A collective memorial service was held at a centennial church in China’s eastern-coastal Jiangsu Province.
On November 8, church staff Sheng Enci preached a sermon titled “Hope of Life” at St. John’s Church in Suzhou, elaborating the view on life and death in Christianity with the exhortation to the believers that they should rely on Jesus Christ and live a life of joy and strength.
During the service, seven believers delivered brief eulogies in memory of the departed family member or friend, sharing memories and virtues of the deceased.
Formerly St. John's Church, the East Soochow Methodist Church, was established in 1881 (the seventh year of Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty) at Tiancizhuang by Alvin Pierson Parker, a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with a capacity of 400 people. To accommodate more believers, a new church with a building area of 0.46 acres and a capacity of more than 800 people was built. It was renamed St. John's Church in memory of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church.
- Translated by Poppy Chan
