 1918, the Presbyterian Church started its mission work to Taixing in Taizhou Diocese, with an American missionary and a pastor from Yangzhou purchasing a land to build a church. During the Cultural Revolution, the church ceased religious activities and became a civil building. After the implementation of religious freedom policies in 1988, the church property was returned to the church, and the church was put into use in 2000. Since 2011, the foundation of the church has subsided, and cracks have appeared on the walls. Then it was detected as a dangerous building in 2015. In 2017, the municipal government planned to rebuild it in another location. With a construction area of 6,667 square meters (about 1.647 acres) and a floor area of approximately 3,300 square meters (about 0.815 acres), the new church was delivered for use in 2020.
- Translated by Emily Qu
