Leaders and co-workers of a church in Shandong Province visited a Catholic Church.
According to Shandong CC&TSPM, nearly 20 people, including Christian leaders and pastoral co-workers of the Huangjia Street Church as well as principal leaders of choir groups, visited the Daizhuang Catholic Church in Jining, Shandong on January 16, 2022.
Located in Daizhuang Village, Liying Street, Rencheng District, Jining City, Daizhuang Catholic Church has a history of one hundred years and was listed as a "key cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province" in 1992.
Zhou Chuanduo, the Honorary Director of the Catholic Patriotic Association of the city, introduced Father Joseph Freinademetz's experience of building churches and serving in China since 1879. Father Freinademetz served in Shandong for 27 years, leading foreign missionaries to adapt to Chinese culture, establishing hospitals, schools, orphanages, and other charitable organizations, caring for poor families, and carrying out public welfare activities. There was an outbreak of typhoid fever in Yanzhou in 1907. He was infected while serving patients and died in Daizhuang in 1908.
Gao Ming, President of Jining CC&TSPM and Senior Pastor of the Huangjia Street Church, pointed out that the Catholic Church had the tradition and related resources that attached importance to worship etiquette and prayer. Pastoral co-workers in the CCC&TSPM would be led to apply the lessons they learned to their church's worship ministry.
Father Sun Jianbo, Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the Catholic Patriotic Association of Jining, recalled the time eight years ago when he led Catholic believers to participate in the Christmas events conducted in the Huangjia Street Church, where Jining CC&TSPM of Jining is located. He expected future exchanges to continue to be strengthened along with the mutual friendship.
- Translated by Stephen Huang
