Imperial to International: A History of St. John's Cathedral, Hong Kong
Author(s): Stuart Wolfendale (Author)
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
Publication Date: 20 Sept. 2013
Language: English
Print length: 361 pages
ISBN-10: 9888139878
ISBN-13: 9789888139873
Book Description
Founded in 1849, St John’s Cathedral is the oldest neo-Gothic cathedral in East Asia and China’s oldest surviving Anglican church still in operation. In its early decades, it was a center of colonial life in Hong Kong. More recently, it has opened itself widely to other communities in Hong Kong, becoming a truly international church with services held in several languages. Drawing on extensive archives and written in a lively style, this first comprehensive history of St John’s traces the cathedral’s roles as a colonial parish church, a bishop’s seat for a diocese that once covered the whole of China and beyond, and a center of worship for a modern cosmopolitan community. Imperial to International is the first volume in the new series Sheng Kung Hui: Historical Studies in Chinese Anglicanism, copublished by the Hong Kong University Press and the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui.
Editorial Reviews
Review
In this spirited narrative, Stuart Wolfendale charts how St John’s Cathedral grew from a colonial parish and official church of government into a truly international religious center and monument of Hong Kong’s historical landscape. Like that of Hong Kong itself, the history of St John’s is one of successes and setbacks, progression and regression. Generously illustrated, and neither hagiographical nor judgmental, this will remain the definitive account of one of Hong Kong’s oldest and most important churches for many years to come. — John Carroll, author of A Concise History of Hong Kong Wolfendale has produced a lively and engaging tale, from the first English merchant presence in Hong Kong to the 21st century center of Christian life, learning, and service that is St John’s Cathedral. This is no dry history, but a stimulating, at times ironic and humorous, very human account of the development of an indigenous and international Christian community. This is the story of becoming ‘a house of prayer for all people’ — The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Compellingly insightful. Anglican and Episcopal History
From the Back Cover
History / Religion / China
About the Author
Stuart Wolfendale is a Hong Kong-based writer and critic.
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