New church dedicated in Shenzhen
( 2003-08-26 10:12) (Agencies)
The new Christian Shenzhen
Church was dedicated at a special ceremony at Meilin on Saturday.
The 8,400-square-meter ark-shaped church was built on a slope of a hill on
the eastern section of Meilin Road, Futian District, at a total cost of 28
million yuan (US$3.37 million).
"Under the care of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPC and Shenzhen
Municipal Government, Christian believers in Shenzhen now have a new fixed place
to practice their beliefs," said Li Jianping, director-general of the Shenzhen
Municipal Bureau of Religious Affairs.
The old Christian Shenzhen Church, built before the founding of the PRC in
1949, was originally located on Heping Road in Luohu District with a total
construction area of only 300 square meters.
Because of urban expansion, the old church had to be demolished in 1977 and a
factory on Songyuan Road in Luohu District was rented as temporary premises for
worship.
In the same year, the municipal government allocated 4,400 square meters of
land for the church to build on. The four-storey church now can hold 2,000
believers for each service Sundays.
So far, the church has received many overseas delegations, including those
from the United States, Germany, France, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.
By the end of last year, the church had helped a total of 1,411 dropouts in
the countryside to return to school with money raised from believers.
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