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The Tian'an Christian Church is located at No.15, Tian'anli, Cangshan District, Fuzhou City in Southeast China's Fujian Province. It is the birthplace of the Methodist Episcopal Church in East Asia.
In 1847, clergyman Colin, clergyman White and his wife arrived in Fuzhou City from the United States and began their missionary work. In the following year, Clergyman Manny got to Fuzhou City as well, and then they jointly built the Tian'an Christian Church.
After ten years of missionary work, the first seven deacons were selected here who were called seven golden beacons, which made the Tian'an Christian Church famous both home and abroad. In 1897, priest Huang Zhiji raised funds of about 20,000 silver dollars and rebuilt the church to a grand cathedral that could hold one thousand people.
After that, the Methodist Church hosted its important congregations here. In 1913, Mr. Sun Yat-sen attended the welcome meeting held by the church and delivered an excellent speech. In 1947, the centennial of the Methodist Church was held here.
Due to some historical reasons, the Tian'an Christian Church had been once closed. It had not been reopened until 1980, when the one-hundred-year-old church was about to collapse due to its old age. The renovation on it started in 1996 and was completed four years later. The new church that cost RMB 3 million yuan covers an area of 23,000 square meters.
Source:
chinaculture.org
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