Église du Bon-Pasteur de Shanghai, Catholic church in Huangpu District, Shanghai, China
The Church of the Good Shepherd (君王堂) occupies the ground floor of a building at 361 Julu Road in Huangpu District. The present church, opened in 1991 and consecrated in 1993, has a simple modern exterior and a floor area of 540 square metres. Its left interior wall carries a 20-metre by 6-metre mosaic of the Good Shepherd made from more than 260,000 two-centimetre tesserae in over 20 colours, which gives the church its alternative name, Jesus the Good Shepherd.
Jesuit missionaries built this church in 1933 to serve the English-speaking community in the city. Chinese clergy took over its administration in 1951 following major political changes.
The name Junwang Tang ("Church of the King") refers to Christ the Universal King, whose feast is the parish's patronal day. The new church is also called Jesus the Good Shepherd Church after the 20-metre mosaic of the Good Shepherd covering its left interior wall, made of over 260,000 two-centimetre tesserae in more than 20 colours. Sunday Mass is now in Chinese with about 300 attendees.
Visitors can find this building easily on Julu Street in Huangpu District, which is well accessible by public transportation. Before visiting, check the hours for worshippers and visitors since this is an active parish building.
The old church on Chang Le Road was demolished in 1985 to make way for the New Jinjiang Hotel, and the parish moved to the ground floor of 361 Julu Road, where the new hall opened in 1991 and was consecrated by Bishop Jin Luxian on 25 April 1993. The writer Jin Yucheng describes the demolition in his 2012 novel Blossom.
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