English speakers may also know the Qishan Church in Yantai as the McMullan Church.
Photos here were taken in Marh, 2018 while on a local tour organized by the Yantai Foreign Affairs Office as part of events relating to celebration of the Chinese Inland Mission School (Chefoo) that operated in Yantai from 1881 to 1943.
James McMullan and his wife, Lily, were originally missionaries with the China Inland Mission, but left CIM to start their own mission when their desire to promote a training program for local disadvantaged youth conflicted with existing Mission policy. Today the McMullans are remembered not only for their church-planting Christian ministry but for their practical social and economic helps. Interestingly, children who continued to live in Yantai later became highly successful and respected Yantai business people.
The site of the first training school, established by James and Lily McMullan, was immediately across the street from the church that curretnly bears their name, in space currently occupied by a City of Yantai primary school.
Lily McMullan is credited with starting the “lace industry” in China. The giant online retailer, Alibaba, includes the following information on its website:
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… Lily McMullan introduced another kind of fork handicraft cotton bobbin lace from England to Yantai. End of 19th century, cotton bobbin lace started to be exporting to British, German and France continually. So “Lily McMullan was eventually credited with starting the whole embroidery industry in Shantung province”…. he and his wife did not only show unconditional loving, caring and supporting for the people in the bottom society (including orphans and poor people etc.) of Yantai through his industry mission, but also boosting the whole industry and exporting business for Yantai (at that time more than 0.1 million persons in Yantai were engaged in the manufacturing of woolen needlepoint tableau rugs or tapestry and cotton bobbin lace for supplying to James McMullan Co.,Ltd.
Our tour group was welcomed by members of the church staff.
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Men in leadership: Li Song-En (pastor/teacher) at left, and Han Wen-Hao (manager/brother), at right.
Woman with M Kreeble is an assistant pastor also. Sorry, I don’t have the name.
Some of the Chinese signs and inscriptions have been translated for me as follows:
- Name of church displayed over the entrance: Qishan Christian Church
- Over the door: Love Each Other
- Next to the door: The Apostle’s Creed
- At front of the church: God so loves the world
- Inscription on the church foundation stone reads: This building is erected to the Glory of God and in memory of the late James McMullan founder of the Chefoo Industrial Mission who “Fell asleep in Jesus” 23rd September, 1916.
- The sign placed by local government to recognize the history of the church read: Qishan Christian Church Yantai Municipal Government Historical Relic, April 18, 2012
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First published: 2018/04/08
Latest revision: 2018/07/08