St. Andrew's Church (Kowloon)

St. Andrew's Church (Chinese: 聖安德烈堂) is located on 138 Nathan Road, Kowloon. It is a church of the Anglican (Sheng Kung Hui) Province of Hong Kong and in the Diocese of Western Kowloon [http://www.standrews.org.hk/history.htm History of St Andrew's Church] ] . It is the oldest Protestant church in Kowloon. The church provides many services on Sundays. It has services in English and Putonghua.

History

The idea of building an Anglican church in Kowloon was first suggested in 1897 but no progress was made until 1904, when Catchick Paul Chater offered $35,000 to finance the construction. The chosen site was next to a large garden area owned by Sir Paul, covering the area between Robinson Road (now Nathan Road) and Austin Road.

Work began in November 1904, and was completed in 1906. The church was consecrated on October 6th 1906. [2006. St Andrews Church Centenary Celebration commemorative booklet] It was built of granite and red brick in the Early English Gothic style.

This church was continuously used for Christian worship except during the period of Japanese occupation in the Second World War; [http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=4124 2006 Awards Entries for Culture Heritage Conservation: China] it was used as a Shinto shrine during that period. [Sally Rodwell. 1991. A Visitor's guide to Historic Hong Kong. ISBN 962-217-212-1]

In 1979, St. Andrew’s Christian Centre was built. The Centre now houses different Christian organisations. The Church was restored in 1959.

The church was important to the early history of The Scout Association of Hong Kong: it organised the 2nd Scout Group in Hong Kong.

The church recently held its centenary celebrations which included the consecration of two new stained glass windows.

tyle

The Victorian Gothic-style main building is in cruciform in plan; there is a single bell tower at the front right [Antiquities and Monuments Office, April 2000, Heritage Hong Kong 3:4] .

References

External links

* [http://www.standrews.org.hk/ Homepage of St. Andrew's Church]