RELIGION AND CUSTOM
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The fact that Chinese may follow one or other of these ways, or may combine them without any feeling of incongruity, has often made Christianity, with its exclusive claims, seem uncongenial to the Chinese spirit. Nevertheless Christianity is rooted deeply and growing rapidly in Hong Kong.
Its roots go back indeed to the earliest days of the Colony. St John's Cathedral was founded in 1842, and established as a Cathe- dral by Letters Patent from Queen Victoria in 1850. A representative of the London Missionary Society arrived at about the same time; several of the Chinese churches are now approaching their centenary. St Andrew's Church, consecrated_in October 1906, celebrated its diamond jubilee this year. Growth continues with great rapidity, the annual increase of 13 per cent in communicant church member- ship being the highest Protestant growth rate in Asia. New churches and chapels in housing estates and satellite towns are constantly being added. It is estimated that there are now 257 churches and chapels in the Colony.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was again the occasion for fellowship between the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches. In addition to a joint meeting for prayer and exposition of a passage from the Bible held at the City Hall, combined services were held in churches in both Hong Kong and Kowloon.
While about 10 churches in the Colony hold services in English, the great majority of the congregations are Chinese speaking, mostly in the Cantonese dialect although other dialects are used. There are also some churches using Kuo-yu (Mandarin). Christians in Hong Kong are notable church-goers, many very large churches being often crowded with worshippers. The major world denomina- tions are represented in the Adventists, Anglicans, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Pentecostals, etc, while churches of a Pres- byterian type are joined in the Church of Christ in China (the largest numerically of Chinese Protestant churches). There are, in addition, a number of undenominational churches.
In a community like that of Hong Kong, where problems of livelihood and development are acute, it is natural that the churches should wish to make their contribution to social service. This takes the form of educational and welfare services. The churches are responsible for approximately 164 primary schools and 101 middle