Lingquan Church: A Church for Pengpu
Basic information
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Lingquan Church (Christian) |
| Address | 1555 Linfen Road, Jing'an District (in the Sanquan neighbourhood of Pengpu, near Changlin Road) |
| Lineage | 1988 Pengpu gathering point → land allotted in 1994 → the dedication of the church in April 1996 |
| Affiliation | a branch of Zhabei Church (Christian) |
| Scale | two halls, large and small; the main hall about 21 metres high with an 18-metre clear span, seating about a thousand people |
| Distinguishing features | the cross on the roof ridge, the rose window, the stained glass of "Jesus the Good Shepherd" |
From a gathering point to a church: an eight-year wait
Lingquan Church began as a nameless "gathering point".
In 1988 the Pengpu gathering point was set up — the Pengpu Xincun area had believers, but no church nearby, so they first found a place to gather. That gathering went on for six years.
In 1994 the district government allotted two mu of land in the Sanquan neighbourhood of Pengpu, so that Pengpu's believers could build a church of their own. In April 1996 the new church was completed and the dedication ceremony held, and it was formally named "Lingquan Church", belonging to Zhabei Church as its branch, precisely to "meet the needs of the believers of the Pengpu area".
From the gathering point of 1988 to the dedication of 1996 — a church waited eight years.
Its "mother church": more than a century of Zhabei Church
Lingquan Church is a branch of Zhabei Church. To explain where Lingquan Church came from, one must first tell of Zhabei Church — a "century-old church" of Zhabei's Christianity.
Its roots can be traced back to 1888 (some say 1890): the missionary John Farnham and the elder Chen Zhigu set up the "Hongkou Presbyterian Church" in Hongkou, and its congregation worshipped at first for the staff of the Commercial Press.
In 1894 the Reverend Yu Guozhen took over, and led the church for thirty years. He held a famous conviction: that the Chinese church should be independent and self-governing, free of the control of foreign churches — a herald of the "self-support movement" in Chinese Christianity of the day.
After that came decades of moves and rebuilding:
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 1904 | believers donated money, and a church was built on Haining Road, called the "Haining Road Self-Support Presbyterian Church of North Shanghai" |
| 1914 | it moved to Baotong Road (near the Commercial Press) and was renamed the "Zhabei Self-Support Presbyterian Church" |
| 1927 | it was renamed the "Zhabei Church of the Church of Christ in China" |
| 1927 | during the third armed uprising of the Shanghai workers, the believers of Zhabei Church who worked at the Commercial Press joined the uprising; the young believer Chen Anfang died while rescuing the wounded, leaving a daughter only six months old |
| 1932 | Zhabei Church was destroyed by Japanese shellfire |
| 1936 | it was rebuilt |
| 13 August 1937 | it was destroyed by Japanese shellfire again |
| 1947 | it was built anew |
| 1958 | sixteen churches of different denominations in Zhabei District were merged into Zhabei Church |
| after 1966 | church activities were forced to stop, and Zhabei Church was occupied by a factory |
| 1981–1982 | it was recovered and repaired, and in July 1982 the church reopened |
| 1987 | a new small hall and office building were built |
| 1996 | the branch church, Lingquan Church, was completed at 1555 Linfen Road |
The history of one church: several times thrown down by the fires of war, several times rebuilt; and in the end one branch it sent out came to rest in Pengpu. Zhabei Church itself stands at No. 340 Baotong Road — and on that street is also the Commercial Press it first served (see Baoshan Road Subdistrict).
A church with pink outer walls
Lingquan Church today is an easy building to pick out on Linfen Road — pink outer walls, standing out among the blocks of flats.
Walk inside:
- it has two halls, large and small;
- the main hall is about 21 metres high with an 18-metre clear span, seating about a thousand people for worship;
- overhead is the cross on the roof ridge, and on the front a rose window, together with the stained glass of "Jesus the Good Shepherd";
- the boundary wall is a combination of a closed concrete wall and an open wrought-iron grille, with planted borders and flowerbeds around it.
Stained glass and the choir are the two things most often mentioned here.
Lingquan Church today
In 2024 Lingquan Church was rated a four-star place of religious activity in Shanghai's "practice of the Sinicisation of religion".
Every Sunday morning there is a service here, and residents of the surrounding Pengpu Xincun come to take part. On Jing'an District's recommended list of "good places on the doorstep", Lingquan Church is listed alongside the Pengpu Four Seasons Park and Dongjiaojing Park next to it — a church that has simply grown into the daily life of its community.
Practical tips
- Address: 1555 Linfen Road, near Changlin Road; buses 705, 832 and 850 to the Changlin Road / Linfen Road stop, about a 5-minute walk;
- there is a service on Sundays (subject to the notices in the church);
- this is a place of religious activity in use, so please keep quiet and respect the observances; at ordinary times the building is easy to see from outside the wall;
- the Pengpu Four Seasons Park (1568 Linfen Road) is right next to it, and can be taken in on the way.
Connections
- Sub-district：Pengpu Xincun Subdistrict
- See also：Baoshan Road Subdistrict, Linfen Road Subdistrict, Pengpu Town
Sources: the lineage and building data of Lingquan Church follow the "Church Scenes" section of the China Christian website, the material Shanghai Ethnicity and Religion, and the Baidu Baike entry "Lingquan Church" (Grade C, cross-checked against several sources); the lineage of Zhabei Church follows the gazetteer material of Baoshan Road Subdistrict and the introduction "Zhabei Church of Shanghai"; the "four-star place" rating follows the public information of Shanghai's 2024 assessment under the practice of the Sinicisation of religion. The full bibliography is in Appendix 4.