Located in the far southern Hebei Province and under the jurisdiction of Handan City, Daming County is home to the Mother of Grace Cathedral and a Roman Catholic diocese. Compared to its well-known Catholic connections, the history of Protestant Christianity in Daming is known to few.
Daming is located in the Southeast of Handan city, near the border between Hebei Province, Henan Province, and Shandong Province. As a secondary capital in the Northern Song Dynasty, Daming boasts a rich historical and cultural heritage.
Christianity was first introduced to Daming in 1897. The earliest mission societies to enter the county include South Zhili Mission (non-denominational, 1904), Church of the Nazarene, the Mennonite Mission and, Bethel Mission. Among them, the South Zhili Mission was the first one to enter it, while the Church of the Nazarene and the Mennonites had larger scales. Apart from these four missions, whose missionaries were mostly from the United States, there was also an indigenous church sending out local missionaries.
During the time of the Republic of China, the evangelism mission reached its peak. Apart from evangelizing and planting churches, the missionaries also built schools, hospitals, orphanages, farms and roads, making a great influence in the local education, transport, medicine, charity, and other social undertakings.
Among many other churches built by foreign missionaries, the former Mennonite church building, which is located on the East side of South Street, is now still serving as a Christian church. The church was built under the leadership of American missionary Peter J. Boehr and was put into use in 1927. Its main hall could host nearly 1000 people.
After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the church was converted into a theatre and later a cinema, thus the interior setting was changed greatly. The church building was returned back to Christians in 1992, and it underwent a major refurbishment in 2019 by the church members, with many of its original features restored.
Built in 1918, Daming’s Mother of Grace Cathedral was the second-largest cathedral at the time, equally famous as the St. Ignatius Cathedral in Shanghai. It served as the headquarters of the Diocese of Daming.
- Translated by Grace Song
河北省南部的大名县是天主教宠爱之母大堂的所在地，同时新教传入大名也已经有一百多年的历史。
大名县位于河北省邯郸市的东南部，处在河北省、河南省、山东省三省交界处，这里文化厚重，底蕴丰富，是河北省历史文化名城，北宋时候大名曾经作为陪都之一，显赫一时。
基督教最早于公元1897年传入大名县。先后来到大名的宣教差会有“南直隶会”（South Zhili Mission）、“宣圣会”（Nazarene 拿撒勒人会）、“门诺会”（Mennonite清洁会）和“伯特利会”(Bethel)。其中“南直隶会”最早进入大名，但“宣圣会”和“门诺会”规模较大。当时的宣教士多为美籍。除了这四个国外差会以外，当时大名县还有一个自养宣教的教会。
这些差会的传教士们在大名宣传福音，建立教会，至民国时期，福音事工发展至鼎盛。除了建立教会，他们还积极的开设学校，建立医院，设立孤儿院以及开办奶牛养殖场、修路等，对大名的医疗卫生、教育、慈善、道路运输等社会事业发展起到了巨大的推动作用。
在众多外国宣教士建立的教堂之中，位于大名县城南街路东的原清洁会教堂现在依然屹立并且作为教堂正常使用。该堂由美籍宣教士北福德夫妇与宋福义德女宣教士主持筹建，民国十六年（１９２７年）竣工投入使用，到现在已经接近100年了，大殿可容纳近千人礼拜。
解放后，该堂成为文化活动场所，先后做过戏院、电影院等，因此教堂内很多地方都被改动过。1992年教堂重新归还给教会以后，在教会众信徒的热心参与之下，2019年历经三个月的时间，对教堂内部进行了一次大的修缮，二层阁楼复建，门窗修缮复原等。
大名还是天主教宠爱之母大堂的所在地。这座教堂曾经和位于上海徐家汇的天主教堂齐名。大名天主教堂是当时的全国第二大教堂。
https://www.christiantimes.cn/news/35716/%E9%92%A9%E6%B2%89%7C-%E5%B0%91%E4%B8%BA%E4%BC%97%E4%BA%BA%E7%9F%A5%E7%9A%84%E6%B2%B3%E5%8C%97%E5%A4%A7%E5%90%8D%E5%9F%BA%E7%9D%A3%E6%96%B0%E6%95%99%E5%8E%86%E5%8F%B2
钩沉| 少为众人知的河北大名基督新教历史
Located in the far southern Hebei Province and under the jurisdiction of Handan City, Daming County is home to the Mother of Grace Cathedral and a Roman Catholic diocese. Compared to its well-known Catholic connections, the history of Protestant Christianity in Daming is known to few.
Daming is located in the Southeast of Handan city, near the border between Hebei Province, Henan Province, and Shandong Province. As a secondary capital in the Northern Song Dynasty, Daming boasts a rich historical and cultural heritage.
Christianity was first introduced to Daming in 1897. The earliest mission societies to enter the county include South Zhili Mission (non-denominational, 1904), Church of the Nazarene, the Mennonite Mission and, Bethel Mission. Among them, the South Zhili Mission was the first one to enter it, while the Church of the Nazarene and the Mennonites had larger scales. Apart from these four missions, whose missionaries were mostly from the United States, there was also an indigenous church sending out local missionaries.
During the time of the Republic of China, the evangelism mission reached its peak. Apart from evangelizing and planting churches, the missionaries also built schools, hospitals, orphanages, farms and roads, making a great influence in the local education, transport, medicine, charity, and other social undertakings.
Among many other churches built by foreign missionaries, the former Mennonite church building, which is located on the East side of South Street, is now still serving as a Christian church. The church was built under the leadership of American missionary Peter J. Boehr and was put into use in 1927. Its main hall could host nearly 1000 people.
After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the church was converted into a theatre and later a cinema, thus the interior setting was changed greatly. The church building was returned back to Christians in 1992, and it underwent a major refurbishment in 2019 by the church members, with many of its original features restored.
Built in 1918, Daming’s Mother of Grace Cathedral was the second-largest cathedral at the time, equally famous as the St. Ignatius Cathedral in Shanghai. It served as the headquarters of the Diocese of Daming.
- Translated by Grace Song
A Brief History of Christianity in Daming County, Hebei Province
