Church in Xi

There are several church buildings in Xi'an, plus other, registered, meeting points. The church building near the YMCA is the only one I have been to. It may have a more formal name, but the sign over the door says Worship Hall. I learned that the church originally occupied at least a block of buildings, probably including missionary housing, schools, and maybe a hospital or clinic. This building was built in 1918. It certainly does not look any newer than that, and I would have believed an older date. But, the worshippers are faithful and fervent. The auditorium itself is not large, so they have a large room on the second floor of another building. This is where I sat when I was there; there was no closed circuit TV, so you had nothing to look at, but the sound system was very adequate. For others who couldn't get into either room, they set up benches in the courtyard. And, they have four services every Sunday, three in the morning and one in the evening. The man I talked to indicated they have up to 4,000 worshippers every Sunday. From what I saw, I believe it.

I loved the fact that they have a real bell in the bell tower and ring it by pulling a rope. Most of the churches I have attended play a recording. I could hear the bell ringing from my room in the YMCA.

I went to the church twice, once on Friday to locate the building and to meet with one of the church leaders to tell him that two American students would be attending there this summer, and again on Sunday to worship. So, some of my photos show empty space, and other photos show crowds of people. It was raining rather hard on Sunday, so I didn't take as many photos as I might have.