Chinese Presbyterian Church

Chinese Presbyterian Church, Crown Street, Surry Hills

Chinese Presbyterian Church, also commonly known as CPC, is the oldest surviving Chinese church in Australia. It is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. As at 2011, the church has a congregation of just under six hundred people meeting in worship services catering to languages of English, Cantonese, and Mandarin, and primarily seeks to reach out to the Chinese community of Sydney.

History

The first Chinese churches arose out of the gold rush of the 1860s in Victoria, to where numbers of migrants travelled to make their fortune. The Chinese Presbyterian Church can trace its foundation to the Presbyterian Chinese Mission formed by the Presbyterian Church of New South Wales as Sydney became an increasingly important centre for Chinese immigrants.

Location

The Chinese Presbyterian Church officially began in 1893, opening its first church building on Foster Street in Surry Hills. The church moved to Campbell Street in 1910, then moved to its current location at the Fullerton Memorial Church in 1957, located at the corner of Crown and Albion Streets. Today the church continues to worship at the Fullerton Memorial Church building and owns and uses various adjoining properties for ministry.

Related churches and initiatives

CCC at Milsons Point

Chinese Christian Church (CCC) and Western Sydney Chinese Christian Church (WSCCC)

In 1964, four elders of the church left to form the Chinese Christian Church (or CCC) at Milsons Point. CCC has been responsible for several church plants, including the West Sydney Chinese Christian Church or WSCCC, which in turn has also been responsible for numerous other Chinese church plants. Today, there is an amicable relationship between members of these three major Chinese churches.^[1]

Notable church plants of CPC include the Cornerstone Presbyterian Community Churches and the Burwood Chinese Presbyterian Church.

Challenges for the Future

CPC faces challenges in considering and redefining its place as a Sydney Chinese church as at 2011 due to a slow but inevitable trend over the last several years for church members with growing young families to seek local Chinese churches as closer and more viable alternatives for Christian community. In addition, the presence of increasing numbers of local Chinese churches, of which some are not related to CPC in origin, mean that the Chinese christian community is becoming more locally defined and decentralised from what was once a few large Chinese church communities. Increase in local outreach focus in the Surry Hills area is one such solution, including a focus on international ex-patriates and young working professionals working and living in the Surry Hills area.

Rice Inter-Church Evangelism (RICE)

"RICE", or Rice Inter-Church Evangelism, is an annual Chinese church event, aimed at reaching out to friends of youth who attend various Chinese churches in Sydney and Brisbane.

References

1. ^ "CPC Church History". http://www.cpc.org.au/history.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-17. 

• Mar, W.L. (1993). So great a cloud of witnesses: A history of the Chinese Presbyterian Church Sydney 1893-1993. Surry Hills: The Chinese Presbyterian Church.

External links

• The Official Chinese Presbyterian Church website
• The Official Cornerstone Presbyterian Church website
• The Official Burwood Chinese Presbyterian Church website
• The Official Chinese Christian Church Milsons Point website
• The Official West Sydney Chinese Christian Church website
• The Official RICE Inter-Church Evangelism website