God's Presence Church

God's Presence Church

God's Presence Church is a Gothic-style church located at No. 1 Yanfu East Road. It covers a construction area of 457 square meters. It served as one of the missionary stations of the Anglican Church, a Protestant denomination, in the Jiangsu diocese. The Anglican Church's churches in Yangzhou include God's Presence Church at Bianyi Gate and Holy Trinity Church at No. 218 Guangling Road; its schools included MeiHan Middle School at Bianyi Gate and Xincheng Girls' School. God's Presence Church is situated within the campus of the missionary school MeiHan Middle School. MeiHan Middle School was founded in 1908 (the 34th year of the Guangxu reign in the Qing Dynasty) by the American Episcopal bishop Han Baiming on Zuowei Street in Yangzhou, and relocated to inside Bianyi Gate in 1910 (the 2nd year of the Xuantong reign). During the school’s establishment, Admiral George Dewey of the U.S. Navy donated a substantial sum, hence the school was named MeiHan (Dewey) Middle School. After the founding of the Republic of China, it was renamed MeiHan (American-Han) Middle School to signify Sino-American friendship. MeiHan Middle School was an affiliated high school of St. John's University in Shanghai, and its graduates could directly enroll in St. John's University. The school offered courses in both Chinese and English, officially introducing modern English education to Yangzhou. In 1924, while founding the school, Han Baiming also built God's Presence Church and two pastor residences in the southern part of the school. The pastor residences were living quarters for the pastors of God's Presence Church and their families. They are two-story buildings, each with a living room, featuring a cruciform exterior and tall pointed arches, representing typical Gothic architecture. In 1946, after the end of the Anti-Japanese War, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration’s Suzhou-Nanjing Branch and the American Committee for Aid to China donated items to God's Presence Church such as hospital beds, medicines, milk powder, blankets, and clothes.

Due to years of disrepair, God's Presence Church had become a dangerous building. To protect this religious and cultural site, the Yangzhou municipal government carried out emergency restoration work. Construction began in early 2010 and was completed in August 2011. Apart from replacing the damaged roof and flooring, the walls, pointed arches, side aisles, and windows were preserved in their original state. The church can accommodate 600 people for worship services.