Xinjie Church (China¡¯s oldest Protestant Church) »ù¶½½ÌнÖÌÃ
Add: #29 T¨¢igu¨¡ng Ji¨¥ ̨¹â½Ö29ºÅ Tel: 2072383
Join the English Corner; Sundays 4:30 to 6PM

Trinity Church, G¨³l¨¤ngy¨³ (S¨¡ny¨©t¨¢ng) »ù¶½½ÌÈýÒ»ÌùÄÀËÓì
Add: G¨³l¨¤ngy¨³, #71 ¨¡nh¨£i L¨´ Tel: 2068127

Ji¨¡ngt¨®u New District Church (The ¡°Ark¡±) »ù¶½½Ì½­Í·ÐÂÇø¸£ÒôÌÃ
Add: H¨²l¨« District, #12 Hedong Lu  ºþÀïÇøºÌ¶«Â·12ºÅ Tel: 5511667
Needs help with English corner (Sat. afternoons)
E-mail: ndgc12@public.xm.fj.cn

X¨¬ngl¨ªn G¨¡op¨³ Church »ù¶½½Ì¸ßÆÖÌÃ
Add: X¨¬ngl¨ªn District, G¨¡op¨³ Village ¸ßÆÖ´å Tel: 2065512

H¨£ic¨¡ng Church »ù¶½½Ìº£²×ÌÃ
Add: X¨¬ngl¨ªn District, H¨£ic¨¡ng Ji¨¥ ÐÓÁÖÇøº£²×½Ö Tel: 6082672

J¨©m¨§i H¨°ux¨© Church»ù¶½½ÌºóϪÌÃ
Add: J¨©m¨§i District, H¨°ux¨© Ji¨¥ ¼¯ÃÀÇøºóϪ½Ö· Tel: 6260580

J¨©m¨§i Church »ù¶½½Ì¼¯ÃÀÌÃ
Add: J¨©m¨§i District, X¨±nji¨¡ng L¨´ ¼¯ÃÀÇøä±½­Â· Tel: 6065636 Needs help with Friday Night English Corner

Xi¨¢x¨© Church »ù¶½½ÌϼϪÌÃ
Add: #24 Xi¨¢x¨© L¨´ ϼϪ·24ºÅ Tel: 2072591

Zh¨¤ish¨¤ng Church »ù¶½½ÌÕ¯ÉÏÌÃ
Add: H¨²l¨«, H¨¦sh¨¡nzh¨¥ng G¨¡odi¨¤n C¨±n ºþÀïÇøºÌɽÕ÷¸ßµî´å Tel: 6035540

Zh¨±sh¨´ (Bamboo) Church ÏÃÃÅ»ù¶½½ÌÖñÊ÷ÌÃ
Add: #133 K¨¡ih¨¥ L¨´ ¿ªºÌ·133ºÅ Tel: 2017382

Xi¨¤m¨¦n Christian Council (Xi¨¤m¨¦n Sh¨¬ J¨©d¨±ji¨¤o Zh¨´z¨¬ ¨¤igu¨® Y¨´nd¨°nghu¨¬)ÏÃÃÅÊлù¶½½ÌÖ÷×Ô°®¹úÔ˶¯»á(Э»á)
Add: #86 Zh¨­ngsh¨¡n L¨´ ÖÐɽ·86ºÅ Tel: 2025281

Xiamen YMCA/YWCA needs foreign volunteers!


Quick Overview of Xiamen Church History

Christianity in Xi¨¤m¨¦n.
Xi¨¤m¨¦n has 54 pastors in 40 registered churches, including the oldest Protes-tant Church in China, built in 1848. But the first Christians may have arrived over 1,000 years ago.

A stele in a X¨©¡¯¨¡n museum was erected Jan. 7, 781 to celebrate the arrival of Nestorian Christianity, the ¡°Luminous Religion (J¨«ngji¨¤o Çؾ°) in 635 A.D. The stele also lists the names of 70 Assyrian missionaries. Nestorians may have arrived in South F¨²ji¨¤n about the same time as the Muslims. The photo to the right is of one many Nestorian tombstones in the Qu¨¢nzhou Maritime Museum (which I¡¯ve visited literally dozens of times). And in the late 1800s, an ancient stone cross was discovered at the foot of a hill in Zh¨¡ngzh¨­u, just 40km west of us.

In the 1300s Marco Polo reported that F¨²zh¨­u had a large group of Chris-tians with roots going back hundreds of years. By the early 1300s, Qu¨¢n-zh¨­u had 3 Franciscan cathedrals, as well as a Jewish community. And given that Xi¨¤m¨¦n had best port, it is not unlikely that Xi¨¤m¨¦n was frequented by Muslims, Manicheans, Nestorians, Franciscans, or S¨°ng Dynasty Scientologists.

Xi¨¤m¨¦n¡ªBirthplace of Chinese Protestantism
Whether or not Xi¨¤m¨¦n had Muslims, Nestorians and Franciscans, it was certainly the ¡°Birthplace of Modern Protestantism,¡± with China¡¯s 1st Protes-tant church.

X¨©nji¨¥ (Sin Khoe A) ¡ª 1st Church of China (нÖÀñ°ÝÌÃ) Every two-horse-town in America has a First Baptist or a First Methodist, but there is only one First Church of China¡ªright here in Xi¨¤m¨¦n. China¡¯s first Protestant church was built in 1848 for the princely sum of $3000. Today the church has services of different kinds almost every day of the week. Sunday services are in M¨«nn¨¢n dialect and Mandarin.
Tel: 2072383. Address: Near corner of Zh¨­ngsh¨¡n L¨´ and S¨©m¨©ng L¨´ (ÖÐɽ·ºÍ˼Ã÷·ʮ×Ö·¿Ú), across from the Trust-Mart & KFC.
Buses: 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 27, 32, 45, 48, 51, 67, 71

Zh¨±sh¨´ Church (Bamboo Church (Zh¨±sh¨´t¨¢ng ÖñÊ÷ÌÃ) was built in 1849 and cooperated closely with X¨©nji¨¥, even sharing elders and deacons. The Zh¨±sh¨´ actually began services on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 19th, 1847, in the Bamboo House (ÖñÊ÷½ÅÃñ·¿). They added an upper room with capacity of 100 worshippers in July, 1850. The church burned down in 1903, was rebuilt with the help of American donations in 1904, and the present church was built in 1935 under the guidance of a Chinese member who had graduated from engineering school in the U.S. Church membership fell during the Japanese occupation but by the mid 1940s was back up to over 600. Services were suspended from 1966 until Dec. 20th, 1981.
By 1983, attendance was up to 700. Zh¨±sh¨´ now has 3 pastors, 24 dea-cons, attendance of 3,000, and programs virtually daily.
The 391.5m2 red and white brick church is on a 2,751m2 lot on the small market road just off Xi¨¤h¨¦ L¨´ (ÏĺÍ·) near the harbor.
Add: #129 K¨¡ih¨¦ L¨´ ¿ªºÌ·129ºÅ Tel: 29877381 (2) www.zhushu.org/

Gulangyu Foreigners' Graves
Foreigners¡¯ tombstones on G¨³l¨¤ngy¨³ dated back to the 1600s, but the cemetery was destroyed in the 1950s in protest of Britain¡¯s invasion of Egypt. The only foreign tombstone still remaining on G¨³l¨¤ngy¨³ is of an Indian from Bombay. Fortunately, Giles¡¯ ¡°A Short History of Koolangsu¡± (1878) records a few of the inscriptions for us:

¡°The following inscriptions will be found quite close to the residence of Dr. Manson:--¡±

Here lieth the body of Capt. Stepn. Baker who Was late Commandr.
Of ye SUCCESS who Departed this life Ob. Sep. 6 Anno
Octob. Ye 18, Ann. 1700. Aged 49 years.

Here lieth the body of John Duffield Son of Henry Duffield, Comr. of ye TRUMBULL Dom. Et. XIIL annos Dom. 1698

Sepultura De Domingo FANGII INAN Y otros dos Indios de Philipinas que falleeie- Ron en Oct. ano de 1759.

Sacred To the memory of Augustus Percival Greene, F.R.A.S. Lieut. Of H.M.S. ¡°Plover¡± Who died on board that Vessel on Dec. 2, 1844.
Aged 26 years 9 months 3 days.

This Monument was erected In memory of those who perished In the British schooner ¡°Pearl¡±Lost in the Typhoon off Chapel Island On the night of the 12th June 1866.

In memory of Richard A. Breck Late a master in the U.S. navy. Who on Sep. 22, 1874 Was drowned while bathing Aged 26. Erected by his brothers Officers of the U.S.S. ¡°Yantic¡±

Back to Xiamen--Birthplace of Chinese Protestantism

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Dr. Bill   Xiamen University MBA Center
E-mail: amoybill@gmail.com  
Snail Mail: Dr. William Brown 
Box 1288  Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian  PRC   361005

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