Presbyterian Church in Chinatown

Presbyterian Church in Chinatown, established in San Francisco in 1853, is the oldest Chinese American or Asian American church in North America.[1]

History

In 1852, William Speer (1822–1904), a Presbyterian from Pennsylvania who was a missionary to Canton from 1847 until he left in 1850 due to ill health,[2] was sent by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions to work with the rising number of Chinese who had come to California after the 1849 gold rush. The Presbyterian Chinese Mission held its first meeting on November 6, 1853 with four members.[3]

In 1925, the mission was put under the auspices of the Presbyterian Board of National Missions and renamed the Chinese Presbyterian Church. It was renamed again in 1958 as the Presbyterian Church in Chinatown to better reflect its context in the San Francisco Chinatown community.[1]

References
  1. "Our Story". Presbyterian Church in Chinatown. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  2. Tseng, Timothy (1994). Ministry at arms' length: Asian Americans in the racial ideology of American mainline Protestants, 1882-1952 (PhD Dissertation). Union Theological Seminary, New York. p. 36.
  3. Stahler, Michael L. (1970). "William Speer: Champion of California's Chinese, 1852—1857". Journal of Presbyterian History (1962-1985). 48 (2): 113–129. ISSN 0022-3883. JSTOR 23327321.
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