St. Paul's Church of the Anglican Church

St. Paul's Church of the Anglican Church

St. Paul's Church of the Anglican Church is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

St. Paul's Church of the Anglican Church is located at No. 396 Taiping South Road and is the oldest existing large worship hall of Christianity in Nanjing. Built in 1922, it originally belonged to the Anglican Church and has a history of over eighty years. The main building, the large worship hall (also called the Sanctuary), features a typical European rural church style, standing 11 meters high, with a total width of eight bays (34 meters) and a depth of 11 rafters (13.47 meters), covering a construction area of 485 square meters. The large worship hall is adjacent to the bell tower on the east side, which has a total height of 18.2 meters.

Starting in 1910, American missionary Rev. George E. M. Gillespie preached in the area around Mafu Street and Menlian Bridge (now Taiping South Road). In 1912, he purchased the current site, and in 1913, construction began on a small worship hall that could accommodate about 100 people for gatherings, named St. Paul's Church. In 1920, when Gillespie returned to the United States, an American Anglican parishioner, in memory of his son who died in World War I, donated funds and asked Gillespie to build a church in China to pray for peace and oppose war. Gillespie returned to Nanjing in 1921 and used these funds to expand St. Paul's Church. He hired Qi Zhaochang, an architectural engineer from the University of Nanking, to design the church and oversee its construction. The entire project was undertaken by the Chen Mingji Construction Company. Construction began in 1922 and was completed in June 1923, taking a year and a half. The total construction cost, including all equipment, amounted to 12,000 US dollars, equivalent to 48,000 silver dollars at the time.

On December 19, 2011, the People's Government of Jiangsu Province announced it as part of the seventh batch of provincial-level cultural relic protection units.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units of Jiangsu Province