Sicheng Church, church in Zhejiang, China
Sicheng Church is a three-storey brick-and-timber church at 132 Jiefang Road, by Fengle Bridge. Its cross-shaped plan has grey-brick walls, pine beams and columns, and upturned eaves. A bell tower on the south side was removed in the 1950s when Jiefang Road was widened. The 1,800-seat main hall is on the second floor, with seating on three sides.
In November 1864 the American Presbyterian missionaries John Livingstone Nevius and the Chinese preacher Zhang Chengzhai came from Ningbo to Hangzhou and opened a chapel in Bixian Lane; Zhang became its first pastor in 1868. His son, Dr. Zhang Baoqing, gave 10,000 silver dollars toward a new building, 50,000 more were raised, and construction ran from 1924 to 1927, with use from 1930. Named Sicheng in Zhang Chengzhai's memory, it was closed in 1966 and occupied by the Hangzhou Library until reopening on 30 August 1981.
The name Sicheng commemorates Zhang Chengzhai, the church's first pastor, and the building was completed in 1927. The old Bixian Lane chapel was handed to the breakaway Chinese Jesus Church. About 5,000 people regularly attend services, which are held in the 1,800-seat main hall on the second floor.
Sicheng Church stands at 132 Jiefang Road, by Fengle Bridge in Shangcheng District. The main hall is on the second floor, with seating on three sides; the ground floor and galleries bring capacity to 1,800. Sunday services draw about 5,000 attenders, so weekday visits are quieter. The south bell tower was removed in the 1950s when Jiefang Road was widened.
The south side once had a bell tower, demolished in the 1950s when Jiefang Road was widened. The church also housed Zhejiang Theological Seminary from 1984 to 2000, and in late 1983 Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie visited.
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