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Historic Community Church still draws world’s Christians
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ALTHOUGH it may not be particularly large or lavishly designed, the Community Church on Hengshan Road is one of Shanghai’s most famous churches.
“It’s easy to pass by this church, concealed behind lush trees,” says local Christian architecture expert Zhou Jin. “But it has been visited by so many foreign government heads and religious leaders, including former US President Jimmy Carter, Harald V of Norway and George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
“Their visits show its unparalleled international reputation among the city’s hundreds of Christian churches,” notes Zhou.
When the church was completed, it was called “another landmark for the American community in Shanghai” by the China Weekly Review on March 7, 1925.
“It is proposed to hold the dedicatory service on Sunday morning, at the usual hour of 11 o’clock. Heretofore the Community Church has held its services in the American School dining room,” the report noted.
The Review added that an outstanding American religious leader, Dr Eleland McAfee of Chicago from the McCormick Theological Seminary, was holding a special Sunday service.
“The Community Church is the outgrowth of the old American Song Service, which was started in the Palace Hotel building many years ago. When the attendance became so large, the members decided to organize and inaugurate an American church in Shanghai and today they are proud to own their own home on Avenue Petain (today’s Hengshan Road),” according to the report.
Zhou, author of the book “Shanghai Church,” explains that American Christians in Shanghai organized a choir early last century. They built a small church on Route Doumer (today’s Donghu Road) in 1920 as a place for the choir, but it was soon too small for the city’s growing American Christian population.
For this reason, they launched a fundraising campaign in 1923 to erect a new church which purchased 11-mu (7,337 square meters) of land from the Shanghai American School at what is today 53 Hengshan Road.
Zhang Sheng, a PhD researcher from Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, says the erection of several signature public buildings in the 1920s, particularly the community church, marked the shaping of Shanghai’s American community.
Diverse community
“Unlike with the British, the American community was not formed immediately after Shanghai opened its port in 1843,” Zhang says. “The Americans who spoke English lived a comfortable life in the British and later the international settlements. Some Americans were admitted as members to clubs of other nationals.
“But the intense war atmosphere pervaded all European clubs in Shanghai during World War I, when America was trying to preserve neutrality. That made Americans feel uneasy and created the need for places of their own,” Zhang explains. “In addition, more American women were coming to Shanghai. They married American bachelors, formed families and then the American community began to take shape with the erection of the Community Church, the American Club, the Columbia Country Club and the American School.”
Since there were no big churches in the former French concession, Christians from other countries also donated generously to the church, which cost US$33,000 at the time and was completed by the Mission Architects.
“It was the first time all Christians in Shanghai, regardless of nationality or denomination, jointly erected a church. That contributed to the fame of the Community Church, which used English for preaching until 1949,” Zhou says.
The church is a 16-meter-high brick-and-wood structure initially designed with a Basilica floor plan. The interior features a central hall with a capacity for 700 people, side corridors, an altar in the center of the nave and galleries on the second floor. In 1936, a priests’ residence, office and activity room were added to the central hall.
“Many Shanghai churches were designed according to classic European churches. The Community Church is unique among them, as it used a British country church style but added Shanghai cultural elements,” according to Zhou.
“The British sloping wooden roof is covered with Chinese gray tiles shaped like fish scales, which reflect the sunlight and thus form unforgettable memories of this special church,” he says.
The Community Church also features Gothic elements such as pointed arches and stained glass windows. Green ivies climb over the external walls which are graced by exquisite stone window frames and window lattices.
The church closed during the “cultural revolution” (1966-76) and reopened in 1981. Today it draws Christians from more than 50 countries, making it one of the most diverse church communities in China.
Zhou, who is also a Christian himself, notes that two influential Chinese bishops, the late Shen Yipan and Ding Guangxun, both came from this church. They further enhanced the church’s reputation.
The church is open for services on Sundays and is always wrapped in a peaceful, pleasant atmosphere, especially on Sunday nights. The wild greenery, unkempt lawns and ivy covered red brick exterior are reminiscent of an English village church.
Golden lights illuminate the stained glass windows while the heavenly sound of the church’s still famous choir hover in the cedar-laden night air; all within a stone’s throw of one of Shanghai’s busiest roads.
“The Community Church is only around 1,000 square meters. It’s not big, but it’s unique and famous among all Shanghai churches,” Zhou says.
“And it’s a transitional work in Shanghai’s modern Christian architecture, which moved from merely replicating Western church styles to creating Shanghai’s own local churches that merged Western and local cultures,” he adds. “This church, which housed Christians of different nations and religious schools, is really a mirror of the East-meets-West Shanghai spirit that values diversity and synergy.”
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