A church in Fujian Province in southeast China held a new church dedication service.
On May 1st, Taihu Church in Chengxiang District, Putian City, held a thanksgiving service and completion celebration for the new hall.
Pastor Lin Libin gave a sermon on "the significance of dedication" around the verses of 1 Kings 8:28–30 and 6:11–13.
In the sermon, Pastor Lin started with the grand dedication ceremony held by Solomon after the completion of the first temple in Jerusalem and extended the significance of the present dedication. The temple belongs to God, and God uses the temple to show His presence. The temple is a place where the earth connects with heaven and man meets God. God's people are determined to follow His way.
Subsequently, Chen Yuanmei, deputy director of Taihu Church, introduced the church's history.
In 1905, Peng Hanzhi, a native of Dongpu Qicuo village, Xindu Town, received the gospel in Hushi Town and returned to his hometown. He successively preached in villages such as Dongpuyu and Taihu Lake and established churches.
Chen Huaide, a priest sent from Houdong Pastoral Area, decided to build a hall according to the then-church situation. He first preached to Chen Yiyi, Chen Guiyuan, and other believers to donate all their money, and other believers followed so as to build a church.
In 1937, when the Anti-Japanese War broke out, Taihu Church was demolished and its followers scattered. During the Cultural Revolution, the old church was borrowed by the township government as the site of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
In 1978, the church resumed its gathering. As the number of believers increased, the responsible co-workers decided to rebuild the church in early 1993.
After that, the church started construction on October 4, 1993, and was completed on July 16, 1994.
In January 2018, the church could not accommodate the increasing number of believers and had cracks after more than 20 years of use. The church held a meeting and decided to rebuild the church.
On October 6, 2018, the church applied to the Lingchuan Township Government for the dilapidated church renovation and got approval from the government and relevant departments.
Many believers donated when they heard the news. According to incomplete statistics, the believers' donation from Shanben Church reached over RMB 2 million. By the end of August 2020, it would have finished what had begun on April 12, 2019. The new church covers an area of more than 800 square meters, with a construction area of 530 square meters. It is five stories high and can accommodate more than 600 people.
(The writer is a pastor of a Fujian church.)
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
