Virginia Baptists have given a small but symbolically significant contribution to a Christian congregation that is building what is likely to be the largest church building in China.
In October the Virginia Baptist Mission Board allocated $2,000 to Hangzhou Christian Church, which is constructing a 5,000-seat sanctuary in Hangzhou, a city of 6.1 million people on China's southeast coast. Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province.
The building, which is expected to be completed in April 2005, will cost about $3.7 million, according to Enoch Wang, chair of the Zhejiang Christian Council's overseas relations committee.
Lynn Yarbrough, who serves as Virginia Baptists' Kingdom Advance ambassador in China, said the Hangzhou Church draws about 5,000 people each Sunday for worship. Its current building is old and holds only about 1,000 people in the sanctuary and overflow rooms, she said. Many more people sit or stand in the church's courtyard, said Yarbrough, who lived in Hangzhou for a year and attended worship services at the church.
Wang, who is acting dean of studies for the Zhejiang provincial seminary, said the new church building complex will include a center for training lay people to serve as leaders and preachers for rural congregations, most of which do not have theologically-trained pastors.
The center will offer two-month courses for about 100 trainees at a time, Wang said.
Hangzhou is an economic and cultural center about 100 miles southwest of Shanghai. The 2,200-year-old city, one of seven ancient Chinese capitals, attracts tourists from around the country for its natural beauty and and its historic and cultural heritage.
Wang said there are about 20,000 Christians in Hangzhou proper, with another 200,000 in the surrounding rural area. In the city there are five churches and 30 “meeting points,” and another 150 congregations outside the city.
“A meeting point is not necessarily small, though some may be,” said Yarbrough. “They are congregations meeting in locations others than a church-style building, and often are linked to a mother church. They might be considered satellites or branches.”
Staff report