Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church

In the 11th year of the Xianfeng reign during the Qing Dynasty (1861), the American Baptist Missionary Union established the Dengzhou Baptist Church in Penglai and built the church — Holy Trinity Church. Holy Trinity Church is the earliest Baptist organization and church in North China. In the 11th year of the Tongzhi reign (1872), the Dengzhou Baptist Church constructed a Christian church on the west side of the southern section of Huaihe River within the county town, then known as “Dengzhou Holy Trinity Church.”

The original Dengzhou Holy Trinity Church was an American-style building, consisting of a connected worship hall and bell tower. The eastern worship hall had a single-story structure, with the altar facing east-west, a baptismal font located in the center, dressing rooms on both sides, and a capacity to accommodate nearly 400 people. The western bell tower originally had three stories, with a bronze bell hanging from the wooden beams on the top floor. Every Sunday, the sound of the bell would resonate throughout the city.

Later, due to years of disrepair and severe damage, it was renovated in 1987 and transformed into a two-story structure. The first floor serves as a foyer (vestibule), with the main entrance facing west and two side doors opening eastward to the worship hall; the second floor functions as a storage room.

Among the American missionaries who served at this church, Miss Lottie Moon had the greatest international religious influence. She was the first female missionary sent overseas by an American Christian organization. Starting in 1987, foreign tourists have come specifically to Penglai every year to visit and pay respects at the “Memorial Monument to the Late Miss Lottie Moon of the United States,” erected in 1915.